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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
NO
C
LIBRARY
Harvard University, Memorial Hall and Library.
H ISTORY OF M IDDLESEX COUNTY,
MASSACHUSETTS,
CONTAINING CAREFULLY PREPARED HISTORIES
OF
EVERY CITY AND TOWN IN THE COUNTY,
BY WELL-KNOWN WRITERS; AND
A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY,
FROM THE EARLIEST TO THE PRESENT TIME.
BY
SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE,
..
AUTHOR OF "OLD LANDMARKS OF BOSTON," "NOOKS AND CORNERS OF THE NEW ENGLAND COAST," ETC.
VOL. I. PUBLIC LIBRA
THE
Y
ILLUSTRATED.
BOSTON: ESTES AND LAURIAT, PUBLISHERS, 301 WASHINGTON STREET. 1880.
*1/2 MTD6 vol.1 Cof y.2
Copyright, BY ESTES & LAURIAT. 1879.
dupl
for l. H. But FL. Man 7, 1138 B
2 valsi
3HT 40
JOHN WILSON
& SON.
-
UNIVERSITY PRESS.
PREFACE.
T HE purpose of an historical introduction to these volumes is, chiefly, to present a narrative of public events which would dispense with frequent repetitions in the histories of the separate towns constituting the county, and thus secure a unity other- wise unattainable. For this design a general outline of the colonial history of Mas- sachusetts was found to be indispensable.
No history of Middlesex could be written that did not largely embody the annals of Charlestown, the parent of all the towns of the county; the important part has, therefore, been related in the introduction, instead of in a separate article.
The history of Brighton, which so long formed a constituent part of the county, was also deemed essential to the general completeness of the work, more especially as the municipality has no separate written history of its own.
Deeming such a course not only equitable, but for the interests of historic truth, the authors of the articles in this work have freely expressed their own views upon controverted questions, but the editor accepts the responsibility only for what is em- braced in the introductory chapters.
MELROSE, August 20, 1879.
SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE.
CONTENTS.
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY. BY SAMUEL A. DRAKE.
PAGE.
PAGE
THE MASSACHUSETTS COMPANY 17
THE LEADERS : THEIR RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL
AIMS 22
THE PRELUDE TO HOSTILITIES 111
RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF THE EMIGRATION 32
THE NIGHT ALARM IN MIDDLESEX 114
THE SETTLEMENT OF CHARLESTOWN 38
THE BATTLES OF LEXINGTON AND CONCORD . 119
THE SITUATION BEFORE BUNKER HILL 128
PROGRESS IN THE COLONY . 48
PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE 135
FROM 1634 TO THE CLOSE OF THE PEQUOT WAR . 58
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL . 141
THE INVESTMENT OF BOSTON . 154
EVENTS TO THE CLOSE OF THE CENTURY 168
FIFTY YEARS OF PROSPERITY .
173
THE SOUTHERN REBELLION
178
COTTON MANUFACTURE. - WALTHAM. - LOWELL. -
OTHER INDUSTRIES
. 183
FROM THE BEGINNING OF QUEEN ANNE'S WAR TO
CANALS AND RAILWAYS
188
TOWNS IN MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
ACTON . Rev. Franklin P. Wood 196
ARLINGTON William R. Cutter . 208
ASHBY . Francis Tinker 218
CONCORD . Ron. Grindall Reynolds 380
ASHLAND W. F. Ellis, assisted by Elias Grout 227 DRACUT
Rev. Elias Nason . 406
AYER Samuel A. Green, M. D. 235
DUNSTABLE 416
BEDFORD Josiah A. Stearns . 241
EVERETT Dudley P. Bailey . 428
BELMONT . John L. Alexander, M. D. . 251
FRAMINGHAM
. Rev. Josiah H. Temple . 435
BILLERICA Frederic P. Hill . 254
GROTON
Samuel A. Green, M. D. . 454
BOXBOROUGH Rev. Nathan Thompson 271
HOLLISTON . Ren. George F. Walker . 470
BRIGHTON
Rec. Frederic A. Whitney 27S
HOPKINTON
Rev. Elias Nason
. 483
BURLINGTON
. Samuel Sewall 296
HUDSON
. Hon. Charles Hudson 496
CAMBRIDGE
Rev. Edward Abbott . 305
CARLISLE .
B. F. Heald . 359
CHELMSFORD
Frederic P. Hill . 367
FROM THE PEQUOT WAR TO THE FORMATION OF THE COUNTY 68
THIRTY YEARS OF PEACE 74
KING PHILIP'S WAR . SO
TRANSITION FROM THE COLONY TO THE PROVINCE. -
WITCHCRAFT. - KING WILLIAM'S WAR
89
THE FALL OF LOUISBURG 97
TO THE DEATH OF GEORGE II. 102 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 104
THE GREAT EMIGRATION
42
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS, PLANS, ETC.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, MEMORIAL HALL AND LI-
BRARY .
THOMAS TALBOT .
270
·
Frontispiece
MAP OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY
16
SEAL OF BRIGIITON .
278
THE ARBELLA IN MID-OCEAN .
23
QUARREL BETWEEN WINTHROP AND DUDLEY
51
WILLIAMS BAFFLING PEQUOT EMISSARIES
61
SLAUGHTER OF PEQUOTS
65
WHIPPING QUAKERS AT THE CART'S TAIL
77
DEATH OP PHILIP
85
ANDROS A PRISONER IN BOSTON
91
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN .
103
DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA
105
THE SIGNAL
114
THE MIDNIGHT CALL TO ARMS
115
CHRIST CHURCH, BOSTON
117
ROADS IN LEXINGTON, 1775
119
MAP SHOWING ROADS AND HISTORIC LOCALITIES OF
CONCORD .
121
WRIGHT'S TAVERN .
122
MERRIAM'S CORNER
124
ISRAEL PUTNAM (from an English print of 1775)
137
PLAN OP THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL, JUNE 17,
1775 (from Lossing)
142
BREED'S AND BUNKER HILLS FROM THE NAVY-YARD,
ABOUT 1826
. 143
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL (after Trumbull) . 152
THE WASHINGTON ELM, CAMBRIDGE 156
PEALE'S WASHINGTON (Gallery of Versailles) 157
S. F. B. MORSE
. 174
BUNKER HILL MONUMENT .
175
LAFAYETTE
176
HARVARD'S MONUMENT
177
DAVIS MONUMENT, ACTON
205
WEST CAMBRIDGE IN 1817
212
ASSAULT ON BILLERICA
257
OLD FIRST CHURCH OF BRIGHTON ; ERECTED 1744,
REMOVED 1811
280
ANCIENT OAK OF BRIGHTON
293
SEWALL HOUSE, BURLINGTON
300
JAMES WALKER, D. D. .
304
HOOKER'S COMPANY REACH THE CONNECTICUT 311
THE OLD PARSONAGE : BUILT IN 1670: CAMBRIDGE . 325
MEETING-HOUSE ERECTED IN 1756 - 57
332
THE OLD GAMBREL-ROOFED HOUSE .
337
WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS (Longfellow's Resi-
dence)
338
GEORGE WASHINGTON
. 346
QUADRANGLE, HARVARD COLLEGE
349
HARVARD COLLEGE IN 1836
.
. 350
LOUIS AGASSIZ
357
EPISCOPAL THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL
. 358
THE OLD JAIL, CONCORD
386
PINE-TREE FLAG
387
THE BRITISH AT COLONEL BARRETT'S
387
THE PROVINCIALS AT PUNKATASSET
. 388
THE REGULARS AT ELISHA JONES' HOUSE .
389
THE COMBAT AT NORTH BRIDGE
. 390
THE TWO MONUMENTS
402
" THE WAYSIDE," (Hawthorne's Residence)
. 404
THE OLD MANSE
404
MASSACRE OF THE EAMES FAMILY, FRAMINGHAM
. 437
A FALSE ALARM, PHILIP'S WAR
459
LAWRENCE ACADEMY, GROTON
. 465
ABBOTT LAWRENCE
468
AMOS LAWRENCE
. 468
TOWN HALL, HUDSON .
502
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
I.
THE MASSACHUSETTS COMPANY.
I T is not often that so small a political division as a county obtains a history of national sig- nificance. For us, the explana- tion is easy. In New England there is no difference of race, language, or religion to perpet- nate distinctions. The county is usually regarded as a con- venient subdivision of the ter- ritory of a state for the ordinary purposes of gov- ernment, nothing more. Accident, and accident alone, may have made the ground historic. Family traditions may do something; but it is only in a few instances that a sentimental attachment can be founded on them. The state claims the citizen ; the citizen, the state.
But it has happened in the State of Massachu- setts that the counties of Plymouth, Essex, and Middlesex, instead of being merely the expansion from a common centre of population, were origi- nally distinct political communities, and have, therefore, to some extent, a separate history of their own. Plymouth was a separate colony and government until the accession of William III. Essex witnessed the laying of the foundations for the colony of Massachusetts Bay ; Middlesex, the formal assumption of government, under the royal charter, by men who brought with them to the New World the germ of an independent state. Thus, these three communities indicate three historic eras. Not merely accidental collections of adven- turers, they are the embodiment of great principles which in time became the ruling ideas of a nation. To New England they indicate not only the boun- dary between barbarism and civilization, but the centres from which most of her native-born popu- lation is derived. In so far as great events may
illustrate a history, Middlesex surpasses her sister- hood of original shires. So much is hers of right to claim. It concerns ns that the justice of this claim shall lose nothing by our presentation of it.
The History of Middlesex is so interwoven with that of the colony, province, and commonwealth, that it is indispensable to a correct understanding of the relation it bears to each, the causes which led to the settlements of 1628 and 1630, and the principles that animated the settlers, to review such portions of the common history as may guide to an intelligent opinion of the movement which resulted in establishing a second English colony in Massa- chusetts Bay. It is inseparable from the fact that the settlement of 1630 began upon territory of which the county was subsequently formed, and because the first church, the first formal act of government, were instituted and enacted there. A simple recital of what history has preserved of the principles and acts of the founders of the colony seems, therefore, the appropriate introduction to our subject.
We do not consider it needful to recapitulate the various attempts, successful or unsuccessful, to colonize New England. A knowledge of them is not essential to our present purpose. The found- ing of the colony of Massachusetts Bay constitutes a distinct and compact chapter of American history, having little or no relation to other attempts ex- cept in so far as they directed men's eyes and thoughts to New England when the time was ripe for a more vigorous and more prosperous under- taking. Already a little band of religious exiles had planted themselves in a corner of the Bay, and, by exercising the most heroic fortitude, history records, founded the colony of Plymouth. In point of time, in point of heroism, in respect of aims, civil and religious, that immortal little community
18
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
takes precedence of every other ; and it must ever continue to command the unbounded admiration and respect of posterity.
Plymouth Colony had been in existence four years, and had given such assurance of its ability to sustain itself as to embolden some gentlemen of the West of England to attempt beginning a plantation at Cape Ann. In 1624 these persons formed a joint stock association known as the Dorchester Company, and sent over a number of emigrants to begin the work of planting and fishing, and to prepare the way for those that might come after them. The Rev. John White, a Puritan minister of Dorchester, England, appears prominently as one of the promoters of this enterprise, of which he doubtless considered himself the father. So far as the evidence goes, the Dorchester Company had no other motive than gain. By a permanent settle- ment they facilitated the fishery and increased its profits.
The handful of settlers at Cape Ann were joined the next year by Roger Conant, a " pious, sober, and prudent gentleman," and by John Lyford, a minister, both of whom had left Plymouth and were then living at Nantasket. Conant was appointed governor of the plantation at Cape Ann, and Ly- ford was invited to be its minister. Notwithstand- ing the excellent character given of him, Conant was unable to repress the insubordination of the lawless men sent over by the Company ; while the "Compiny, discouraged by heavy losses, very soon determined to sell their ships and abandon the enterprise. They offered a free passage home to England to such as wished to return ; but Conant and a few others, upon the assurance of Mr. White that he would procure them a patent and send them men and provisions, decided to remain. Mean- while, not liking their situation on the sterile cape, Conant and his men removed to Naumkeag, now Salem, where they cleared land, built houses, and awaited the fulfilment of the promise of efficient help. And this was the state of affairs at Naum- keag in 1626.
During the years 1626 and 1627 a movement for planting another colony in Massachusetts Bay was freshly agitated and finally matured. It origi- nated, or is believed to have originated, with the Rev. John White, already mentioned, whose aim was to sustain the weak plantation at Cape Ann, which threatened to dissolve unless speedy meas- ures were taken for its relief.
Through the active, unremitting exertions of
Mr. White, several gentlemen of Dorchester, or belonging to the neighborhood, purchased of the Council of Plymouth all that part of New England comprised between a point on the coast line three miles north of the Merrimack River and three south of the Charles, and extending westward to the South Sea. All the lesser grants which had from time to time been made within this territory were considered forfeited, or annulled, by the terms of the new cession, which was executed the 19th of March, 1628. The grantees took the name of the Massachusetts Company.
The names of the new patentees are Sir Henry Rosewell, Sir John Young, knights, and Thomas Southcoat, John Humphrey, John Endicott, and Simon Whetcomb, gentlemen. Thus early is John Endicott identified with the colony in which he subsequently bore so distinguished a part, in which he was a pioneer, and whose civil and religious government he exerted a commanding influence in moulding. Of the six persons named in this pat- ent only Endicott and Humphrey are known to have emigrated to New England.
Very soon after this patent was obtained the patentees met and chose Matthew Cradock and Thomas Goff governor and deputy-governor. Both of these gentlemen were London merchants, and Goff had been interested in the settlement at New Plymouth. Though neither are mentioned in the patent, the position at once assigned them under it renders it probable that their active connection with the Company's affairs began at a very early day.
Within three months a ship was prepared for a voyage to New England to establish the new com- pany in its purchase, and to relieve what remained of Conant's plantation. Captain Endicott was asked if he would go and reside at Naumkeag as governor of the colony, and he promptly replied in the affirmative. He was fully empowered to act as its executive head, -an authority which . either ignored or quietly superseded that exercised by Conant over the original plantation. Toward the end of June, 1628, Endicott, with a company of emigrants, estimated at about one hundred per- sons, sailed from Weymouth, in the Abigail, for New England.
Having thus taken the preliminary steps to se- cure the privileges granted by their patent, the Massachusetts Company began to project measures on a grander scale. Their grant conveyed a title to the soil, but no well-defined powers of govern-
19
THE MASSACHUSETTS COMPANY.
ment. They were compelled, too, to take cog- nizance of claims to portions of their grant by former proprietors, some of whom were already, by themselves or by their agents, in occupation of a few points in Massachusetts Bay, and scemed resolved to contest the attempt to dispossess them with which they were now threatened. The care- lesseness with which the Council of Plymouth had made all these grants, the loose way in which their boundaries were defined, added other complications. These considerations determined the Massachu- setts Company to apply for a royal charter con- firming their former grant, giving them clearly expressed powers of government, and conferring certain other valuable privileges. Through the intercession of Sir Dudley Carleton, Lord Dorches- ter, the king granted the charter to the original patentees and twenty others, some of whom be- came distinguished in the affairs of the colony and will be frequently mentioned in the pages of this work. They were Sir Richard Saltonstall, knight, Isaac Johnson, Samuel Aldersey, John Venn, Matthew Cradock, George Harwood, Increase Nowell, Richard Perry, Richard Bellingham, Na- thaniel Wright, Samuel Vassall, Theophilus Eaton, Thomas Goff, Thomas Adams, Jolin Browne, Sam- nel Browne, Thomas Hutchins, William Vassall, William Pynchon, and John Foxcroft.
The executive power of the new corporation was vested in a governor, deputy-governor, and eighteen assistants, seven of whom, with the gov- ernor, were authorized to meet in monthly courts for despatching such business as concerned the Company or the settlements begun by it. The leg- islative authority was conferred upon this so-called court of assistants, to which were joined all the freemen of the Company. Its four annual meet- ings were termed the "GREAT AND GENERAL COURTS,"-an appellation which has survived all the mutations of time and is still applied to the legislature of the Commonwealth. This Great and General Court was empowered to elect a governor, deputy-governor, assistants, and freemen, the latter being candidates for admission into the body poli- tic with the privilege of speaking and voting upon its affairs. Power was also conferred upon the General Court to establish ordinances, not con- trary to the laws of the realm, for settling forms of government, for determining fines, imprison- ment, or other legal correction to be observed or enforced among the colonists. The " chief com- mander and other magistrates," who should from
time to time be over the government of the colony, were invested with absolute power to punish or pardon, and to rule the colonists according to the ordinances made in pursuance of the charter. We recite so much of the terms of this ancient instru- ment, not only because it is interesting to know how civil government was first legally established in New England, but because this charter remained the organic law until annulled by Charles II. in 1684; and because, further, its abrogation, and the abuses which followed, became a principal cause of precipitating the revolution of 1689 in the colony. The charter, which was brought over in 1630 by Governor Winthrop, with the great seal of England attached, may be seen in the office of the Secretary of State, at Boston.
Having thus prepared the way, the Company in England pursued with energy their plans of colo- nization. Their charter was more than liberal. Religious dissension within the kingdom procured crowds of applicants for transportation across the sea, into a land where a colony had already been founded beyond the jurisdiction of ecclesiastical conrts. Others, impelled by love of adventure, or the hope of bettering their worldly condition, took passage for New England. The difficulties which for twenty years had baffled the wealth, enterprise, and energy of Sir Ferdinando Gorges quickly dis- appeared ; and with them disappeared also the in- heritance which this father of New England colo- nization sought to preserve to his heirs.
In March, 1629, we find the Company in Lon- don busy with preparations for sending out a larger number of colonists ; with Sir William Brereton, who claimed under the Gorges patent a tract of country lying between the Charles and Nahant, extending twenty miles back into the interior ; and with the question of how the com- pany's lands should be divided among the settlers. They also, at this time, secured the services of Thomas Graves of Gravesend in Kent, an experi- enced mining and military engineer; and of other persons who would be likely to promote the public welfare in their professions or trades. We now first hear of overtures being made to the Rev. Francis Higginson, a silenced minister of Leicester, to go out to the new plantation, Mr. Humphrey being sent to Leicester for the purpose of com- municating with him. The account of the inter- view gives so instructive a picture of the condition of a Puritan minister of the time that we tran- scribe it.
20
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
One day two messengers came to the minister's house, and with loud knocking cried out, " Where is Mr. Higginson ? We must speak with Mr. Higginson !" His wife entreated him to conceal himself; but he replied that he should acquiesce in the will of God. As he entered the hall where they were waiting the messengers presented him with some papers, saying roughly, " Sir, we come from London, and our business is to convey you to London, as you may see by those papers." Mrs. Higginson burst into tears, while her husband opened the packet, in which he expected to find an order from the High Commission for his arrest. It proved, however, to be an invitation from the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay for him to embark for New England.1
In April the Company formally chose officers for the plantation, who were to remain in office one year. Endicott was made, or rather contin- ued, governor; Higginson, Skelton, Bright, John and Samuel Browne, Thomas Graves, and Samuel Sharp were chosen to be his council. The gov- ernor and council were directed to choose a secre- tary, and such other officers as might seem requisite for the management of the plantation. They were also required to take an oath of office, and were empowered " to make, ordain, and establish all manner of wholesome and reasonable orders, laws, statutes, ordinances," etc., not contrary to the laws of England, for the government of the plantation, reporting from time to time such acts to the Com- pany in England. And this important day's work is called in the records "settling the government in the Plantation of the Massachusetts Bay."
The governor and council of the plantation were to consist of thirteen persons, seven of whom were elected by the Company in England, three by the governor and the seven already elected, and two others by the planters. The twelve per- sons thus appointed, with the governor, chose one of their number to be deputy-governor.
We suspend our narrative a moment, to remark that the corporation in England was constituted on a similar plan to the India and other great mercan- tile companies. The India Company received its first charter in 1600, and a renewal in 1609. It was doubtless the model on which the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts were formed into a body corporate. The history of the two companies is, however, very different.
1 See Hutchinson Papers (Prince Society), I. 50; original edition, p. 46.
Next in importance to establishing a form of goverment for the colony was the allotment of lands to the settlers, or "adventurers," as they are called in the records. This difficult question was disposed of in an eminently liberal and equitable manner. The governor and council were author- ized to allot two hundred acres of land to every adventurer who had put fifty pounds into the common fund, and proportionately to those who had paid more or less than this sum. If the same were not allotted upon demand, full liberty was granted the adventurer to build where he pleased, provided he did not encroach upon his neighbor and selected his homestead within certain prescribed limits. Those who went over at their own charge, but had no adventure in the common stock, received fifty acres of land for the head of the family, or as much more as the governor and council might think proper to assign them. This method of procedure, the origin of land-titles in the colony, is considered indispensable to relate in connection with its history.
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