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HISTORIC DUXBURY
IN PLYMOUTH COUNTY MASSACHUSETTS
by Laurence Bradford
Incorporated June 17 1637
Reserve Storage Collection
1900
SS
S
Class
F14
Book: 195 38
Copyright Nº _ Copy2
COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT.
GPO
L
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SUMMIT OF STANDISH MONUMENT.
HISTORIC DUXBURY IN
PLYMOUTH COUNTY MASSACHUSETTS
BY LAURENCE BRADFORD
" Children of faith, they walked by future light : The glory not yet come illumed their way."
BOSTON THE FISH PRINTING COMPANY 1900
F74 I95 B8 Capy 2
23797
COPIES RECEN JUL 23 1900 Dongur try
June 22, 1900 a, 15448 FAST COPY.
ORDER DIVISION JUL 25 1900
COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY LAURENCE BRADFORD.
TO THE OFFICERS OF THE Standish Monument Association, THROUGH WHOSE EFFORTS THE MONUMENT HAS BEEN COMPLETED), THIS BOOK IS Dedicated.
H. H 0. 0 /ip 30
PREFACE.
T HE object of this book is to give a brief sketch of the town of Duxbury, mostly for the tourist and summer visitor. Particu- larly is it the intention to give an account of Capt. Myles Standish, the most distinguished character the town has had, and the monu- ment to his memory, which after over thirty years in building has at last been completed, the loftiest to a single individual this side of Baltimore. The writer has gained his information from the long residence of his family in the town and from his acquaintance with many of the inhabitants of this and a past generation. Also from the books that have from time to time been published, which have been freely consulted, a list of which is appended. Duxbury is so closely related to the Plymouth Colony that a history of the latter has in it much that relates to this town. It cannot be denied that everything connected with these first Colonists has an interest for the American people, and a more romantic sentiment is accorded to them than to the settlers of the more prosperous sister colonies. The orator, poet, and historian have sought to do them honor. Even President Lincoln, born amidst such different surroundings, gave them his best mead of praise; and Daniel Webster, who lived and died in the neighboring town of Marsh- field, originally a part of Duxbury, said to one of the writer's family, with whom he was intimate, that he felt more pride in his
vi
PREFACE.
oration at Plymouth on the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Landing of the Pilgrims, than in any one of his other addresses.
The writer would acknowledge his obligations to Mr. F. B. KNAPP of Powder Point, Dr. MYLES STANDISH of Boston, and L. BOYER'S SONS of New York City, for the use of valuable plates ; to Mrs. LUCIA A. KNAPP of Plymouth for pen-and-ink sketch, and particularly to Miss HARRIET J. FORD of this town, for the design of the artistic cover and for pen-and-ink drawings.
BOOKS.
BRADFORD'S HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH PLANTATION, 1620-1646. Published first by the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1856, and later by the state of Massachusetts in 1898.
THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC: AN HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE COLONY OF NEW PLYMOUTH. By John H. Goodwin. Boston, 1888.
THE PILGRIM FATHERS; OR, THE FOUNDERS OF NEW ENGLAND. By Wm. H. Bartlett. An English work published in London in 1853.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF DUXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS. By Justin Winsor. Boston, 1849.
MEMORIALS OF THE SPRAGUE FAMILY. By Richard Soule, Jr. Boston, 1847. LANDMARKS OF PLYMOUTH. By Wm. T. Davis. Boston, 1883.
MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD, AND GUIDE-BOOK TO ITS LOCALITIES AT GREEN HARBOR. By Marcia A. Thomas. Boston, 1854.
LIFE AND TIME OF WILLIAM BREWSTER. By Rev. Ashbel Steele. Phila- delphia, 1857.
DUXBURY, June 17, 1900.
I. B.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
I. THE TOWN AND EARLY SETTLERS II
II. CAPT. MYLES STANDISH 22
III. ELDER WILLIAM BREWSTER 34
IV. JOHN ALDEN 36
V. THE STANDISH MONUMENT 39
VI. CAPTAIN'S HILL . 43
VII. OLD BURIAL PLACES . 55
VIII. SHIPBUILDING 66
IX. ROADS 89
X. MAPS 94
XI. OLD HOUSES 97
XII. ANTIQUARIES
.
103
XIII. KINGSTON AND GREEN HARBOR . 106
116
XIV. THE FRENCH CABLE
.
122 XV. 250TH ANNIVERSARY . .
XVI. THE CLAM .
126
.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
SUMMIT OF STANDISH MONUMENT Frontispiece
ISLAND CREEK POND . 17
WOOD ROADS . 17
CRANBERRY FACTORY POND
19
A VIEW IN DUXBURY WOODS 20
DUXBURY YACHT CLUB, REGATTA DAY
20
DUXBURY TOWN SEAL.
Tailpiece .
33
THE ALDEN HOUSE
37
THE STANDISH MONUMENT
39
STANDISH RELICS IN PILGRIM HALL. Tailpiece . 42
DUXBURY BEACH
47
STANDISH MONUMENT FROM POWDER POINT
49
THE ALDEN BURIAL STONE 59
61
THE STANDISH MEMORIAL. Tailpiece 65
THE WINSLOW HOUSE 97
PLAN OF CELLAR, STANDISH'S HOUSE 98
ALEXANDER STANDISH'S HOUSE
100
HOUSES OF THE EZRA WESTONS
102
THE WEBSTER HOUSE III
THE WINSLOW ARMS II4 .
THE WINSLOW TOMB.
Tailpiece
115
SECTIONS OF THE FRENCH CABLE 118
THE FRENCH CABLE. Tailpiece
121
THE CLAM. Tailpiece
I28
.
STANDISH'S GRAVE
.
HISTORIC DUXBURY.
I.
THE TOWN AND EARLY SETTLERS.
T "HE Pilgrims settled first, as is well known, along Leyden Street, in Plymouth, from the shore to Burial Hill, where they had built a fort. Palisades were built on each side of this street, allowing room for gardens, gates being placed at two side streets. The fort in the rear, and the bay as an opening in front, would be considered a good military position. 'Soon, how- ever, their numbers so increased that it became necessary to separate, more land being needed for pasturage and cultivation. They scattered around the bay shores, keeping as near to each other and to Plymouth as practicable.
The Indians had been greatly reduced in numbers in this locality by a plague, and the few remaining do not seem to have been much at home on the water, as we find little mention of their canoeing; while the English were notably more or less sailors, choosing their lands near the sea, and showing reluctance to move inland, the interior of Plymouth and much of Dux- bury being unsettled to this day. Captain's Hill early attracted attention, with its wide views of the surrounding country, its very fertile soil and easy access to Plymouth. Standish, Brew- ster and Alden are thought to have settled here as early as 1630, or before, and soon after others made their homes about what was called Morton's Bay, at the head of which the first
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HISTORIC DUXBURY.
meeting-house, as the church was called in those days, was built, about 1637. The earliest settlers returned to Plymouth in winter, as the record says, " to insure their better attendance at public worship," and for fear of attacks by the Indians in this exposed situation. In about 1632 the Church was gathered, the first offshoot of the Plymouth Church, though there was no settled pastor till 1637, when the Rev. Ralph Partridge was installed. The old record says: "In the year 1632 a number of the brethren inhabiting on the other side of the bay, at a place since called Duxborough, growing weary of attending the worship of God at such distance, asked, and were granted a dismission, and soon after being embodied into a Church they procured the Rev. Ralph Partridge, a gracious man of great abilities, to be their pastor."
It is due to the Rev. E. S. V. Huiginn, pastor of the Epis- copal Church of Duxbury from 1890 to 1893, that the site of the first church building was ascertained. All old residents knew that the second building was on the east side of the old burial ground, near the head of Morton's Bay. This is known to have been built in 1706, and is shown on a reprint of a map made by Chas. Blaskowitz in 1767, alluded to in chapter on Maps.
There was a tradition that the first church building was at Harden Hill, a small peninsula on the northerly side of Captain's Hill, and even Mr. Justin Winsor, the town historian, was de- ceived by this tradition. Mr. Huiginn found the record that placed the matter beyond doubt : that the first church was near the second, on the easterly side of the old burial ground.
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THE TOWN AND EARLY SETTLERS.
The town was incorporated June 7, 1637, old style, or June 17, 1637, new style. This is the record of the enactment by the Governor and his Council of the Plymouth Colony: "It is enacted by the Court that Ducksborrow shall become a town- ship, and unite together for their better security, and to have the privileges of a town, only their bounds and limits shall be sett, and appointed by the next Court." The name Duxbury, though spelled in various ways in early times, probably came from Duxbury Hall, one of the country seats of the Standish family in England. Some good authorities differ, however, from this opinion. The Indian name was the melodious one of Mattakeeset, which has been happily perpetuated in the name of the Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of the town.
The population has greatly varied at different times. As early as 1643 it was supposed to be about 400. In 1710, also by supposition, about 1, 100. In 1770-1, 152; 1790-1,454; 1800-1,664; 1810-2,201; 1820-2,403; 1830-2,716; 1840-2,798; 1850-2,679; 1860-2,597; 1880-2,196; 1890-1,908; 1895-1,966.
It is noticed that the decrease has been large since 1840, but it should be considered that only the legal residents are counted, while there is an ever increasing population of summer residents.
Among the early settlers mentioned by the historians are the following :
John Howland, who moved to town at an early date, having had grants of land at Island Creek Pond, also two
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HISTORIC DUXBURY.
small islands at Green Harbor, called Spectacle and Ann Islands. He seems afterwards to have returned to Plymouth, where he died in 1672. A stone of slate on Burial Hill marks his resting-place. The following mishap befell him on the voyage over, as related by Bradford: " In a mighty storm a lusty young man called John Howland was with a heele of ye shipe throwne into ye sea, but it pleased God y't he caught hould of ye top saile halliards, which hung over board, & rane out at length, yet he held his hould though he was sundrie fadomes under water, till he was hald up by ye same rope to ye brime of ye water, and then with a boat hooke, and other means got into ye shipe againe, and though he was something ill with it, yet he lived many years after, and became a profitable member both in church, and comone wealthe." George Soule, a passenger on the "Mayflower," was a man who did good ser- vice to the town, frequently serving in the Court of Depu- ties, and holding other offices, which prove him to have been a man of ability ; and he left a numerous posterity, who have since been an honor to the town. He was granted land at Powder Point.
In 1637, of the twenty-seven heads of families who came in the ship "Fortune" in 1621, the following became pro- prietors of land in Duxbury: Robert Hicks, Thomas Prence, Moses Simmons, Philip Delano, Edward Bumpus, William Palmer, Jonathan Brewster, Thomas Morton and William Basset. The name Delano is evidently of French origin, and was originally spelled Delanoye ; some say De la Noye. The
15
THE TOWN AND EARLY SETTLERS.
progenitor is said to have been a French Protestant who joined the Church at Leyden. He was a land surveyor, and much respected. He owned lands at Millbrook.
The first physician of Duxbury was Comfort Starr, who came here about 1638, but afterwards moved to Boston; Samuel Seabury was another physician who came here before 1660. William Collier, one of the merchant adventurers in England, came over and settled near Standish and Brewster about 1635. He also had land at North Hill.
George Partridge came to Duxbury about 1636. He was a respectable yeoman from the County of Kent, England, where he owned an estate. He was the ancestor of the George Partridge who founded the Partridge Academy. Lands were granted him at Powder Point, Green Harbor, Island Creek and Millbrook. Henry Sampson was a young man who came on the " Mayflower," but was too young to sign the compact. He was admitted a freeman in 1637, and had a large family, whose descendants are numerous and respected in the town today. Constant Southworth was a son of Alice Southworth, who came from England in 1623, and soon after married Governor Bradford. He was an active and enterprising towns- man. Christopher Wadsworth was the first constable of Dilx- bury, an office that required a man of ability and honesty, and it is said "a perusal of the records will at once assure us of his worth and respectability, which his numerous de- scendants in every generation have well retained." Edmund Weston, an enterprising ancestor of a noted family, came in 1639. He lived at Millbrook and Green Harbor, and was
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HISTORIC DUXBURY.
the progenitor of the Ezra Westons alluded to in the chapter on Shipbuilding.
The following is a list of freemen in 1646, the earliest of which there is any record :
John Alden.
John Paybody,
Wm. Basset,
George Partridge,
Wm. Brett,
Ralph Partridge,
Thomas Besbeech,
Abraham Peirce,
Love Brewster,
Joseph Rogers,
Jno. Brewster,
Moyses Symonson,
Roger Chandler,
Constant South worth,
Edmond Chandler,
Comfort Starr,
WVm. Collier,
Captain Standish,
Job Cole,
George Soule,
Philip Delano,
Henry Sampson,
Lt. Wm. Holmes,
Francis Sprague,
Thomas Heyward,
John Tisdall,
Henry Howland,
Stephen Tracy,
Wm. Kemp,
Wm. Tubbs,
Experience Mitchell,
Samuel Nash,
Christopher Wadsworth, John Washburn.
It must be confessed when writing of this old town that one necessarily dwells on the past, and those of us who are natives are somewhat susceptible to the criticism of an Eng- lish author writing of Plymouth: "That the present inhab- itants lived on the reputation of its first founders," but in reply we might give the words of one of his greatest coun- trymien, Lord Macaulay, from whose History of England this quotation is taken : " A people which take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendants."
--
ISLAND CREEK POND.
WOOD ROADS.
17
THE TOWN AND EARLY SETTLERS.
Though much of the material prosperity of Duxbury passed away with the decline of shipbuilding, the ocean, its chief attraction, remains the same yesterday, today and for- ever. The waters of the bay are as blue and the breezes as fresh as in those olden days. Many who think the old town dull have only to spend a few short years in some crowded city or busy town, to long for the fresh salt breeze and the sweet smell of the piney woods of old Duxbury. The snow- drifts are hardly melted in the springtime when the sons and daughters of Duxbury come back to gather the pink Mayflowers, natives of these woods, and sweetest of all flow- ers to many who have hunted for them in days of youth and childhood. In May when the apple orchards are in full bloom and the roadsides white with masses of the flowering wild plum, many of the summer people come back to their homes; but when Duxbury puts on her summer garb in June, and the daisies wave on every meadow and hilltop, from the blue bay back to the thick pine woods, then come the troops of people, young and old, bent on health and pleasure. They bathe in the bay and drive through the tangled and mysterious roads of the famous Duxbury woods, where they frequently lose themselves, or have to turn about in a road that suddenly ends nowhere in particular. Above all, they sail the bay.
" The bay of great surprises and unexpected lands,
Which when you least desire them, roll up their golden sands. "
Most of our summer friends prefer the shore, but many old farmhouses in quiet neighborhoods back from the sea
18
HISTORIC DUXBURY.
have passed into the hands of city people; and the fields where once the Duxbury farmer toiled, now resound with the gay voices of hatless youths and maidens, and the sound of the golf and tennis ball.
Our shore line, eight miles in length from Cove Street to the westerly side of Captain's Hill, is thickly scattered with pleasant and attractive homes, and designated "The Point," " The Village," " Hall's Corner," and "The Standish Shore." From Hall's Corner to the Kingston line a road runs up and down among the hills and meadows near the sea, full of wild beauty and charm, called Border Street.
From Captain's Hill, or standing in the belfry of the first church, one sees before him the apparently unbroken sweep of the Duxbury woods as far as the eye can reach. These woods are intersected with winding, puzzling roads that lead to the pretty little villages of Island Creek, Tinkertown, Tarkiln, West Duxbury, Ashdod, and Crooked Lane, or North Duxbury. In these woods are many pretty ponds ; an illustration of one, Cranberry Factory Pond, is here given. There is now a sawmill at the end of this pond, but the . name came from a cotton or woolen factory that was once in the place of this mill. Driving from Kingston on Tremont Street, now the State road, one comes suddenly from the woods to a simple and appropriate Soldiers' Monument, which tells of the brave sons of Duxbury who fell in the Civil War. And among the white stones of the cemetery many little flags wave over their graves. Near the cemetery stands the Unitarian Church, a large building seldom filled
19
THE TOWN AND EARLY SETTLERS.
except when some great occasion stirs the town. The Town Hall stands near by, and the Partridge Academy, named for its donor, George Partridge, a valued townsman who was born in 1740, graduated from Harvard College in 1760, was a member of the Continental Congress and of the Congress of the United States, and was for thirty years
CRANBERRY FACTORY POND.
high sheriff of Plymouth County. Why these important buildings were placed in this quiet spot is a question that naturally comes to the mind of a stranger, and the expla- nation seems to be that this is about the geographical center of the town, " and the intention was to accommodate everybody."
Another institution of pride is the Public Library on St.
20
HISTORIC DUXBURY.
George Street, presented to Duxbury by Mrs. Georgianna B. Wright. The building was remodeled and comfortable reading-rooms made. Mrs. Wright, her family and others gave many books, and these donations, with a testamentary bequest by Mr. Henry Winsor of Philadelphia, make a very fair collection.
The Congregational and the St. John's Episcopal churches are in the village on Washington Street, and are of the usual type of country churches built in this century. Although the population is small it is scattered over an extensive area, and the Government allows six post-offices within the limits; namely, Duxbury, South Duxbury, Island Creek, Millbrook, West Duxbury, North Duxbury, and one at the Standish Shore in the summer, at the Myles Standish Hotel. Tre- mont Street runs from near the Marshfield line to Kingston, and is the longest street. It has been taken by the Com- monwealth for a State road, and is now being macadamized. Washington, a very pleasant and attractive street, runs from Powder Point to Captain's Hill, near the shore of the bay, and from it branch pretty little roadways down to the water's edge. Our bay is a remarkably fine one for boating, owing to its sheltered situation; and there are many places of interest for the voyager to visit.
For many years the yacht races have attracted much attention and brought many people to the place. The ex- tensive flats which appear at low tide are somewhat of an impediment, as many an inexperienced boatman has cause to know. But it is a fact that the constant ebb and flow
A VIEW IN DUXBURY WOODS.
DUXBURY YACHT CLUB, REGATTA DAY.
21
THE TOWN AND EARLY SETTLERS.
of the tide helps to keep the harbor clean and healthful. There are places along the coast where by cross action of the currents there is but slight movement of the tide. Those who have been to these places, and seen the dead and stagnant water along the shore would appreciate this great advantage. There is a flourishing yacht club with a clubhouse on the village shore, that was patronized by the noted actress, the late Fanny Davenport, who had her residence here, - a handsome modern dwelling of the chateau-like style of architecture, called Melbourne Hall. This is Duxbury of today: a quiet place of natural and characteristic beauty ; and many come and come again, and linger till the leaves begin to fall, and chilly winds remind them that the summer is gone.
" There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar. Time writes no wrinkle on its azure brow; Such as Creation's dawn beheld, it rollest now."
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HISTORIC DUXBURY.
II.
CAPTAIN MYLES STANDISH.
" IN the Old Colony days, in Plymouth the land of the Pilgrim, To and fro in a room of his simple and primitive dwelling, Clad in doublet and hose, and boots of Cordovan leather, Strode, with a martial air, Myles Standish, the Puritan captain."
H E was born in 1584, in the county of Lancashire, Eng- land, and belonged to the Standishes of Standish Hall, and was the only one of the " Mayflower" Pilgrims of high descent, according to the laws of England. His family dated back to the time of the Conquest, and is in existence there today. Many were knighted and ennobled by peerages dur- ing their long existence. Their estates are very valuable in mines and land in this county, near the village of Chorley, where exists the ancient church in whose vaults lie the bodies of many members of this ancient family and the ancestors of Myles Standish.
Many years before his time the family had divided into two branches: one the Standishes of Standish, and the other that of Duxbury Hall or Park; and the family early divided in their religious beliefs, that of the Standishes of Standish being Roman Catholic, and those of Duxbury Hall being Protestant. Capt. Myles came from the family of Standish of Standish, and that he was heir to some of the family estates there is no doubt, as he claimed them himself and left his right by testamentary bequest to his son Alexander,
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CAPTAIN MYLES STANDISH.
the text of which is added further along; and this son in his turn bequeathed his right to his children. Perhaps the Captain was less skillful in obtaining his legal rights than in fighting with more deadly weapons his fellowmen.
Attempts have been made from time to time to recover this property, the most important effort being that by an organized association in 1846, accounts of which are found in the books of Old Colony history, a list of which is appended at the beginning of this volume.
Dr. Myles Standish of Boston, who has visited at various times the homes of his ancestors in England, Standish and Duxbury Halls, and whose father was secretary of the society formed in this country to recover the property, informs me that the litigation between the two branches of the family was old even in Capt. Myles' time; that when one side got an advantage of possession over the other, they would destroy all the legal evidence that might help their opponent, and that one suit was in the Courts of Chancery for three hundred years.
Of the early life of Capt. Myles Standish we know little. The first mention of him is that in Queen Elizabeth's time he held a commission as Lieutenant in the English forces that were fighting the Spanish in the Netherlands, and it was during the truce that existed between the combatants that he joined the Plymouth Pilgrims. It appears that he never joined the Pilgrim Church strictly as a church mem- ber, but, be that as it may, he fully and entirely cast his lot in with theirs, and rendered them inestimable service from
24
HISTORIC DUXBURY.
the time of his joining them till the day of his death. He bore not only all of their hardships, but as Bradford particu- larly mentions in his history, was one of those who nursed the others through their sickness and sore straits during the first winter. He was their military savior on numerous occa- sions, as is told in the various histories of the Plymouth and Massachusetts colonies; and he was not less efficient in shaping the civil policy, being constantly on the Board of Assistants to the Governor, and serving in many other capaci- ties connected with the infant Colony. He was chosen the attorney of the English Company under the Royal Charter of the Great Patent of New England to transfer to the Ply- mouth Settlement a charter of their proprietary rights in 1629, this document being in existence today, preserved in the Registry of Deeds office in Plymouth.
He joined the Pilgrims at Leyden with his wife Rose, not long before the sailing of the "Speedwell," and was with the settlers in Plymouth after the landing, till he removed to Duxbury, which may have been before 1630. It is told in the early records that the first settlers lived in Duxbury only in the summer time, going to Plymouth for the winter ; and Captain Standish is mentioned in 1632 as one of those who promised to live in the town in the winter " that they may the better repair to the worship of God." Captain Standish settled on a bluff overlooking Plymouth, the site of his house being known, and of unquestionable authen- ticity, and is particularly described under the chapter on Old Houses. Here Captain Standish lived till his death, on
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