History of Chelmsford, Massachusetts (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from History of Chelmsford, Massachusetts

HE work of preparing a history of Chelmsford was under taken by Mr. Henry S. Perham in 1904, at the request of the Town. Mr. Perham, a native of Chelmsford, whose ancestor was one of the early settlers, had written a sketch of Chelmsford for Hurd's History of Middlesex County, published in 1891; and at the quarter-millennial celebration in 1905, he delivered the historical address which was printed in the Report of the Proceedings. At the time of his death, in 1906, he had written so much of the contemplated history as appears in the first chapter of this volume under the title, The Beginning. This, with whatever other material (consisting of a few notes, some correspondence, and occasional addresses in manuscript), was found among his papers, came into my hands, when, in 1907, I was asked by the Town to take up the work interrupted by the lamented death of Mr. Perham.

I reluctantly accepted the task, realizing the labor involved and the time it would take from other pressing duties. I have endeavored to bring the work to completion in a manner as nearly consonant with that of my predecessor and as Worthy of the subject as the imposed conditions and my own limitations would allow. I have traversed the whole field, verifying the quotations made by Mr. Perham, although this was hardly necessary in the case of such an accurate historian, and have searched diligently for the facts now presented to the reader. I am aware that further years of work might yield some things of interest yet unearthed, and perhaps give better finish to the result of my labors.

The reader may discover a somewhat arbitrary grouping of chapters and subjects: perhaps a more homogeneous and logical arrangement might have been made, had the conditional limitations allowed.

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