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NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES 3 3433 08182852 1
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1
TembroRE Litchis lai ) IQH
The Sachems' Point at Furnace Pond
Ancient 7422 Landmarks of Pembroke
X
4 1 12
Henry Wheatand Litchfield
Youth with thee my heart is filedde Come back to the golden Ledde Milt not ? yet this token keepe Of hir who doeth thy gocing weepe Byf the world prone harsh and cold Come back to the Ledde of Gold
PEMBROKE GEORGE EDWARD LEWIS 1909
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 636621 ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDIN FOUNDATIONS. R 1913 L
Copyright :: 1910, by GEORGE. EDWARD LEWIS
TO MY FATHER - =
€ ANJ, MOTHER -
HER LOVE FOR_PEMBROKE PROMPTED THESE PAPERS HIS HELP- MADE POSSIBLE THEIR EXECUTION
MEM
Ancient Landmarks of Pembroke
Not many among the outlying towns of Massachusetts possess histories more interesting or significant than that of the Town of Pembroke in the Old Colony. It is a history which, promising little at the outset, rewards study by disclosing persons and events of a character to win lasting admiration from the student, and lead him on engrossed from point to point until, if there is to be any end at all of his research, he must despair of attaining to a con- venient stoppingplace, and breaking short off in the midst, leave half told their story -- I at least have found them such. The series of papers printed in this book, at first in- clading but nine Landmarks, has grown to include fifteen ; each of these is longer than its predecessor in order of writing ; and the ancient houses and sites of Pembroke whose annals remain unread by me, but well worth reading, are yet legion. The Taverns in High Street ; the dwellings of Deacon Isaac Hatch, Judge Turner, Dr. Jeremiah Hall, and Capt. Alexander Parris; Wallis Orchard and Peter's Spring; Sabbaday Orchard; the Mills on Herring Brook, and the Furnace at Furnace Pond; Hobomoc, or Devil, Pond with its strange legend, Oldham or Monument Pond, and Indian Bridge close by ; Ward or Hart Hill; Ludden's Ford; Queen's Brook ; and many others in Hanson, dating from the days when all that region was western Pembroke: have in these papers been briefly mentioned, or not at all. Chief among my sins of omission, I know well, are the famous Magoun houses in northern and eastern Pembroke, of which the oldest, now known as the homestead of Luther Magoun, is said to have been erected in Schoosett-then Scituate Two- mile-by his ancestor John Magoun during the year 1666.
ANCIENT LANDMARKS
No further statement, of course, is needed to show that this book does not even pretend to be exhaustive. I wish I might hope that incompleteness were its greatest fault.
Visitors to the place have told me that in sumner Pembroke is at her best. I should like to make an amendment to their saying, and read with them summer indeed, but Indian summer. Walking eastward from the Ponds toward Highgary in the late afternoon or early evening of an October day, past quiet farmhouses, through fields of yellow corn shot across by the level sunbeams, and dim woods rich with the perfume of wild grapes, you come suddenly ont upon a hillcrest, marked by tufts of dry poverty grass and a score of rugged pinetrees, overlooking Namassakeesett, the Brook and the River, the meadows and forests and ancient clearings which line their courses, and shade off into a blue haze on the distant slopes. There is stillness unbroken-for the rustling grass and whis- pering pines do not break it; off at the left, a dash of gold and scarlet shows on the maples below Dancing Hill ; presently, across the common, comes pealing down from the belfry the first stroke of six, calling the village to supper, and heralding approach of the evening. As you descend the hill, the dust of its ancient thoroughfare is sprinkled over with pale leaves from the balm-of-Gilead: the mellow air seems peopled by shades of Indian scout and runner, sachem and sagamore : rough English pioneers ; clergymen and magistrates of the Puritans ; colonial squire and Revolutionary captain ; friends of later years, now missed these many Sunday morn- ings from the family pew in the Meeting House; and all the throng of those who in succession passed that way: and a twilight of the olden time steals upon you, in which centuries are blended together, and the yesterdays become todays. If any of that light shines through these pages; or if the record which they contain, enables any to make for himself an Indian summer of his own : my purpose in writing them will have been achieved.
Although it follows from my confession, that I have cared more for point of view than for objective facts, still a
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OF PEMBROKE
considerable number of these was essential, as a framework on which to base the whole. I have tried to be exact in presenting them, and to attain accuracy in details. All dates are inclusive. All previous to 14 September 1752, are Old Style, unless otherwise stated : but even before that time, I have reckoned the year as beginning on January 1, rather than on March 25; retaining however double dates, when those appeared in the original. All ambiguous cases I have decided according to probability, and if necessary, translated. In determining sites, my description even now gives little help, and will after a time become quite useless : the defect is supplied in a map of Mattakeesett; on which-so far as its scope allowed-have been represented roughly, with some slight deviations from his plan, the results of Mr. Tillson's surveys of Marshfield Upper Lands, the Thousand Acres, the Massachusetts Path. and Duxbury Commons.
Necessary for a good understanding of the map, and important in itself as matter of general interest, is a knowledge of the changes in jurisdiction through which has passed the territory included within the Town of Pembroke during the period of its widest extent, the years 1754-1820. This territory lay entirely within the jurisdiction of the Colony Court of Plymouth Colony, from the establishment of that Court by the royal charter of 1629, until its absorption in the General Court of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Duxbury was incorporated in 1637: in 1641 its northerly bound was fixed at the North River ; and its westerly bound, at the Massachusetts Path. In 1658, the Court ordered "that such persons as live at Namassakeesett, on the lands as were grannted to the townsmen of Duxburrow, shall appertaine to the towne of Duxburrow." Namassakeesett-the country lying just west of the Path-was in 1661 made part of a grant to Duxbury and Marshfield in common. The Major's Purchase, comprising the central and southerly part of what is now Hanson, was negotiated in 1662 by Major Josiah Winslow. In his deed of this land, the chief Wampatuck expressly reserved for the Indians' use a tract of one thousand
7
ANCIENT LANDMARKS
acres bordering on Herring Ponds. Duxbury and Marshfield divided their holding in 1698, thus giving rise to Namassa- keesett proper-thenceforth a part of Duxbury-and the Marshfield Upper Lands. These were united with northern Duxbury and the Purchase, in the new town of Pembroke, incorporated 1712. A precinct including parts of Pembroke, Halifax, Bridgewater, Abington, and Hanover, and styled the West Precinct of Pembroke, was erected in 1746: in 1754 the entire area of this precinct was made part of Pembroke; and remained such until its incorporation, as the Town of Hanson, in 1820. Since that year, township boundaries in this neighborhood have not been materially changed.
The appearance of these papers in permanent form is due to the suggestion and encouragement of several persons, chiefly of Nathaniel Morton, Esquire, whose contribution of historical matter should also be acknowledged, and to the enterprise of their publisher. I take this opportunity to thank him sincerely for undertaking what is at best a doubtful venture ; for sparing no pains to make the book perfect in text and illustration ; and for receiving with uniform patience the many additions, changes, and corrections which have dis- figured its first draft from time to time. Nearly all the landscapes are from photographs of his own taking; and he has made no account of expense or labor in reproducing several fine old likenesses, which, by the courtesy of their possessors, we were permitted to use.
Between September of 1906 and September of 1908, many discoveries have widened our knowledge of Pembroke history ... These have induced me to write for the book several new chapters, and have made necessary a thorough revision of all. I wish each succeeding year may expose as many of their shortcomings as the last has exposed.
Material for the articles has been taken, in most cases without express acknowledgement, from Dr. Francis Colla- inore's History of Pembroke; Dr. Barker Newhall's Barker Family; Miss Hannah Barker's manuscript; Rev. T. P. Doggett's Allen Memorial; Barry's History of Hanover; the
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OF PEMBROKE
series of articles entitled Sketches of the History of Pembroke, prepared by Rev. Morrill Allen from material collected by Dr. Anthony Collamore; Farnham's Whitman Family; the History of the Dudley Family; Dr. Collamore's article on the Quaker Meeting House; Aaron Hobart's History of Abington; Rev. Morrill Allen's last sermon ; and Miss Susan A. Smith's Smith Memorial: they are, however, based principally on town and parish records, on wills and deads preserved at Plymouth, on private records and tradition. For the last, I am indebted to the kindness of many persons. During the summer of 1906 I had occasion, while in search of facts contributory to these Landmarks, to visit nearly every house : then standing within the limits of ancient Pembroke: I think it strong testimony to the pride of Pembroke and Hanson people in the history of their town, as well as to their gentleness of character, that by everyone-a single person excepted-my inquiries were received with courtesy, and in most cases with interest. I wish to thank sincerely each of my friends who have helped and encouraged me in this work. Especial acknowledgement is due of the assistance which I had from Miss Elizabeth II. Beals of Pembroke in the reading of proofs-a labor rendered the more tedious and exacting by a multitude of corrections disfiguring the manuscript- throughout all of which unfailing patience, and quick accuracy and good judgment, made her help of the greatest valne. For generously opening to me their libraries and manuscript files, and-not least-their memories, my thanks are due especially to Dr. Francis Collamore, Pembroke's first methodical historian; to Mr. Mercer V. Tillson of Hanson, authority on the ancient divisions of her territory ; to Mrs. Sarah E. Bosworth, whose collections-the work of a lifetime -are a herald's office for this and neighboring towns; and to Miss Susan A. Smith, formerly of North Pembroke, now pre- raring in Kingston the long expected History of Pembroke. I should make a further and particular acknowledgement of Miss Smith's contributions to the tenth Landmark. She supplied me with the facts concerning Esquire Keen's
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ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
ancestry, marriage, and descendants; with the record of several transfers of his estate; and with the memorable Petition, which through her kindness I have been enabled to present in full. Thus it will be seen clearly that the portion of this paper which treats of Josiah Keen and his family, is hers in fact, mine only in name. To the same account should be accredited a paragraph tracing the Massachusetts' royal family, which I ventured to insert as a foretaste of the richer treatment already undertaken by Miss Smith. My acknowl- edgement would be but a grudging admission, did I fail to mention also, generally speaking, the chief inspiration to students of Pembroke history of which her work upon, and interest in, that subject have been the source.
10
Landmarks
I. THE OLD GARRISON 19
II. THE SALMOND HOUSE 29
III. ALLEN FARM 35
IV. THE LITTLE ESTATE 41
V. THE JUDGE WHITMAN HOUSE 55
VI. THE BURTON HOMESTEAD 67
VII. HERRING BROOK AND THE HERRING 75
VIII. THE FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSE 89
IX. THE ANTHONY COLLAMORE ESTATE 95
X. THE SQUIRE KEEN MANSION AND OLDHAM FARMS 101
XI. THE DEACON WHITMAN HOMESTEAD 119
XII. THE COMMON 137
XIII. THE BURYING GROUND 147
XIV. THE TOWN CLOCK AND ITS NEIGHBORS 161
XV. THE FIRST CHURCH IN PEMBROKE 171
Illustrations
The Sachems' Point at Furnace Pond
1
Mattakeesett
16
The Old Garrison
19
The Barker House from the Fields
22
The Last of the Barkers
27
The Salmond House
29
The Reverend Morrill Allen
35
Allen Farm at Dancing Hill
38
The Third North River Bridge
41 44
The Barker Mill
Brimstone Corner : the Tavern and the Bay Path
47
The Little Estate
51
The Judge Whitman House
55
The William Cushing House
56
Mrs. Frances Gay Hersey
61
Oldham or Monument Pond
65
The Burton Homestead and the Union Store
67
Mr. Isaac Jennings
69
Great Herring or Furnace Pond, and the Graves of the Kings
76
Herring Brook: the Weir
82
The Friends' Meeting House
89
The Friends' Meeting House: Interior
91
The Anthony Collamore Estate
95
David Oldham Esquire 101
The Squire Keen Mansion
102
Oldham Manor from the South
110
The Indian Fields
113
Monument Island in Oldham Pond
117
The Turner Buttonwoods
119
The King's Highway and the Later Home of Dr.
Jeremiah Hall 125
ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
Deacon Seth Whitman
129
The Common at Pembroke 137
Indian Bridge 139
The Old Stone Pound
140
The Burying Ground at Pembroke
147
Mr. Henry Baker
161
The Third Meeting House
171
The Elijah Cushing House
176
14
ION
1
53
67
16
" Thousand flores . mit Day Path Je Kemassakuett For Liffer Lands.
72
55
46
1156
4
14
19
21
2.0
46
22
23
27 69 26
$8.19
68
28
m
85
3Y
70
46
60
E
64
Mattakeesett
Scale: 4200 feet to one inch
Key to the Map
1. Friends' Meeting House
2. Old Garrison
3. Town Hall
39. Isaac Oldham
4. Old Stone Pound
40 Thomas Burton
5. Herring Weir
41. Ambrose Parris
6. First Church
42. Luther Briggs
7. Burying Ground
43. Robinson's Creek
8. Barker Burying Ground
44. Pudding Brook
9. Shepherd's Sawmill
45. Little Pudding Brook
10. LeFurgey's Sawmill
46. Herring Brook
Barker Gristmill
47. Oldham Pond
11. Fulling Mill
48.
No Bottom Pond
49. Great Sandy Pond
50. Furnace Pond
15. Anthony Collamore
52. Hobomoc Pond
53. Indian Head River
17. Jeremiah Hall
54. Swamp Brook
18. Jabez Morse
55. The Neck
19. Isaac Hatch
56. Beaver Dam
57. Lovers' Retreat
58. Dancing Hill
59. Monument Island
23. Seth Whitman
60. The Indian Fields
24. Peter Salmond
25. Morrill Allen
26. Samuel Jacob
63. Ward Hill
27. Isaac Little
64. The Ridgepole
65. Highgary
66. Ludden's Ford
67. Brick Kiln Lane
68. Wallis Orchard
69. Cushing's Orchard
33. Charles Jones
34. Gideon Thomas White
35. Daniel Lewis
36. Asaph Tracy
71. The Tanpits
72. Lovers' Walk
73. The Graves of the Kings
12. Old Sawmill 13. The Furnace
14. Old Gristmill
51. Queen's Brook
16. Alexander Parris
20. Josiah Keen
21. Benjamin Barker
22. Samuel Webb
61. Indian Bridge 62. Sachems' Point
28. Henry Baker
29. Josiah Howland
30. Kilborn Whitman
51. Thomas Smith
32. Hannah Dunster
70. Sabbaday Orchard
37. James Bonney
38. General Oldham
Copyright 1902, by Geo. E. Lewis
The Old Garrison
ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
I. The Old Garrison.
Ruris primordia nostri.
T HE old garrison, homestead of the Barker family in Pembroke, was probably the first site to be occupied by an English colonist within the limits of what is now Pembroke and Hanson. Tradition has placed the date of its building as early as 1628, but research seems to indicate that 1650 is much nearer the true figure. Thus the long prevailing statement that Pembroke once possessed the oldest house then standing in Massachusetts, is shown to be without founda- tion. The antiquity and interest that centre in the venerable site, suffer little from a loss of twenty years.
Robert Barker, founder of the Barker family in America, first appears-in the year 1632-as a servant or apprentice of John Thorpe. Having attained his majority, he settled first in Marshfield; where he held certain town offices, and bought house and land in 1648. According to tradition, he soon after went exploring the inland country, ascended North River in an Indian canoe with a single white companion, Dolor Davis, and a negro, and instead of following the direct course of the stream, turned southward into one of the num- erous herring brooks which form its chief branches. Fortune favored them ; the stream, much larger before mill dams had obstructed its current, was ample for their light vessel, and brought them safely through the range of hills which, stretching northward from Highgary, or Pembroke Centre, shuts in North River on the east. They ascended to the point where the sawmill of Mr. Lemuel LeFurgey now stands,
ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
and proceeded to build a dwelling on a knoll just east of the stream. Their first winter was spent, it is said, in a dug-out. With the opening of spring were laid the foundations of the house torn down some fifteen years ago.
Of this, the earliest structure is reputed to have been a single room built of flat stones from the neighboring brook and fields, laid in clay, and covered with a shed roof. It was about twenty feet square and only six feet high, with a huge fireplace that took fully a third of the side wall. To this rude pioneer's dwelling Robert Barker brought home his young wife, Lucy Williams ; and here their children-Robert, Francis, Isaac, Abigail, and Rebecca-were born. In 1651, Myles Standish sold a lot of thirty-five acres at Namassa- kcesett to Robert Barker ; and a year or two later, the Town of Duxbury assigned him lands. A farm was cleared, and on its produce, eked out with fish from the herring brook near
by, the family lived and throve. At first there were no near neighbors; but in course of time, settlers came in from the coastlands of Duxbury, Marshfield, and Scituate, and formed a community centring at the Barker homestead. The house became a sort of tavern, or halfway house, much frequented by travellers between Plymouth and Boston. Here Judge Samuel Sewall-as his diary tells us-stopped for refresh- ment on his way to hold court at Plymouth; and in 1681, Robert Barker's wife was fined for selling cider to the In- dians.
Scarcely was the village of Namassakeesett well started in its growth, when the disastrous King Philip's War broke out, in the fall of 1675, and the colonists-grown careless from long peace-were driven to look for some place better fitted than their own frail dwellings to stand the brunt of a possi- ble Indian attack. The Barker homestead was central and strongly constructed; it stood on a knoll commanding the country for some distance around, and was out of bowshot from the high range of hills on the west; moreover, it had an inexhaustible supply of running water. This, then, was chosen as a garrison house, and put in such state of defence
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THE OLD GARRISON
as scanty means allowed. But the Indians who dwelt about the numerous ponds to the southwest, proved to be of peace- iul temper ; and no hostile baud came from a distance to lay waste the little plantation, as befell those of Scituate and Bridgewater on either side. The colonists ill requited the mildness of the Herring Pond Indians; wittingly or unwit- tingly, they sold them garments tainted with the deadly smallpox, and fully half the tribe perished by the disease. The broken remainder crossed over the pond and swamp district to the region long known as Tunk-which name, according to legend, means land beyond- and pitched their wigwams once more in the hill country of what is now Ilanson.
The settlement at Namassakeesett spread gradually over the territory thus abandoned by the natives, and entered on new and profitable industries. In 1702 several of the Barkers contracted with one Lambert Despard to set up a furnace on the east shore of Herring now Furnace Pond, where for some years thenceforth was carried on the smelt- ing of the iron ore abundant in its neighborhood. On the steep banks of a small stream flowing from this pond, may still be seen traces of the ancient furnace structure, and a considerable space of ground thickly strown with slag and broken ore.
Meanwhile, the inmates of the garrison returned to a peace footing; but the defensive structures were allowed to stand. A part of the barricade of hewn timber remained as late as 1777, and the loop-holes were visible when the house was destroyed. There can still be seen, leading from the west cellar toward the brook, an underground passage-now half choked with rubbish from the ruins-through which the garrison might smuggle water in case of siege. It must originally have been several feet square, and was carefully constructed with smooth flat stones; a few years ago it could be entered to a distance of more than twenty feet, and at this point turned sharply to the left; it is now sunken, the lower portions have fallen in, and the entrance itself is no longer passable.
21
ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
Not many years after the close of this war, the Barkers built a sawmill on the stream near the house, where the mill of Mr. Lemuel LeFurgey now stands ; here also they had a grist mill, which ground grain for the neighboring farmers. These industries descended to Robert, Francis, and Isaac, sons of the first Robert, all of thent active and capable men; who continued and enlarged the business. Robert, the founder of the family, died in 1691 at an advanced age, patriarch of the fast growing village of Namassakeesett.
Isaac Barker, his youngest son, succeeded to the homestead, and an attendant estate of more than one hundred acres. His wife was Judith, daughter of Governor Thomas Prence of Plymouth ; tradition states that she and her seven sisters were belles of the colony. Of her children,-to quote the manu- script of Hannah Barker, dating from 1830-"Rebecca mar- ried a Keen; Judith and Bathsheba married Howlands, and were mothers to the ancient Poets; and Mary, the youngest child, was the great traditionary historian, and progenitor of the Smiths. She was born in 1678, and when quite young, was set to guard the sheep that grazed on the lot below. Her favorite seat was a young elm; its branches were flexible, and served as a tilt: it was a native of the forest, and grew to a gigantic size. The spot where the sheep grazed, was the first cleared land in town ; it is now a rich English meadow in its native state, and the plow has never upturned its green sward. After the sportiveness of youth was passed, Mary did as most others do, and changed her name to Crosby; the hus- band died, and she married a Miller; after burying him, she lived a widow-for reasons unknown-42 years and 2 months, and died in 1772, aged 94 years." When the children of Isaac and Judith Barker were still young, King William's War, first of the great French and Indian series, broke out ; and their youth was passed among the alarms, if not among the actual horrors, of war. The hostile forces did not, how- ever, penetrate to the seaboard villages, and this particular settlement received no damage.
Namassakeesett was fast outgrowing its status as a
22
The Barker House from the Fields
THE OLD GARRISON
dependent village; men of enterprise and education were coming in -- not to speak of the increasing families of the first settlers. It must be remembered that the Barkers and their neighbors, living as they did in a remote region of the town of Duxbury, were put to great inconvenience. Frequent journeys to the seat of government were necessary ; these must be taken afoot or on horseback over rough bridle-paths, through woods as yet teeming with dangerous animals. Church and state were one : and every Sunday the family must travel these fifteen or twenty weary miles to and from meet- ing, or suffer themselves to become outcasts from society. Early in 1711, the inhabitants of what is now Pembroke and Hanson began to agitate incorporation. Their desire was strongly opposed by the citizens of Duxbury proper, who finally yielded when certain rich farms in the present village of West Duxbury were conceded to them. A petition was presented to the General Court at Boston-for in 1692 the seat of government had passed thither from Plymouth-ask- ing the incorporation of certain districts in Plymouth Colony as a new town, to be called Brookfield. These districts were: a tract known as The Major's Purchase, bought from the Indians by Major Winslow of Marshfield, now in Hanson; a tract known as Marshfield Upper Lands, now western and southern Pembroke, then a part of the common lands of Marshfield; and the northern part of Duxbury proper, in what is now Pembroke, consisting of lands held partly on particular grants and partly in comnon. The Indian name for so much of these tracts as lies along the course of the Herring Brook, and about the Ponds, was Namassakeesett, or Place of Much Fish; the region now Hanson was called Tunk; and the general term for Pembroke proper was Matta- keesett, or Worn-out Planting Lands-applied in reminiscence
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