158 NATURAL HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF GROTON, MASS. 



An oaken tablet was placed in the porch of the First Parish 

 Meeting-house, which contains an inscription, as follows : — 



Yirst Parish Meeting-Hods^ 



BUILT 1755, 

 REMODELED AND PARTIALLY TURNED AROUND 1839. 



Here were held all the Town Meetings from 1755 to i859: 



here also sat the court of general sessions 



of the Peace, and Court of Common Pleas 



for Middlesex County from me to 1787, 

 as Groton was then one of the Shire Towns. 



By invitation of the parish the exercises were conducted 

 by the Groton Historical Society, on June 17, 1899. The 

 expense of the tablet was borne by Mrs. C. A. L. Sibley, and 

 the words were written by the compiler of this volume. 



In September, 18 10, a granite boulder was placed by the 

 roadside, near the grounds of the Groton School, bearing 

 the following inscription : — 



here dwelt 

 JOHN DAVIS, 



killed in his own dooryard 

 by the indians, 



OCTOBER 25, 1704. 



The stone was taken from the farm of Theophilus Gilman 

 Smith in the immediate neighborhood, and the expense of 

 the cutting was borne by William Amory Gardner. The 

 inscription was written by the compiler. 



FASHION IN GIVEN NAMES. 



It is interesting to note the changes that have occurred in 

 baptismal names within a few generations. During the early 

 days of New England, certain names that now seem uncouth 

 to the ear were common in ever)' community. They were 



