In response to a petition, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony allowed settlement to the west of the town of Marlboro. This new town was to be incorporated as 'Shrewsbury' after 40 families and a minister settled there. One of the petitioners was the 32-year-old Nahum Ward, who settled in the area with his wife Martha Howe. Their infant son Benjamin is the first recorded death in Shrewsbury.