Lincoln, Massachusetts

Lincoln is a town located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 8,056, including Hanscom Air Force Base. Without the base, which is largely self-contained, Lincoln is home to 5,152 people according to the 2000 census.

History

Lincoln was first settled in 1650 and was officially incorporated in 1754. It is reportedly the only town in America named after Lincoln, England.

Related Topics:
1650 - 1754 - Lincoln, England

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One prominent citizen was the Rev. Charles Stearns (1753-1826), a Harvard-trained minister who served the Congregational Church in Lincoln from late 1781 until his death. Only a handful of his sermons were printed, most in the early nineteenth century. In addition, Stearns was principal of the Liberal School, a relatively progressive and coeducational institution that opened in early 1793. While at the school, Stearns wrote and published a number of education-related works, including Dramatic Dialogues for Use in Schools (1798), a collection of thirty original plays that were performed by the students. After the school closed in 1808, Stearns continued to tutor students privately. Among his pupils were Nathan Brooks, a Concord lawyer, and George Russell, a Lincoln physician. Stearns's published works can be accessed via Early American Imprints, a microform and digital collection produced by the American Antiquarian Society. A summary article that looks at Stearns as a producer of children's drama is

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Levy, Jonathan. ?The Dramatic Dialogues of Charles Stearns: An Appreciation.? In Spotlight on the Child: Studies in the History of American Children?s Theatre. Ed. Roger L. Bedard and C. John Tolch. New York: Greenwood, 1989. 5-24.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~