History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 1

Author: Drake, Samuel Adams, 1833-1905
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriat
Number of Pages: 650

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OF THE CITY OF

BOSTON

1852.

PURCHASED FROM THE INCOME OF THE JOSIAH H. BENTON FUND

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Boston Public Library

http://www.archive.org/details/historyofmiddles02drak2

LIBRARY

Parted by Kellenhofer

PORTRAIT OF COUNT RUMFORD WHEN SENT TO ENGLAND AS AMBASSADOR FROM BAVARIA. 1798. AGED 45.

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY,

MASSACHUSETTS,

CONTAINING CAREFULLY PREPARED HISTORIES

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.

SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE,

AUTHOR OF "OLD LANDMARKS OF BOSTON," "NOOKS AND CORNERS OF THE NEW ENGLAND COAST," ETC.

VOL. II.

ILLUSTRATED.

BOSTON: ESTES AND LAURIAT, PUBLISHERS, 30I WASHINGTON STREET

I 8.80 692€

*F12 MTD6 Vol. 2. Copy :-

dupl

JOHN WILSON & SON.

UNIVERSITY PRESS.

CONTENTS.

TOWNS IN MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

PAGE

LEXINGTON

Hon. Chartes Hudson 9

SOMERVILLE

E. C. Booth, M. D. . 309

LINCOLN

William F. Wheeler . 34

STONEHAM . Silas Dean

339

LITTLETON

Herbert Joseph Harwood 44

STOW

Rev. George F. Clark

350

LOWELL

Alfred Gitman .

SUDBURY

Rev. George A. Oviatt .

357

MALDEN

Deloraine P. Corey

113

TEWKSBURY

Leonard Huntress, assisted by

MARLBOROUGII

Rev. R. A. Griffin and E. L. Bigelow 137

J. C. Kittredge 373

MAYNARD

Asahel Balcom 153 TYNGSBOROUGH .

Rev. Elias Nason 391

MEDFORD

W. H. Whitmore

158

WAKEFIELD

Chester W. Eaton .

399

MELROSE

Elbridge H. Goss

175

WALTHAM

Alexander Starbuck .

407

NATICK

Rev. S. D. Hosmer, assisted by

WAYLAND

Rev. Josiah H. Temple

460

Rev. Daniel Wight and Aus- tin Bacon 184

WESTFORD

Edwin R. Hodgman, assisted by Julian Abbott 475

NEWTON

Samuel F. Smith, D.D. . 203

NORTH READING

Hiram Barrus and Carroll D. Wright .

259

WILMINGTON

Lemuel C. Eames

506

PEPPERELL

Lorenzo P. Blood .

261

READING

Hiram Barrus and Carroll D. Wright .

270

SHERBORN

Atbert H. Blanchard, M. D.

288

GENERAL INDEX

561

SHIRLEY Rev. Seth Chandler 297

TOWNSEND .

Ithamar B. Sawtelle 381

WESTON

C. A. Nelson

4SS

WATERTOWN

Francis S. Drake .

433

WINCHESTER .

Edwin 4. Wadleigh

511

WOBURN

George M. Champney

526

JUDICIAL HISTORY AND CIVIL LIST

555

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, PLANS, ETC.

PORTRAIT OF COUNT RUMFORD

Frontispiece

ELIOT MONUMENT

201

PLAN OF ROADS IN LEXINGTON, 1775

HANCOCK-CLARK HOUSE 18

BATTLE OF LEXINGTON . 22

MUNROE'S TAVERN 25

STATUE OF THE MINUTE MAN OF 1775 28

STATUE OF THE SOLDIER OF 1861

STATUE OF SAMUEL ADAMS

STATUE OF JOHN HANCOCK

NEWTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

249

THE BATTLE MONUMENT

PLAN OF NASHOBAH . 45

ANCIENT SIGN OF THE LAWRENCE TAVERN 52

PORTRAIT OF NATHAN APPLETON

PORTRAIT OF KIRK BOOTT

BOOTT COTTON MILLS, LOWELL

THE NEW CANAL .

FIVE CENTS SAVING BANK BUILDING 85

APPLETON BANK BLOCK 99

ST. ANNE'S CHURCH, CHAPEL, AND PARSONAGE

103

ELIOT CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH .

109

JOHN STREET CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 111

CHURCH OF THE FIRST PARISH, 1848, MALDEN 132

BOSTON RUBBER SHOE COMPANY'S WORKS

136

A SETTLER DEFENDING HIS CHILDREN . 139

THE GATES HOUSE, MARLBOROUGH

152

THE TOWN HALL .

153

THE CRADOCK MANSION, MEDFORD 163 LAUNCH ON THE MYSTIC 172

OLD LYNDE HOUSE, WASHINGTON STREET, MELROSE

177

BACON FREE LIBRARY, NATICK

197

MORSE INSTITUTE

198

HENRY WILSON

200

EXPLORATION OF THE CHARLES .

207

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, NEWTON

218

ELIOT MONUMENT

219

PORTRAIT OF GENERAL WILLIAM HULL

227

PORTRAIT OF ROGER SHERMAN . 228

PORTRAIT OF HORACE MANN 230

NEWTON THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION .

242

SAWIN ACADEMY, SHERBORN

296

OLD POWDER HOUSE, SOMERVILLE

327

McLEAN ASYLUM

331

A WINTER BIVOUAC : WARRIORS AND CAPTIVES

363

HAYNES' GARRISON HOUSE, SUDBURY

367

THE WAYSIDE INN

373

HENRY PRICE .

389

MEETING HOUSE, 1688, WAKEFIELD

402

BAPTIST CHURCH ..

402

PORTRAIT OF CYRUS WAKEFIELD .

405

AMERICAN WATCH FACTORY, WALTHAM

432

PORTRAIT OF SIR RICHARD SALTONSTALL

436

JOHN GALLUP'S EXPLOIT

441

UNITED STATES ARSENAL, WATERTOWN 455

A BRAVE WOMAN

465

PORTRAIT OF FREDERICK O. PRINCE

524

THE PUBLIC LIBRARY BUILDING, WOBURN

536

BIRTHPLACE OF COUNT RUMFORD .

551

ECHO BRIDGE .

251

WILLIAM JACKSON

256

PORTRAIT OF ALEX. H. RICE .

258

OLD SOUTH CHURCH, READING

271

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

LEXINGTON.

BY HON. CHARLES HUDSON.

EXINGTON is situated in latitude 42 ° 26' 50" north, and in longitude 71° 13' 55 " west ; and is about eleven miles west-northwest from Boston. It has Winchester, Wo- burn, and Burlington on the northeast ; Burlington and Bed- ford on the north ; Lincoln on the west ; Waltham on the south- west ; and Belmont and Arlington on the southeast. The shape of the township, like that of the neigh- boring towns, is somewhat irregular. The town contains about twenty square miles, or about thir- teen thousand acres. Lexington as a whole is more elevated than any of the adjoining towns, unless it be Lineolu ; and hence the water from her territory finds its way to the ocean through the Shawshine, the Mystic, and Charles rivers. The water-power in the town is inconsiderable ; and what there is, is remote from the centre. There is at present but one mill in the town, that being in the easterly part, at the outlet of the Great Meadow, so called. On or near the site of this mill was ereeted the first mill in the township, probably as early as 1650. It was owned by Edward Winship of Cambridge, and was given by his will to his son Edward, and re- mained more than a century in the family.

The township is rather uneven, furnishing a pleasant variety of hill and dale. Though the surface is sometimes broken, the soil for the most part is productive. The rock formation through a great part of the township is a species of green- stone; and though it frequently crops out of the ground, the rock is so irregular, and the sides so precipitous, that the soil is deep, and often capable of being eultivated up to the very face of the

ledges. The presence of this rock generally indi- cates a hard, but at the same time a warm and productive soil, well adapted to grass, grain, and fruit trees of every sort, and in fact to every vegetable production.

There are many good farms in the town, and their value is greatly enhanced by the peat swamps which are found in almost every neighborhood. These swamps, when properly drained, constitute some of the most valuable land for cultivation ; and at the same time the material taken from the drains serves to fertilize the rest of the cultivated land. These reclaimed swamps, when properly cultivated, are found to be very productive, yield- ing large crops of hay, corn, potatoes, and every variety of garden vegetables. Lexington may be regarded as a good agricultural township. She has heretofore been somewhat noted for the hay and fruit she has sent to market; but at the present time milk may be regarded as her great staple. Many of our farmers keep from twelve to thirty cows, and a few of them keep from thirty to sixty, or even seventy. It appears by the returns of the assessors, published by the authority of the state, that the whole number of milch cows kept in town the last year was 1,081, -a larger number than that kept by any town in the county, with one single exception ; and by the census return for 1875, it appears that Lexington furnished for the market 510,551 gallons of milk annually, a larger amount than is produced by any city or town in the state, except Worcester.

Lexington has not been able to boast of her mineral treasures. Within the last few years, however, a granite quarry has been discovered in the northern part of the town, which, when prop-

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

CONCORD

BEDFORDIG

LL 2

VINE BROOK

WOBURN US

BOSTON

LEXINGTON, 1775.

. Clarke Honse.

Buckman Tavern.

. Munroe's Tavern.

Parker's Company.

Jonathan Harrington's.

Daniel Harrington's.

Nathan Munroe's,

Blacksmith's Shop.

Emerson's House.

Loring's Ilouse.

Loring's Barn.

Meeting House.

M N

Percy's Field Pieces.

erly opened, may prove valuable for building pur- poses. In the same general neighborhood a paint mine has been discovered, of which the State Assayer says, "The composition, from its enduring mature, confers great value upon this pigment. In mixing with oil, a partial combination takes place, which produces an elastic and mechanically excel- lent paint, like white lead. It has nothing of a

perishable nature." There is a spring in the valley of Vine Brook, which has been thought by some to possess medicinal properties, having indications of sulphur and iron. It has never been analyzed.

There is, however, a spring recently brought to public attention, which bids fair to rival the popu- lar springs which are commended for their curative properties. It is situated in the southeasterly part

LEXINGTON.

of Lexington, near the line of Waltham, on the farm of Alden Jameson, Esq. ; and is about three miles distant from the centre of each of the towns. It is a copious spring, and is so protected by a granite curb as to secure it from all surface water ; the flow being free from the source. The water is highly recommended by those who have used it, as being valuable in a variety of complaints. Pro- fessor Hayes, after an analysis of the water, classes it favorably with the Poland, Allandale, and Vi- enna waters, which have a high reputation. He adds, " It is naturally ærated or charged with car- bonic acid, oxygen, and nitrogen gases. It is alkaline, and free from any appreciable organic matter. It is a remarkably pure water." It is highly recommended in cases of dyspepsia, diabe- tes, stone, gravel, and the whole class of kidney and bowel complaints. Many who have used it speak strongly of the curative properties of the water.

The village of Lexington is pleasantly sitnated on land comparatively level ; and though it is ele- vated more than two linndred feet above tide water, being surrounded by hills more or less dis- tant, and having meadows on either hand, it has the appearance of being rather low. In the centre of the village is the Common, a triangular plot of ground, situated at the junction, and lying between the roads leading to Concord and Bedford. It contains about two acres, and is nearly level, with the exception of a gentle swell, rising some five or six feet on the southerly side, on which is the monument erected to the memory of the first Revolutionary martyrs. The diagram on page 10 will show the premises as they were in 1775, and will illustrate the history of that day. The borders of the Common are skirted by rows of elm, aslı, and other ornamental trees; some of them having braved the blasts of more than a hundred winters, while others are glorying in youthful beauty. There is one young tree on the Common which merits notice, as it is designed for posterity. In 1875, when President Grant was in Lexington, at our Centennial, he at our request planted a young elm upon this consecrated ground, that those who came after us might mark the succession of years, and recall the events whichi have made the spot memorable. This green is consecrated by the first blood of the Revolution ; and the sacred asso- ciations which surround the spot render it a place of considerable resort, and many a passer-by pauses to contemplate the scene which renders it classic.

The population of Lexington in 1876 was

2,510, which may be distributed through the town as follows : 1,100 in the centre village, 750 in the east village, while the remaining population is scattered over the rest of the township.

Both villages, the centre and the east, are situ- ated on the Main Street, a road leading to Boston ; and the line of separation between thiem must be somewhat arbitrary, as the settlement on the Main Street is almost continuous and uninterrupted. Both villages are embowered in ornamental trees, which give a rural appearance to the place; and the large, spreading elms have ever attracted the passers-by. While the roads in Lexington are far from being hilly, there are in different parts of the town swells of land rising from a hundred to a hundred and twenty-five feet above the ordinary level of the surrounding country, giving an extent- sive view of the regions around. There is a range of high lands on the southerly side of the main or Boston road, commencing a little southerly of the centre of the town, which, though interrupted by one local depression, extends into Arlington. The swell above the old Munroe Tavern is considerably elevated, and overlooks the main village and a large portion of the town. It was on the north- ern declivity of this hill that Lord Percy placed one of his field-pieces on the 19th of April, 1775. The elevated portion of this range, southiwesterly of the village hall in East Lexington, commands a prospect of great extent and rare beauty. Not only the northeasterly portion of the town, but the village of Medford, with its numerous dwellings and public buildings, are displayed to view. Nor does the prospect end here ; the more distant city of Lynn, and the dark-blue ocean beyond, whitened by the sails of her hardy fishermen and her enter- prising merchants, give variety and grandeur to the scene.

Mount Independence, near the East village, rises about one hundred and thirty feet above the main street. This is but a continuation of the range of which we have spoken. It is nearly opposite the church, and commands a full view of the village and the high lands on the opposite side of the broad meadows which spread ont on each side of Mill Brook. But while Main Street, on which are situated the principal houses in the village, lies at the foot of this eminence, and the eye of the be- holder on the summit can observe every movement in the village, a more distant prospect attracts at- tention, and in the openings among the hills in Arlington the growing village of Medford rises

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

in full view. The prospect from this hill is truly delightful ; and the people in this part of the town have shown their good sense and good taste in giving this hill a name worthy of its character and the town where it is situated.

Farther to the south this elevated range rises still higher, with a more extensive prospect, par- ticularly to the south and east, enabling tlie eye to take in the village of Newton, and to a great extent the beautiful country intervening. At the lower end of the East village this range is consid- erably depressed, but soon rises again as it ap- proaches the Arlington line, giving a good view towards the north.

But the most celebrated elevation in town, and the one which affords the grandest prospect, is Hancock Height. It is situated some hundred and twenty rods from the railroad station. This general swell or elevation commences near the centre railroad station, and continues in an easterly direction, culminating in a rocky summit, which terminates in a precipitous descent of about one hundred and eighty feet, to the intervale of Vine Brook. Stand- ing on the summit, you have almost the whole northern and eastern part of the town in full view. At the base, and almost under your feet, is spread out the valley of Vine Brook, showing its broad meadows, - here in a high state of cultivation, and there covered with a growth of oak, birch, and maple ; while on the other hand is the village in its leafy beauty. Beyond, you have the plains waving with grass or grain, hillsides adorned with orchards or crowned with forests, - the whole dotted over with farm-houses and barns, to show the presence of industry and thrift. Here, too, you behold the streamlets meandering through the meadows, the roads winding among the hills, to- gether with the school-houses and churches, show- ing that the mind and the heart, no less than the face of the earth, are designed for cultivation and improvement. Nor is the prospect confined to the township. The villages of Woburn and Burling- ton, with the high lands beyond, bound your pros- pect on the northeast. On the east you have the hills in Winchester, Mount Gilboa, and the other elevations in Arlington in vicw ; and between these a part of Somerville, the towering shaft on Bunker Hill, and a portion of the city of Boston may be seen, reflecting the rays of the rising and setting sun. To the southeast you behold the Blue Hills in Milton, the elevated land in Newton, Prospect Hill in Waltham, and the high grounds in Weston.

Passing over the village of Bedford, the high lands of Westford, Groton, and the intermediate towns, the prospect towards the west and northwest is almost unbounded, interrupted by the lofty Wachu- sett in Princeton, the first land which glads the eye of the mariner as he approaches the coast. Farther north you behold the Watatic in Asliby, and the hills in New Ipswich ; and still farther the Grand Monadnock, " with brow half seen and half concealed in clouds, fixes and bounds the view."

This hill was known to the inhabitants by a low and insignificant name, but the citizens in town- meeting assembled, in November, 1867, gave it the more worthy name of Hancock Height. The sum- mit of this hill, like almost every other in town, is capped with green-stone, ground off smooth at the top; thus sustaining the theory of the geologists that, during what they denominate the drift period, vast mountains of ice passed over our country, and in their steady progress, with their enormous weight, composed as they are thought to be of rocks of all kinds which they have accumulated in their grand march, ground off the tops of rocks over which they passed.

The general topography of the township, the rolling surface of the ground, present desirable sites for dwellings, giving what is becoming a very important element in building lots, a good oppor- tunity for sewerage. We have a railroad passing through the villages, furnishing us with five passen- ger stations within the township, and so accommo- dating every locality. We have two post-offices, with a daily mail morning and evening, a telegraphı and telephone office. I know of no town so near the city of Boston, and enjoying such facilities of com- munication, so rural as Lexington. Though our main village presents all the variety of a thickly settled place, having its school-houses, churches, English and West India goods stores, a capacious town-hall, public houses, livery stables, post-office, and the usual variety of mechanics' shops, and the railroad station in the centre of the village, - yet if you take a carriage to enjoy any of the pleasant drives which our good roads afford, in five minutes from the village you are in a scene as quiet and as rural as though you were a hundred miles from the city.

Lexington has always been regarded as one of the most healthy towns in the region. Situated a dozen miles from the coast, with high lands inter- vening, those unpleasant, raw, and unhealthy east winds which annoy the inhabitants nearer the sea,

LEXINGTON.

and convert a goodly portion of the pleasant months of May and June into an uncomfortable scason, are in a great degree avoided, or rather that these winds are so far modified as to be rendered com- fortable. At the same time we are so far removed from the snow-capped hills at the north and west as to be measurably exempt from the drifting snows of winter, and the chilling air of spring. These are among the causes whichi tend to save us in a degree from that plague of New England which brings to an untimely end so many of our young people. The altitude of our township gives a salu- brity to our atmosphere, and the absence of slow sluggish streams saves us in a measure from the malignant diseases so fatal to children. And it can be easily shown by the bills of mortality that Lex- ington has furnished a larger proportion of deaths at an advanced age than most of the towns around us. The healthfulness of Lexington is so well known that many invalids by the advice of their physicians have come to Lexington to regain their health.

Lexington was originally a part of Cambridge, and was known by the designation of " Cambridge Farms," supplying the main village with wood and hay. It is difficult to say when the settlement proper began. Several persons spent most of the farming season here, and still retained their resi- dence in Cambridge. There was no permanent set- tlement at the "Farms " till about 1640. The early settlers came mostly from Cambridge and Watertown ; but at first they were few in number. Without attempting to state the order in which the first settlers came to the place, we must be content with saying that the Bridges, Winships, Cutlers, Fisks, Stones, Bowmans, Merriams, and Russells were among the earliest and the most numerous families. It was not till after the close of Philip's War that there was any considerable increase of population. Iu 1670 there could not have been over eighty-five or ninety inhabitants at the Farms; but in 1690 there was probably three times that number. Among the first wants of every New England settlement were those of church privileges. In 1682 the settlers petitioned the General Court to be set off as a distinct precinct. The old parish in Cambridge opposing, it was not till 1691 that the court granted the Farms a sep- arate corporate existence. Their first object after being made a precinct was to provide permanently for religious instruction. They had had preaching somewhat regularly before. But in 1693 they had erected a meeting-house and employed a minister.

But unfortunately their minister, Rev. Benjamin Estabrook, who had preached for them, and was permanently settled in 1696, died within a year of his ordination. The parish, after some delay, in 1698 settled John Hancock, a graduate from Har- vard, a young man of good promise. He remained with his people till his death in 1752. He proved to be a man of superior talents, of great useful- ness, and probably exerted more influence than any clergyman in the county. If any difficulty arose in any of the churches, and a council was called, Mr. Hancock was always on the council, where he was generally made moderator; and often became the council itself. In those days, when the churches were much fewer than at present, and when minis- ters remained long with their people, being settled for life, he gave the solemn charge to twenty-one ministers at their induction into their sacred office. He was as influential at home as abroad, and always managed to keep his people united and happy. He was the counsellor and guide of his parishioners, not only in their spiritual, but in their temporal affairs. Their title-deeds and their accounts were generally in his handwriting. If any difficulty or misunderstanding arose between any members of his flock, he would invite the parties before him, and by his good sense and good humor, would generally reconcile them. But when he failed in this, he would often act the part of the arbiter, though self-appointed, and decide the ques- tion between them; and such was their confidence in him, and such their respect for his judgment and purity of intention, that they generally acqui- esced with cheerfulness in his decision.

Mr. Hancock had three sons : first, John, who was settled a minister in Braintrec, and was the father of John Hancock of the Revolution ; second, Thomas, a successful merchant of Boston, who adopted and educated his nephew John, who was left an orphan at the tender age of seven years, and to whom he bequeathed his large fortune ; third, Ebenezer, who was settled as a colleague with his father, and died in 1740, after a brief and very acceptable ministry of six years. John Han- cock, the elder, built a house on what is now known as Hancock Street, soon after his ordina- tion in 1698, and about 1735 his son Thomas built an addition to the house. Both the original and the addition are still standing, each showing the archi- tectural taste of the age in which they were erected ; and they are subjects of interest at the present day. The house has recently been purchased by a gentle-

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

man of means and patriotic sympathy, who has caused the same to be painted and put in a state of good preservation, so that this relic of the past may remain an object of veneration many years to come. Mr. Hancock was succeeded in the minis- try by Jonas Clarke, who was inducted into the pastoral office in 1755. He married Lucy Bowes, a granddaughter of his predecessor, Rev. John Hancock. Mr. Clarke purchased and resided in the house erected by his predecessor, so that the old building, still an object of attraction, has been the ministerial mansion for more than a century. Mr. Clarke was a man of distinguished ability, and has left his mark upon his country's history. During the later years of the French and Indian wars, Mr. Clarke, though comparatively a young man, encouraged a warm devotion to his country ; but when the English ministry first attempted to impose taxes upon the colonies, he was among the first to raise his voice against it. It was customary in those days for towns, when they elected representatives, to instruct them low to vote on important public questions. When Lexington had elected its representative, if there was any particular question before the people, he was not simply advised how to act, but he was presented with an able, elaborate state paper, entering into the merits of the question, and teach- ing the duty of rnlers, and the rights and privi- leges of the ruled.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 1

Author: Drake, Samuel Adams, 1833-1905 Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriat Number of Pages: 650

Author: Drake, Samuel Adams, 1833-1905
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriat
Number of Pages: 650