CONTENTS.
| PAGE | ||
| I. | Introduction | [7] |
| II. | The Settlement of Massachusetts Bayand of Roxbury | [8] |
| III. | The Nipmuck Country and the Visit ofJohn Eliot to the Indians at Wabbaquasset,or Woodstock | [12] |
| IV. | The Settlement of New Roxbury, orWoodstock | [20] |
| V. | The Change of the Name of New Roxburyto Woodstock | [28] |
| VI. | The Growth of the New Township—1690-1731 | [32] |
| VII. | Ecclesiastical Affairs | [36] |
| VIII. | The Transfer of Woodstock from Massachusettsto Connecticut | [43] |
| IX. | Military Record | [46] |
| X. | Educational Matters | [53] |
| XI. | Distinguished Citizens | [55] |
| XII. | Characteristics of Woodstock | [58] |
| XIII. | Conclusion | [61] |
| Index | [63] | |
I.
The history of the town of Woodstock is associated with the beginnings of history in New England. The ideas of the first settlers of Woodstock were the ideas of the first settlers of the Colony of Plymouth and the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The planting of these colonies was one of the fruits of the Reformation. The antagonism between the Established Church of England and the Non-Conformists led to the settlement of New England. The Puritans of Massachusetts, at first Non-Conformists, became Separatists like the Pilgrims of Plymouth. Pilgrims and Puritans alike accepted persecution and surrendered the comforts of home to obtain religious liberty. They found it in New England; and here, more quickly than in the mother country, they developed also that civil liberty which is now the birthright of every Anglo-Saxon.