Town by the Name of Southborough

Southborough Historical Society

Southborough, MA

A Town by the Name of Southborough

When the continent of North America was first being settled, only a handful of towns existed in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The settlers of these early towns enjoyed many peaceful years with the Native American Indians. During the later years of the 1600’s, the English found themselves at war with some of these Indian tribes after the French had formed an alliance with them to drive the New Englanders from the continent and create a much larger New France. It was a very hazardous time to travel alone or in small numbers along the colonial paths and roads or to work in the fields upon your own land.

At the center of each town was a meetinghouse and it was the most important building in the town. It was the place where Sunday church services were held, and town business was done on the same day with only a short break for lunch. The town of Marlborough in the early 1700’s was a very large land grant. Marlborough had many smaller villages located near its long borders. The residents of those villages had to travel through severe New England weather for many miles to get to the meetinghouse and there always was the chance of encountering hostile Indians along the way.

The year 1717 saw Chauncy Village separate from Marlborough and become the Town of Westborough, the residents of its northern land later separating to become the Town of Northborough. In 1720 the residents of an area in the south of Marlborough called Stony Brook received permission from the town allowing them to attend services in their own community when the weather conditions, mainly during the winter months, prevented travel to the town meeting house. Late in 1726, thirty-five landowners of the Stony Brook area took a formal petition to the town meeting asking for support in their effort to become a separate town with their own church. The month of May 1727 saw the Marlborough Selectmen join with the Stony Brook residents in a formal petition to the Lieutenant Governor William Dummer and the Colony’s Council, House of Representatives, and General Court. It was a request for the separation of Stony Brook from Marlborough. The Massachusetts General Court on July 17, 1727 voted an "Act for Dividing the Town of Marlborough, and Erecting a new Town there by the name of Southborough.”