Once a part of Lancaster, the town of Sterling came to be through a series of land grants aquired over some sixty years. Like most early settlements of Massachusetts the struggle for autonomy was long, and often fraught with the hardships of the day. The process brought the settlers together for the common good and Sterling was incorporated on April 25, 1781.
Josiah Kendall, born September 1, 1712 in Woburn, MA was the great grandson of Francis Kendall, born 1620 in Norfolk, England, who along with his brother Thomas came to the New Colony around 1640.
Josiah was the first of this Kendall line to settle in Sterling (then Lancaster) in the 1730's. The exact date of his removal from Woburn to Sterling is unknown. According to the 1931 publication, "A Brief History of Sterling, Massachusetts", the first mention of the Kendall family comes around 1733 and is stated this way:
"Records about the early settlers are scarce, but from the Registry of Deeds we know that as early as 1733 Benjamin Houghton sold land to families...The Kendall's came from Woburn, and others from Lancaster."
Another reference to the Kendall's, and more specifically Josiah comes from the "Memorial of Josiah Kendall" published in 1864 by Oliver Kendall. The author notes: "Our biography of Josiah Kendall commences with his removal from Woburn to Lancaster. I am unable to give the date of this removal but it was probably soon after 1736, the year of his marriage."
Josiah was not the only Kendall from this line to settle in Sterling during the towns formative years. Again according to Oliver, it appears that two of Josiah's brothers, James and Ezekial followed him. Oliver states:
"We are lead to believe the three brothers located themselves at once in the west parish of Lancaster, then called by its Indian name Chocksett, on what soon became known as Kendall Hill."
The original homesteads of the Kendall brothers no longer remain. The only trace of their lives on the hill over looking this small rural town is what little has been preserved in town records, the newsprint of the day and the stones that mark their passing.
We are endeavoring to get photos of all the remaining headstones before they too become a distant memory.
