French Indian Wars:

During the French and Indian Wars, 1754-1763, Captain John Taslin Commanded a company of forty-nine men on the expedition to Crown Point (February 18, 1756 to December 20, 1756), and Captain Aaron Fay led a company from March to November 1758 in an expedition to reduce Canada. Delanton Johnson was present at the surrender of Fort William Henry, and Elijah Reed and Joshua Newton were subjected to “indian barbarities in the battle”. Series 1 incldues some documents relative to procuring munitions.

Pre-Revolution Tensions:

After Britain passed the stamp act in 1765, Southborough’s representative in the provincial assembly, Ezra Taylor, was instructed to address “his Brittanick Majesty and Parliament for relief”, and “firmly assert and lawfully maintain the inherent rights of the province, and thereby let posterity know that if we must be the slaves, we do not choose by our own acts to destroy ourselves and willingly entail slavery on them”. Nevertheless, the instructions concluded with the following admonition, “We desire you would at all times manifest the greatest loyalty and ardent affection we owe and care to the King and Parliament of Great Britain”. (Town Records, 1727-1773, p. 253-255)

On November 28, 1766, the town voted “a sum of money be paid out of the public treasury [...] to make compensation for [...] sufferings by the late riots committed in the Town of Boston in the month of August 1765”, however a vote to see if the town would instruct it’s representative “to vote for an act of indemnification for the rioters” failed to pass by a very great majority. (Town Records, 1727-1773, p. 265-266)

In 1770 an article was inserted in the warrant for a town meeting in April to “see if the said Town of Southborough will approve of the non-importation agreement made and come into by the majority of the merchants in the Town of Boston and elsewhere” , but the article was not even acted upon (Town Records, 1727-1773, p. 302-303). Again, on January 25, 1773, a vote “to see if the Town will pass any vote and do anything consequent to what the town of Boston has communicated by their committee to the said Southborough relating to the privilege of and the infringements made upon the rights of the Province of Massachusetts Bay” passed in the negative (Town Records, 1727-1773, p. 337).

In March 1773, the town voted unanimously that the “rights and privileges” of the province were being infringed upon, however the first attempt to “choose a committee to set forth the rights of this province” passed in the negative. After a second vote was called a committee of seven, including Timothy Brigham, Jonathan Ward, Nathan Bridges, Isaac Johnson, Asahel Moore, and Dr. J. Parker, were chosen to “make a report of the rights and privileges [in the] province and the infringements on those rights” (Town Records, 1727-1773, p. 345). In its report presented on May 17, 1773, entitled “Report of a Committee of Rights”, the committee held that “a proper correspondence of the towns and colonies” was a salutary and necessary measure (Town Records, 1727-1773, p. 347).

The Intolerable Acts of 1774 foreshadowed a firmer British policy, and on August 29th of that year the town responded by forming a Committee of Correspondence (composed of Col. T. Brigham, Isaac Johnson, Lt. Josiah Fay, Jonathan Ward, and John Angier), which was charged with writing and corresponding to other Committees of Correspondence in the province (Town Records, 1774-1799, p. 16). At the same time, a second committee was chosen (Manasseh Stow, Isaac Johnson, James Parker, Nathan Bridges, Lt. William Collins, Solomon Newton, and Asahel Moore) to “make a draft relating to the non-importations and non-consumption” of British goods. This agreement was signed by 116 male citizens on September 5th 1774, and the same day, the first company of minutemen was assembled in Southborough; including Captain Josiah Fay, two lieutenants, four Sergeants, and thirty-six men. (Town Records, 1774-1799, p. 18).

The town sent Captain Jonathan Ward to the Provincial Congress held at Concord in October 1774 (Town Records, 1774-1799, p. 20). However when Governor Gage called for an assembly to meet in Boston on May 22, 1775, the town refused his call and voted “to take no notice of the writ”, instead proceeding to elect a delegate to the Provincial Congress to be convened at Watertown (Town Records, 1774-1799, p. 29). It was at this meeting that the Provincial Congress resolved to expel Governor Gage from office for his traitorous actions, and for conducting “as an instrument in the hands of an arbitrary ministry to enslave the people”.

At a town meeting on June 10, 1776, an article was passed that “if the honorable Continental Congress should for the safety of the colonies, declare them Independent of Great Britain”, the inhabitants of Southborough would “solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support them in the measure” (Town Records, 1774-1799, p. 38).

Recruiting Revolutionary Soldiers:

The first military warrant summoning the Southborough militia-men to service was issued on November 7, 1774, by Captain Josiah Fay directing Ezekiel Collins, one of the corporals, to appear with his company “in the common training field by the Meeting House in said Southborough with their firearms” at 8:00 in the morning of November 9th where they would “attend to and obey further orders”.

On March 20, 1775, only a month prior to the battles of Concord and Lexington, forty-four of the Southborough minute men, not having been paid, stipulated that:
“provided said Southborough neglect and refuse to pay us as aforesaid we think we ought not to bear the whole of the burden without some satisfaction, and shall accordingly disband ourselves and not stand as minute men any longer but to take our fate with the rest of our brethren”

This demand was somewhat modified, as they added:
“notwithstanding said neglect to pay us, we do hereby engage to hold ourselves in constant readiness, and if necessary and called upon, to march in the defense of our country, it’s rights and privileges, provided Southborough will pay to each of us four shillings a man for our past service and expense [...] and one shilling a man for each four hours we shall exercise [...] to be paid by the first of July next, or whenever we are called for”. (Town Records, 1774-1799, p. 31-32 and Militia Records 1741-1832).

On February 8, 1777, the town voted to give £10 to each soldier who entered the Continental Service for a period of three months or for the duration of the war (Town Records, 1774-1799, p. 47). Enlistment made but little headway and on April 4th a committee consisting of Jonas Ball, Solomon Newton, and Lr. Elijah Brigham was chosen to “encourage the soldiers in said town to engage in the Continental Service [...] and to engage as many as they can”. On the 9th, recruits were offered £24 provided they would enlist within ten days, but on the 18th this vote was rescinded “as none appeared to enlist” (Town Records, 1774-1799, p. 55-56). Some provision for the families of soldiers was made in December, 1777. In May, 1778, the town gave the soldiers £10 a month in addition to their Continental pay, although “four men destined to Peck’s Hill'' were promised only £8 (Town Records, 1774-1799, p. 61, 73). On June 8, a committee appointed to assist the militia officers in “hiring men into the Continental Service” was instructed to “borrow a sufficient amount of money on the credit of the town” to hire the necessary men to complete the quota.

Civil War:

There is evidence that as early as 1842 the citizens of Southborough had some misgivings respecting the institution of slavery, as on November 14th they were asked whether they would “instruct their Representitive “to use his influence in the General Court to have the members thereof take into consideration the propriety of examining the constitutionality of some of the laws of the Slave states”, but no action was taken at that time (Town Records, 1833-1847, p. 124).

Upon the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 however, the town memorialized Congress on the following January 20th as follows, in part: “It is our duty and that of everyone who claims to be a man to help him to get and to maintain his freedom, and we now pledge ourselves to do all we can to make the soil of Southborough truly free” (Town Records, 1847-1864, p. 115).

In February, 1854, after the passage of the Kansas Nebraska act, which in effect nullified the Missouri Compromise, the town dispatched a communication to their Congressional representative in which the following conviction was set forth:
“In the name of liberty in the name of the Declaration of Independence and the spirit of the Constitution of the United States - which declares all men born free and equal [...] Massachusetts - the land of the Pilgrims, is not to be disgraced by any one of her representatives in either branch of Congress advocating or voting for this unjust measure. [...] It is now the imperative duty of the great company of Northern Freeman, who live by honest labor to repudiate at once and forever the tratorious Acts of their gambling political leaders who have bartered the rights of Freedom for place and power and annul all compromises with Slavery wherever found as sinful and unclean things fit only for destruction” (Town Records, 1847-1864, p. 240).

After President Lincoln issued his first call for 75,000 volunteers on April 15, 1861, the town voted on the 29th that it “was ready to respond to the Proclamation of the President with every able bodied citizen and every dollar in Town, if necessary”. Volunteers were to be given $8 per month and men with families $12, in addition to pay (Town Records, 1847-1864, p. 458).

In accordance with legislation “in aid of the families of volunteers”, on June 19th the town authorized the selectmen to pay one dollar a week to the wife, each child under sixteen, and each parent of the soldier upon whom they were dependent. In April 1862, a committee of seven was chosen to canvas the town to raise its quota of seventeen, and whereas, a bounty of $24 had been paid in 1861, $100 was now offered to each volunteer. On August 16th this amount was raised to $150 (Town Records, 1847-1864, p. 492-493). Payment of an increasing bounty had been facilitated by private individuals who advances $175 for each recruit, a debt which the town assumed on September 1, totalling $7851.99 . The bounty reached a maximum of $325 (Town Records, 1847-1864, p. 497, 1864-1892, p. 147).

With the exception of the first and second calls for volunteers on April 15th 1861 and in May and July 1862, for which the town’s quota was two and sixty-seven, respectively, and the ninth and tenth on April 23rd and July 18th 1864, when five and twenty-four were called, the number of men comprising any one quota, of which there were eleven, ranged between eleven and seventeen. The average term of service was estimated to be one year, four months and eighteen days, and during the war 219 Southborough citizens saw service with the Union forces, thirteen of whom were allotted to the town by the Navy Commissioners (Town Records, 1864-1892, p. 167).

In November 1862, a town agent was appointed by the Selectmen “to visit our volunteers at such time as the selectmen think proper to attend to the wants of our soldiers”, and at the same time the cemetery committee was instructed to “lay out a good and conspicuous lot in the Rural Cemetery to be called Patriot’s Lot” (Town Records, 1847-1864, p. 509). Two lots were donated by the town for a “Soldiers Lot” in the new cemetery in 1886. The names of seventeen fallen heroes are inscribed on either side of Soldiers Monument according to the branch of service represented - the Infantry, Calvary, Artillery, and Navy.

World War I:

On March 5th 1917, one month prior to the entry of the United States into the World War, the following resolution was adopted and sent to President Wilson:
“Whereas, the Town of Southborough in times past has been foremost in recognizing its obligation for national defense [...] be it resolved, that the citizens of Southborough in meeting assembled call upon the President of the United States in the present crisis to use all means in his power consistent with his constitutional right to uphold the safety, honor, and welfare of the Nation” (Town Records, 1911-1919, p. 440).

On March 31 the selectmen appointed a Committee of Public Safety composed of Charles F. Choate, Jr., Raymond H. Oveson, Josiah True, George H. Burneyy, and Andrew R. Sullivan, with power to “do all things necessary to aid and support the Government, and prepare and advise as to any and all things that the citizens and Town can or should do in the impending crisis”. On April 5th, fourteen members of the Southborough Rifles were appointed as special police, subject to the call of the selectmen (Selectmen’s Minutes, 1913-1917, p. 139-140). On March 4th 1918, a resolution was passed pledging to support “by all means in our power” the proclamation of Governor Samuel McCall urging the purchase of War Savings and Thrift Stamps (Town Records, 1911-1919, p. 498). On the combined Liberty Loan drives, Southborough’s 1,800 residents managed to raise $850,000 (the equivalent of $18.5 Million in 2023), and on the third Liberty Loan, Southborough was the first town in New England to report that its quota had been subscribed (Cheney, 23). There were 114 men called to the colors, and one woman enrolled as a nurse. Two men died in the service.


(Inventory of City and Town Archives of Massachusetts: Southborough, 1942, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Massachusetts Historical Records Survey files 1936-1942, SC1/167X, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, MA.)