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Acton in
History
ED
1735.
ACTON
By Rev. James Fletcher
1890
Alan Mr. Laufman. from Ed. A. Broadway Jan. 1959
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014
https://archive.org/details/actoninhistory00flet_0
111
HOTEL. DAVIS MONUMENT.
TOWN HALL.
MEMORIAL LIBRARY.
ACTON CENTRE.
ACTON IN HISTORY.
COMPILED FOR THE MIDDLESEX COUNTY HISTORY.
PUBLISHED BY
J. W. LEWIS & CO., OF PHILADELPHIA, WITH
MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS ADDITIONAL,
BY
REV. JAMES FLETCHER.
COPYRIGHT 1890 BY J W. LEWIS & CO., TRANSFERRED TO REV. JAMES FLETCHER.
RATED -1"
DONI
1735
ACTON ..
PHILADELPHIA AND BOSTON: J. W. LEWIS & CO., 1890.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
THANKS are hereby expressed to the publishers, J. W. Lewis & Co., of Philadelphia, for their generosity and courtesy in providing the printed extras for the Acton Local, at such redneed rates.
To the owners of the expensive choice steel plates .- for the free use of the same. To Rev. F. P. Wood, for his accommodation in the matter of engraving blocks. To the Pratt Brothers, for their indulgence in the same line.
To George C. Wright, for furnishing the new photo-electrotype block of the oil painting of Capt. Isaac Davis' wife, which has never before been printed for the public eye. The oil painting was a remarkable likeness of the venerable lady, taken by the best artist when she , was in her 92d year. It was photographed by Mr. Wright, several years ago in New York. where he found it with some of the descendants. He has had this photograph photo-electro- typed for the nses of the Acton Local. It is a rare, historic gem.
Thanks are also due to Mrs. Winthrop E. Faulkner for the photo-electrotype engraving of the crayon sketch of her husband. a fine fac-simile of the original.
To Arthur H. Cowdry. M. D., of Stoneham. for the block of his father, so highly prized by all.
To Hon. William A. Wilde, who again has shown his appreciation of his birthtown by the gift of the frontispiece picture of this book, and also of the photo-electrotype of his own person.
To Horace F. Tuttle, for his gratuitous services, of the last winter months, in drawing and compiling the original for the lithographie map of Acton.
To the public in general, for their response, in interest and subscriptions, to the work. which is now submitted to them in trust.
AcTON, MASS .. Dec. 12, 1890.
JAMES FLETCHER.
-
ACTON IN HISTORY.
COMPILED BY REV. JAMES FLETCHER.
CONTENTS.
Colonial Period 238-240
A. and O. W. Mead & Co. 271-2
The First Meeting-House 241-3
Horace F. Tuttle's Map Sketch 272-4
Rev. John Swift . 243-5
The Davis Monument 274-7
The Cemeteries 246-7
The War of 1812. 277-8
The Brooks Tavern 247
Schoolhonses . 278-9
By-ways and Nooks. Bertha Hosmer 279
Geologic Sketch. George II. Barton 280
The Old Parsonage 249
Rev. Moses Adams 249-50
Game in Acton 282
Rev. Marshall Shedd 250-1
The 19th of April. 1861 283
Revolutionary Preliminaries
250.1-2-3
The Davis Gnards' Reception 284
The Faulkner Homestead 253-4
The Civil War Record. By Luthier Con mt. Esq.
284-7
Col. Winthrop E. Faulkner 255
Memorial Library
2ペコープ
Capt. Isaac Davis' Ronte to North Bridge 255
HIon. William .A. Wikle 288-9
Inther Blanchard
256
The Tablet List by Julian Tuttle 289
James Hayward
The Congregational Church 290
Aber Hosmer
Rev. James T. Woodbury 290
Universalists
293
Rev. J. T. Woodbury's Speech . 357-61
The Baptists
203
Capt. Isaac Davis
261
Business Firms
294-5
Capt. Isaac Davis' Wife 261-2
Town Officers 206
Graduates of College 296-7
208
The Second Meeting House 264-5
Lawyers
299-0
William D. Tuttle's Sketch . 266-9
Deaths of the Oldest Persons
301
A. A. Wyman's Sketch 269-70
Biographical Sketches
Mrs. John Hapgood's Sketch of West Acton . 270-1 ' Lithographie Map
PIHLADELPHIA AND BOSTON: J. W. LEWIS & CO .. 1890.
257
257
Mrs. Mehitable Piper
257
Men of the Revolution 263
The French and Indian War 264
Physicians .
PAGE
The Fletcher Homestead . 247
The Skinner Homestead 247-8
Artist's Sketch. Arthur F. Davis 280
AN
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE
TOWN OF ACTON.
BY
REV. JAMES FLETCHER.
REPRINTED FROM THE "HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
AN HISTORICAL SKETCH
OF THE
TOWN OF ACTON.
The hope of rescuing from the wreck of oblivion some of the precious relics of the past has been the solace of care in the preparation of this work. llearty thanks are here expressed and acknowledgments made to those who have contributed with the pen and the memory in aid of the sketch. William D. Tuttle, Esq., the town clerk, and his son, Horace F., have rendered important assistance in gathering facts from the town records.
The historical map prepared by Horace F. Tuttle for the history, and which it was hoped could be published in the same, is a valuable acquisi- tion for future reference, Its important items are given. It should be printed and doubtless will be soon. Rev. Dr. Knowlton, Rev. F. P. Wood, Rev. Mr. Ileath, A. A. Wyman, Esq., Horace Hosmer and his daughter Bertba, Deacon Samuel Hosmer, Mrs. John Hapgood, Mrs. Lottie Flagg, Luther Conant, Esq., Moses Taylor, Esq., and Luke Smith have rendered essential service in gathering up the fragments that nothing be lost.
The ('entennial address of Josiah H. Adams, Esq., Shattuck's " History of Concord " and the "Colonial Ilistory " of Charles Il. C. Walcott have been freely consulted in the compilation.
The history of Acton seems to the writer in the review like a romance dropped freshly from the skies. It is in reality a plain tale of persons and events which have consecrated for all time this locality.
JAMES FLETCHER.
COLONIAL PERIOD .- Acton, twenty-four miles northwest of Boston, has on the north Littleton and Westford : on the east Carlisle and Concord; on the south Sudbury, Maynard and Stow; aud on the west Boxboro' and Littleton.
Acton at its incorporation, July 21, 1735, was bounded by Sudbury, Concord, Billerica, Chelmsford, Westford, Littleton and Stow, which then included Boxborough. The principal part of what is now Carlisle, then belonging to Old Concord, was set off as a part of the new town, Acton.
The Carlisle District of Acton was incorporated as a separate town in 1780; the easterly part of Old Concord was incorporated in the new town of Bed- ford in 1729; and the southerly part of Old Concord was incorporated in the new town of Lincoln in 1754, so that from 1754 to 1780 the township of Acton was larger than that of Concord, though much behind in wealth and population. At the time of Concord's in- corporation, in 1635, what is now the Acton territory was not a part of Concord, but was granted to Con- cord a few years after by the name of the "Concord Village," or the new grant covering nearly the pres- ent boundaries of Acton. The Willard Farms iu- cluded in the act incorporating Acton in 1735 had, previous to that act, been granted to Concord.
tween the two towns is a portion of the old Concord ou that side.
The Acton boundary extended leads to a heap of lichen-covered boulders, surmounted by a stake.
This ancient monumeut is near the top of a hill in the southwesterly part of Carlisle, and undoubtedly marks the old northwest corner of Concord.
It was identified and pointed out to Chas. H. Walcott, of Concord, on the ground by Major B. F. Heald, of Carlisle, who says that he has often heard his father aud other ancieut men, long since deceased, speak of this bound as marking the old Concord corner.
Everything goes to corroborate this testimony. The place was commonly known by the name of " Berry Corner," and was the original northeast coruer of Acton, but in 1780 (statute passed April 28, 1780) a portion of that town uear this point was included in what was then constituted the District of Carlisle, and subsequently formed a part of the town of the same name (Carlisle did not acquire all the legal characteristics of a town until February 18, 1805-3 Special Laws, 497).
Thomas Wheeler and others who came to Concord about 1639, found the most convenient of the lands already giveu out, and in 1642 petitioned for a grant of land on the northwest, which was conceded on condition that they improved the grant within two years. Most of the lands were granted to Coucord for feeding.
They were not very accurately defined, being found upou actual survey to contain a greater number of acres than nominally specified in the grants.
A settlement was begun on these grants as early as 1656 aud possibly a few years earlier. The Shepherd and Law families were among the first settlers.
Many of the meadows were open prairies affording, with little or no labor, grass in abundance.
Some of the uplands had been cleared by the In- dians and were favorite places for feeding. In those days the " new grant " was familiarly called, and with some reason, " Concord's sheep pasture."
In 1666, in pursuance of an order from the General Court, Richard Beers, of Watertown, and Thomas Noyes, of Sudbury, laid out the new grant, or Con-
When Acton was made a towu the statute bounded it on the east by " Concord old Bounds," from which it appears, as before stated, that it includes no part of the original Concord and that the dividing line be- | cord Village, as it was called, comprising the present
239
ACTON.
territory of Acton and portions of Carlisle and Lit- tleton, and made their return in the following year.
On Jannary 12, 1669, a lease was made by Con- cord to Captain Thomas Wheeler, for the term of twenty-one years, of two hundred acres of upland and sixty acres of meadow, lying west of Nashoba Brook, in consideration of which he agreed to pay a yearly rent of £5 after the expiration of the first seven years, and to build a house forty feet in length, eighteen fect wide and twelve feet stud, “ covered with shingles, with a payer of chimnes," also a barn forty feet long, twenty-four feet wide, and twelve feet stud. Thesc buildings were to be left at the end of the term for the use of the town, with thirty acres of land in tillage and sufficiently fenced.
He agreed further, and this was the main pur- pose of the lease, to receive and pasture the dry cattle belonging to the town's people, not to exceed one hundred and twenty in number uor to be fewer than eighty.
The cattle were to be marked by their owners and delivered to Captain Wheeler at his house, and the price was fixed at two shillings a head, payable one- third in wheat, one-third in rye or pease, and one- third in Indian corn.
The owners were to "keep the said herd twelve Sabboth dayes yearly, at the appointment and accord- ing to the proportion by said Thomas or his heires allotted."
The number of cattle received under this agree- ment fell below the lowest limit, and, in January, 1673, the terms of the contract were so modified that Captain Wheeler was entitled to receive one shilling per head.
The town of Concord laid out a road to Thomas Wheeler's mill, the first grist-mill in Acton, located on the present site of Wetherbee's mill, as is proved by the foundations of the old mill found when dig- ging for the present mill.
The canal now used is essentially the same as then used.
The mill was tended for the most part by women. A Mrs. Joseph Barker had charge among the last.
Going up from that site to the present saw-mill we find on the east side of the dam, near the road, the abutments of what were old iron works, called at the time a forge.
Here they had a trip-hammer and other implements and conveniences for working in iron. Joseph Har- ris made the latches and the iron-work from this forge for the first meeting-house.
The ore, which was smelted with charcoal, was bog iron ore found in the vicinity, some rods southwest. The building for the storing of the charcoal was a little distance up the old road going west, beyond the old walls. The charcoal bed is easily determined by striking a spade into the ground.
The old road went south of the present saw-mill and wound around near the old wall up to the brook
at the foot of the hill, and there followed up the stream on the right side.
Captain Thomas Wheeler's house, supposed to be the first dwelling-house deserving the name, was west of the brook, not far from the wall where the old lilac bushes still stand, which belonged to his garden plot.
The spring near the brook, now enclosed in a bar- rel, was Captain Wheeler's well. There are evidences of an old orchard opposite on the south side of the brook. The Canadian plum-trees near by are said to have come from the stones of plums which the sol- diers brought on their return from Canada in the French and Indian War.
Mrs. Joseph Barker, who tended the inill, lived at one time in Captain Wheeler's house. John Barker's house was a little to the right, on the east side of the stream, and farther west of Thomas Wheeler's house and barn.
Captain Thomas Wheeler died in 1676, from wounds received in his fight with the Indians at Brookfield. He was born a leader of men in war and peace. The narrative of the expedition of Cap- tain Edward Hutchinson, after hostilities had begun at Plymouth, written by Captain Thomas Wheeler, is the epic of Colonial times. He was so associated with the first start in the settlement and business ac- tivities of Acton, before its incorporation, that we give space to the excellent synopsis of his narrative, by Charles H. Walcott, the Colonial historian of Con- cord :
"Captain Hutchinson was commissioned by the Council at Boston to proceed to the Nipmuck coun- try, so called, in what is now Worcester County, and confer with the Indians there for the purpose of pre- venting, if possible, any extension of Philip's influ- ence in that direction.
"Captain Thomas Wheeler, of Concord, who was already advanced in years, and had commanded the western troop of horse ever since its organization, was ordered to accompany Hutchinson with an escort of twenty or twenty-five men of his company. Ac- cordingly they set out from Cambridge and arrived at Quabaug, or Brookfield, on Sunday, August 1st. Here they received information that the Indians whom they expected to meet had withdrawn to a place about ten miles distant towards the northwest. A detachment of four men was sent forward to assure them of the peaceable character of the expedition, and a meeting was agreed upon for the next morn- ing, at eight o'clock, on a plain within three miles of the town.
"There was some apprehension of treachery, but prominent citizens of Brookfield not only expressed confidence in the good intentions of the savages, but declared their own willingness to be present at the conference, and Hutchinson decided that the appoint- ment must be kept. The Indians, however, did not appear, and this fact, together with other suspicious
240
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
circumstances, led the sagacious Wheeler to think that to venture further would be unwise. But Hutchinson was unwilling to abandon his mission with nothing accomplished, and, in deference to his wishes, the order was given to advance towards a swamp where the savages were supposed to be lurk- ing.
" As they procceded the narrowness of the patlı, with the swamp on one side and a rocky hill on the other, forced men and horses to march in single file.
"Suddenly the war-whoop resounded, and the ad- vancing column was assailed by a volley of arrows and bullets discharged from behind trees and bushes, kill- ing eight men, wounding five, and throwing the line into disorder, which was materially increased by the difficulty of turning about or passing by in the strait- ened passage-way.
"Captain Wheeler spurred his horse up the hillside, when, finding himself unhurt and perceiving that some of his men had fallen under the fire of the enemy, who were now rushing forward to finish their work, he turned about and dashed boldly forward to attack them.
" The movement separated him for a few moments from his men. A well-directed shot killed his horse and brought the old man to the ground wounded, and it would soon have been all over with the brave captain, had not his son Thomas, who was also wounded, come to his rescue.
" Quickly dismounting, he placed his father in the saddle, and ran by his side until he caught another horse that had lost his rider, and so the two escaped with their lives, but suffering severely from their wounds.
"This was merely the beginning. Hutchinson had received a wound that caused his death in a few days, and now the task of extricating the command from its perilous situation devolved upon Captain Wheeler. It was performed in masterly fashion. Keeping to the open country and avoiding the woods, they re- traced their way, with the assistance of friendly In- dian guides, to the village of Brookfield, took posses- sion of one of the largest and strongest houses, and fortified as best they could.
" They had not long to wait before the enemy ap- peared in superior numbers, and attacked the strong- hold with vigor.
" The captain's disability brought to the front Lieu- tenant Simon Davis, another Concord man, who fought and prayed with a fervor that reminds one of the soldiers of Cromwell. To him, associated with James Richardson and John Fiske, of Chelmsford, the direction of affairs was entrusted.
" Two men, dispatched to Boston for assistance, were unable to elude the vigilance of the besiegers, and were obliged to return.
" The Indians piled hay and other combustibles against the side of the house and set fire to them, thus forcing the English to expose themselves in their
efforts to extinguish the flames. Their bows shot arrows tipped with 'wild fire,' which alighted on the buildings within the enclosure and set them afire.
"To get their combustible materials close to the walls, a remarkable engine, fourteen rods long, was constructed by the savages of poles and barrels, which they trundled forward on its menacing errand. For three days and nights this horrible warfare continued.
" The besieged were compelled to witness the mutila- tion of their dead comrades who had fallen outside, and to endure as best they could the jeers and taunts of the foe.
"Rain came to the assistance of the little band by putting out the fires of their assailants and rendering it difficult to kindle new ones. Davis, who is said to have been of a 'lively spirit,' exhorted his men to remember that God was fighting on their side, and to take good aim before firing.
" The prayers and hymns of the soldiers, borne out on wings of fire and smoke, were answered by cries of the unregenerate heathen, who gave utterance to hid- eous groanings in imitation of the singing of psalms.
" Twice did brave Ephraim Curtis attempt to make his way through the enemy's line to go for succor. Twice was he compelled to return baffled. The third time, by great exertion and crawling for a considera- ble distance on his hands and knees, he succeeded in reaching Marlborough, where he gave the alarm, and on the evening of the 4th the garrison was overjoyed at the arrival of their old neighbor and friend, Major Willard, with a force of forty-six soldiers and five Indians, who, hearing at Marlborough of their dis- tress, had altered his course to come to their relief.
"Towards morning the Indians departed, having set fire to all the houses, except that which sheltered the whites.
"It has already been stated that Captain Wheeler was severely wounded, and his son was detained at Brookfield for several weeks by the injuries he had received.
" It is easy to believe that the Captain and the re- mainder of his troop received a hearty welcome on their return home. The town kept the 21st day of October, 1675, as 'a day of praise and thanksgiving to God for their remarkable deliverance and safe re- turn.' It was a battle in which Concord men were foremost in the display of courage and the rarer qual- ities that constitute good leadership.
" The Indians appear to have behaved very badly from the beginning. They were guilty of an unpro- voked and treacherous assault upon a party wbose purpose was one of peace and friendship. The mis- sion was an honorable one and faithfully discharged ; and Wheeler and his men are deserving of praise for all time as brave soldiers who acquitted themselves nobly under the most trying circumstances."
Nathan Robbins appears to be the first owner of the land after Wheeler, and the land has passed from father to son ever since.
THE FIRST MEETING HOUSE. 1738.
241
ACTON.
ACTS OF INCORPORATION .- An act to incorporate the town of Acton, passed July, 1735.
" Whereas the inhabitants and proprietors of the North westerly part of Concord, in the County of Middlesex, called the Village or New Grant, have represented to this court that they labor nuder great difficulties by reason of their remoteness from the place of public worship and therefore desire that they and their estates, together with the farms called Willard Farms, may be set off a distinct and separate township for which they have also obtained the consent of the town of Concord :
" Be it therefore enacted by his Excellency the Governor, Council and Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, that the said Northwesterly part of Concord, together with the said farms be, and hereby are set off, constituted and erected into a dis- tinct and separate township by the name of Acton, and agreeably to the following boundaries, namely, beginning at the Southwest corner of Concord old bonnds, then South westerly on Sudbury and Stow line till it comes to Littleton line, then bounded Northerly by Littleto n, West - ford and Chelmsford, then Easterly by Billerica till it comes to the Northwest corner of Concord old bounds and by said bounds to the place first mentioned.
"And that the inhabitants of the lands before described and bounded be and hereby are vested with all the town privileges and immunities that the inhabitants of other towns within this Province are or by law ought to be vested with.
" Provided that the said inhabitants of the said town of Acton do, within three years from the publication of this Act, erect and finish a snitable house for the public worship of God and procure and settle a learned orthodox minister of good conversation and make provision for his comfortable and honorable support."
This vicinity was called Concord Village in those days.
Here was a happy, independent, industrious com- munity, owning their lands, worshiping God in their own way and educating their children.
For seventeen years all went well, till Sir Edinund Andros appeared in Boston and tried to overthrow the charter which was served by the people as their safeguard and protection.
He prohibited town-meetings except once a year to choose officers.
Puritan flesh and blood could not stand this. Their town-meetings meant business, and now they werc ordered to give them up. Taxes were laid without consulting those who were to pay them, and, worst of all, Andros declared all land titles null and void.
When the people showed their deeds from the In- dians he said he cared no more for an Indian's signa- ture than he did for the scratch of a bear's paw.
Then they pleaded what we in late days have called squatter sovereignty. But he said that no length of possession could make valid a grant from one who had no title.
Then the people rose to defend their homes and the rights of Englishmen.
On the 19th of April, 1689, the Concord Company. commanded by John Heald, the first selectman of Acton after its incorporation, marched to Boston to assist in the revolt which overthrew the Andros gov - ernment.
In this way the men of Concord and Acton ante- dated the original 19th of April, which has since be- come the red-letter day in our history.
THE FIRST MEETING-HOUSE .- We will retrace our steps by the old Brooks tavern, to the spot opposite
where now stands the stately school building of the Centre District.
We will have to pause a long time licre before com- prehending the situation. It is the spot where stood for seventy years that old landmark of the past-tlie first meeting-house of the town of Acton.
If you have seen the striking picture in the pamphlet of the centennial celebration, you will have been helped to an impression of the house and its surroundings.
You must stand yourself on that hill of Zion, for such it was to our early forefathers, and view tlie landscape o'er. On the southi is the road that leads through the woods to the resting-place of the dead. On the east rises Annursneak Hill, hiding from view the peaceful homes of Mother Concord.
To the north of Annursneak is Strawberry Hill, whose brow strikes but eight feet below the brow of the former, having a view more commanding and more accessible. To the north and west are the delectable Hills, and towering above them all in the distance, Watatuck, Monadnock and Wachusett, old, familiar faces to every Acton boy and girl.
The building of this meeting-house is associated with the organization of Acton as a separate incor- porated town. (See act of incorporation.) The location and erection of a meeting-house soon began to agitate the people. In October of the year of incorporation it was voted not to build that year, but "to set the meeting-house in the Center." By the centre was meant the point of intersection of lines drawn to the extreme limits of the town. This decision was not satisfactory to all the inhabitants.
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