At the convening of the Provincial Congress in October 1774, Worcester representative Timothy Bigelow (1738-1790) proclaimed—at the behest of his constituents—that unless the Massachusetts Charter of 1691 was immediately restored, “you are to consider the people of this province absolved … from the obligation therein contained” and thus free to rise from the ashes and form a new government. With these words, the people of Worcester effectively declared independence from England two years before the official Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. In 1861, descendants erected a monument in his honor.
Timothey Bigelow Monument on the Worcester Common.