John Richardson took up the first farm at the north entrance on the west side and Silas Dean took the first on the left, or east, side from the old campus on the hill at the north end of the street. All between the walls, which was later changed to sixteen rods, was commons. The church in the center was used for spiritual devotion, recorder office and court of justice. [Illustration: ARRIVAL OF THE WOBURN PIONEERS AT STAFFORD STREET WHEN WINNIE RICHARDSON WAS TEN YEARS OF AGE. RECENT VIEW OF THE WESTERN HILLS FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMP.] RECORDS The records of those New England pioneers are dim, as the Puritans considered church members only, as persons. Boston records (Woburn), as we have seen, seem to extol Ezekiel. Theopolis according to his will, must have been a financial success. The Stafford Street records, I was informed by Mrs. Larned, who now lives on the old homestead, were kept in their family from the beginning until lately, when they became such a source of annoyance from ancestor seekers, like myself, that they sent them to the recorder's office at Stafford Springs. At the recorder's office at Stafford Springs I found that John Richardson from Medford came to Stafford Street in 1726, this, though meager, acts as the official connecting link between Woburn and Stafford. Another scrap I found was that Paul Richardson had taken land adjoining his brother, John Richardson, this identifies both John and Paul. Regarding Gershom, the other one of the three brothers, I found this: "Gershom Richardson, son of Gershom and Abigail, born in 1761." This would make the elder Gershom Richardson contemporary with John and Paul. E. Y. Fisk, an early settler, told me that a part of the early church records have been burned. In the old graveyard just south of the brook which crosses Stafford Street still remains the headstone of Lot Dean, who died in 1818. Lot would be of the next generation from Silas Dean, who took the farm opposite John Richardson. Near the grave of Lot are the headstones of Uriah Richardson and his wife Miriam, who died October 18, 1785, at the age of 75. Uriah must have been all right, for Miriam, who died twenty years later, had had inscribed on his headstone: "The memory of the just is blessed." Grandmother remembered Uriah, the son of John and the father of John, her husband. Now while the traditions, records and gravestones may prove each in themselves to be weak evidence, together they form an unbroken chain from Ezekiel down to our times. [Illustration: ANCIENT CEMETERY OF THE STAFFORD STREET PIONEERS WHERE MOST OF THE GRAVE STONES ARE FOUND BROKEN AND IN THE WALL WHICH IS BUILT AROUND THE LOT. LEFT TO RIGHT. M. A. RICHARDSON. WALTER SKINNER. LUCIUS ABORN.] OLD HOMESTEAD With my interesting nieces, Joe and Lina Newell, one bright summer day, I visited the ancient homes of the Stafford Street, Conn., Richardsons.