USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Needham > History of Needham, Massachusetts, 1711-1911 : including West Needham, now the town of Wellesley, to its separation from Needham in 1881, with some reference to its affairs to 1911 > Part 1
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Wellesley > History of Needham, Massachusetts, 1711-1911 : including West Needham, now the town of Wellesley, to its separation from Needham in 1881, with some reference to its affairs to 1911 > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58
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https://archive.org/details/historyofneedham1711clar
The Frank Smitte with the rewards of the author . Pokutu Clarke.
June 18, 1912.
HISTORY OF NEEDHAM MASSACHUSETTS
Ger Kuhn Clarke
HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
MASSACHUSETTS
17II-19II
INCLUDING WEST NEEDHAM Now the Town of Wellesley TO ITS SEPARATION FROM NEEDHAM IN 1881, WITH SOME REFERENCES TO ITS AFFAIRS TO 19II
BY GEORGE KUHN CLARKE, A.M., LL.B.
PRIVATELY PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright, 1912, by GEORGE KUHN CLARKE
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.
Southern Book 20 7.50
,
TO The Memory of my Friend THE HONORABLE ENOS HOUGHTON TUCKER
A MAN PROMINENT IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND WIDELY ESTEEMED, THIS HISTORY OF THE TOWN, WITH WHICH HE WAS IDENTIFIED FOR NEARLY A CENTURY, IS DEDICATED
1151706
Preface
The Town of Needham is one of the old towns of the Commonwealth that has become a suburb of Boston, and is rapidly increasing in population. It has long been known as a healthy town situated upon a plateau high above the level of the sea, with a light and dry soil, and for more than twenty years it has had a water supply that is recognized as exceptionally fine. In recent years it has been easy of access, by frequent and rapid trains, and Boston can now be reached in less than half an hour. It is a law-abiding community, mainly of the Anglo-Saxon race, and many families from larger places find here congenial people and pleasant homes. Such a town seems worthy of a printed town history, and for many years those most interested in it have awaited the appearance of a man, or woman, who would undertake this work. For thirty years I have been accustomed to read the town records, and as early as 1884 I prepared for the History of Norfolk County an account of the votes passed by the citizens of Needham relating to the War of the American Revolution. Later I contributed numerous articles on local topics to the Dedham Historical Register and to other periodicals. When a young man I wrote a sketch of the town to the beginning of the Revolu- tionary War, but this I never expected to publish, and did not perfect it, although some subjects were treated with much detail. For years I anticipated that a town history would be written by a native of Needham whose knowledge of the past exceeded mine. Two men were occasionally mentioned, one of whom, Charles Curtis Greenwood, was known as a collector of ancient documents, such as surveyors'
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PREFACE
plans, deeds, military commissions, and old sermons. Pos- terity is probably indebted to Mr. Greenwood for the pres- ervation of many old papers, particularly those relating to Dedham prior to 1700.
Ten years ago the Bicentennial of the town was no longer far distant, and there seemed to be no one to write its history unless I did it. Not realizing fully the hard work involved, I decided to undertake it, and in the autumn of 1904 began in earnest. After a year or so I thought I would make a record of the time thus expended, and in August, 1911, found that I had already devoted about three thousand hours to my task, and had the proof yet to read. What the total expenditure of time will be I cannot estimate, but for several years have felt that had I known in the beginning what I was undertaking this history would never have been written by me. It is published entirely at my own expense, without financial aid from the town or from any one.
I wish to express my thanks to Mr. Thomas Sutton, our town clerk, for his unfailing courtesy and encouragement, and to the many persons who have cheerfully given helpful information when requested.
It is perhaps necessary to remind some readers of this book that on September 2, 1752, the Act of Parliament adopt- ing the Gregorian Calendar took effect, and that eleven days were omitted from that month - for example, what would have been the nineteenth under the old calendar became the thirtieth. The Julian Calendar, previously in force, began the year on March 25, while many nations were using the Gregorian Calendar which began the year on January I. This confusion led the subjects of the Sover- eign of Great Britain and Ireland to write the double dates during the months of January, February and March, and this was commonly done during many years. The Julian Calendar had become, moreover, astronomically incorrect, and varied eleven days from the more accurate Gregorian
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PREFACE
method of reckoning the years. It should also be borne in mind that formerly there was no standard as to the spelling of words, and that illiteracy should not be hastily imputed because a writer did not spell according to modern rules.
Although local history is made up of petty details, I have avoided as far as possible reference to the various controversies that have arisen in the town at different periods.
I have done my best to give a correct and trustworthy history of the Town of Needham, and hope that it will prove of value not only to persons now living, but to future generations.
GEORGE KUHN CLARKE
: November 17, 19II.
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Illustrations
Portrait of George Kuhn Clarke
Frontispiece
Daniell House
. Facing page
18
Amos Lyon House 18
Fuller-Mills House 46
Paine-Mills House 46
Lyon's Bridge
118
Day's Bridge . 118
Newell's Bridge
CC
120
Fisher's Bridge
I20
Town Hall
West End School-house
192
Jonathan Bacon's House
328
Tolman-Gay House
452
Mann-Blackman House 452
Doctor Josiah Noyes's House . 572
Old Oak on the Training Field
614
Portrait of Francis Asbury Burrill
614
Portraits of Mr. George Hiram Gay, of the Honorable Enos Houghton Tucker and of Mr. Ezra Fuller . 618
328
Needham High School .
354
HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
The First Settlement of Reedham
After the close of the great Indian war in 1676, fear of the Red Men no longer influenced the pioneers of New Eng- land, who began to establish their homes in the remoter portions of the townships. On April 13, 1680, the inhabi- tants of Dedham purchased of an Indian a territory four miles long by five wide for ten pounds in money, forty acres of land, and Indian corn to the value of forty shillings. This tract included not only the Town of Needham, as it was prior to 1797, but also Dedham Island, which contains nine hundred acres. The forty acres of land reserved by the Indian, or confirmed to him, were at the Upper Falls. The Indian grantor was William Hahaton, or Nehoiden, who evidently could write his name, but was in doubt as to the spelling, if his signatures to different deeds are auto- graphs. The town officials of Dedham were even more uncertain, for eight variations of this name appear in their records for five years, 1680-4.
However, the memory of William is preserved in the re- gion where he presumably dwelt so long ago by the following local names :- in Needham Nehoiden Street and Hahaton Field, in Wellesley at the present time a Nehoiden Club, formerly a post-office called Nehoiden, now Wellesley Hills, and in Westwood Nahatan Street. When that town was incorporated, in 1897, it was alone the objection of the member from Nahant that prevented the proposed town from bearing the name of Nahatan. The city of Newton has a Nahanton Street in its southern ward, a Nahaton Hall
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
at the Upper Falls, and a Nehoiden Road in the Waban section.
Directly after the purchase from Hahaton, or Nehoiden, an Indian, whose name is variously spelt Magus, Maugus, Magos, Mogast or Maguse, claimed a tract of land extending toward the "Herd yard" and including the hill that bears his name. That is to say, he claimed Wellesley Hills, al- though it was within the territory that Hahaton had already conveyed to the white men. The inhabitants thought it best to pay Maugus eight pounds, and received a deed from him in January, 1680/1. Magos was one of the prisoners at Deer Island in the winter of 1675, but the following spring he was made lieutenant of a company of Christian Indians collected by Capt. Samuel Huntting to go against the Indian enemy.
In 1902 the late Otis Pettee had in his possession three original documents of interest; viz., deed of William Hahaton, perhaps called Nahaton in the body of the instrument, to Robert Cook of Dorchester of the forty acres of land at the Upper Falls, which the inhabitants of Dedham had confirmed to Hahaton (this deed, which is handsomely written, is dated 1700, or 1701, recites the history of the land, and conveys the fish weirs); a deposition of Amos Nahortan, son of William, who was at the time of the document, January 4 (7), 1747, eighty-two years old, to the effect that some sixty years previous his father had sold to John Magus two acres at the Upper Falls, and that this land was not included in the sale to Mr. Cooke; a deposition of Sarah Tray, dated May 20, 1748, stating that her grandfather, Magus, owned the said two acres, and that her parents, Catharine and Ephraim, dwelt there, using the wigwam and rock house, and that they cut wood for fuel, dried their fish, etc. The Indians could not have reserved a spot more noted in later times for its wild beauty. Besides abiding in the summer in the "Hemlock Gorge Reservation", as their fishing ground is now named, Magus is said to have had
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
a wigwam near a spring on the south slope of Maugus Hill.1
There is little trace of the Indians in Needham, but one of their fish weirs exists in the Charles River, north of the street of that name, and extends at an angle from the Cheney estate, formerly the Col. John Jones place, to the land for- merly belonging to Messrs. Alden and Pope.2 Although the Indian titles were recognized and extinguished by the people of Dedham in 1680, land had for many years been granted on the north side of the Charles River to persons who had improved it. Before and after King Philip's War Indian servants were not uncommon in Dedham, and several men gave bonds to the town to secure it against expense because of such Indians. In 1676 Samuel and Benjamin Mills gave a bond on account of "twoo young endians", and Benjamin devoted a wolf bounty to pay the fines of five shillings each, demanded of his father and himself, for having the said Indians without the consent of the selectmen.
The records of the Proprietors of Dedham are of great value in regard to the lands, but are silent as to dwellings on the north side of the Charles prior to 1694. The first eleven printed volumes of the Suffolk Deeds bring the records down to 1680, but contain few documents relating to Ded- ham. The most important Dedham deed is that of William "Parcke", Attorney, to Anthony Fisher, father of Capt. Daniel, of upward of two hundred acres in Dedham, includ- ing a portion of "Rosemarie" Meadow. This deed is dated 20 8 mo., 1652, but was not acknowledged, or recorded, till 1672/3, and is in Vol. VIII. of the Suffolk Deeds. In Vol. I. are two quaint mortgages from Samuel Mills to Governor Thomas Dudley : - the first for £8, on twelve acres, interest
1 Horace Mann was sceptical as to the residence of Magus, at any season, at "Sachem's Hill," but admitted that when not in Natick with the other Indians, among whom he was a teacher, Magus did dwell at the Upper Falls.
There are in Wellesley Hills the Maugus Club and the Maugus Press. Maugus Avenue leads from Washington Street to Maugus Hill .:
2 Mr. Charles H. Mitchell has a considerable collection of arrow heads, and other Indian implements, found in Needham and vicinity.
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
payable semi-annually in "cleare wheat", butter and cheese; the second for £6, 6s., 8d., on a dwelling, barn, and ten acres, payments to be made April and October in wheat, in cheese, in butter at 6d. per pound, or its equivalent money. These mortgages were dated 1647, and were for three years. The indebtedness was for a cow.
In the following pages are many quotations from probate papers and from deeds, and those copied by Mr. Clarke are verbatim. Abstracts made by others are correct in sub- stance, and where the original language is used are in most instances exact. From 1743 to 1761 the West End was a part of Natick, and, consequently, in Middlesex County. It is quite likely that documents at other periods also found their way to Cambridge.
ALDEN
Henry Alden was in Needham in 17II, and his descend- ants have lived in the same locality ever since. In 1728/9 John Alden administered on the estate of his father, Henry, of which Robert Cook, John Smith, and Eleazer Kingsbery were the appraisers. The inventory, which in- cluded books, amounted to £576, 13s.1 In 1771 three Alden families lived on what is now Central Avenue. Silas dwelt on the place which has long been the home of the Hurd family, and built in 1801 the house now owned and occupied by William Emery Hurd; the old house was burned. Silas Alden was an officer in the Revolution, and later a lieutenant-colonel of militia, and was familiarly known as "Old Growl". The Honorable Enos H. Tucker well re- membered him, and said that he was stout, of medium height, and wore side-whiskers as was then the custom,
1 Of twenty-one families represented by the petitioners for the incorporation of Needham, two centuries ago, only five or six have descendants in Needham in 19II of the same surname as the petitioner. Of these the ancient Fuller family is repre- sented by but one young lady. The town of Wellesley adds two or three names to this brief list.
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
beards not being in favor. In 1842 the oldest of the Alden houses was one of the most ancient dwellings in town; it stood a short distance south of Hurd's Corner, on the easterly side of Central Avenue, a little north of the present house of William B. Levering.
ALDERIDGE - ALDRIDGE - ALDRICH
Thomas Alderidge of Dedham, whose widow's dower was set off in 1718, had, besides the "School Ground" (see "Roads"), about one hundred and five acres extending from Nehoiden Street to Mark Tree Road. This land, with the exception of four acres granted to him, he bought of Cornelius Fisher. A grant was made to Alderidge in 1674 of two acres "of swampy upland, at North Hill". (Pro- prietors' records.) In 1728 Joseph Lyon of Dedham was appointed to administer on Mr. Alderidge's estate, the latter's widow not having completed that duty, and in 1729 the final division was made. Samuel Alderidge, not a son of Thomas, deeded in 1714, for £200, to Joseph Boyden several parcels of land, in all containing upward of one hun- dred acres, with dwelling-house, barn, orchard, etc. This land apparently included the Mann-Blackman farm, but although the house now standing there is ancient, it is probably not the one mentioned in 1714. Samuel Alderidge made his home with Boyden for many years, and was the second benefactor of our schools. "I give unto the Schoole in Needham for therse ufe and benifitt the full sume of five pounds" (will dated December 18, 1721, proved April 9, 1722). The money was received by the selectmen of Need- ham on February 27, 1722/3. He also directed that grave- stones be put at his grave, but it does not appear where he was to be buried.
By his will he gave his kinswoman Mary Coude £Io, kinswoman Sarah Woodcocke £5, kinsman Benjamin Lyon, son of Joseph of Roxbury, £5, if he lived to the age of twenty-one, Daniel Boyden, son of Joseph, £4, Rebecca
1
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
Boyden, daughter of Joseph, £1. The executors were Joseph Boyden of Needham and John Gay of Dedham, and they were also the residuary legatees.1
In modern times the surname is usually spelled Aldrich or Aldridge.
AYRES - AYERS
Nathaniel Ayres bought thirty acres of Josiah Kingsbery in 1738, for £200. In 1745 he and Francis Very, "Cooper" (also our school master), mortgaged the same land to James Bowdoin, Esq., of Boston for ninety-three and three fourths ounces of coined silver sterling alloy, and gave a bond for one hundred and eighty-seven ounces to pay the ninety-three and three fourths ounces, with interest, on or before June 11, 1746. The estate of Ann Ayres, widow of Nathaniel, was appraised at £465 in 1741, and divided as follows : - to Nathaniel Tol- man, son of said Ann, buildings and land, he to make pay- ments to his brothers and sisters; viz., Ebenezer Tolman, Thomas Tolman, John Ares, Jemima Tolman and Mary Tol- man £58, Ios., 8d. old tenor, each. On January 21, 1741, Josiah Newell, Ebenezer Newell and John Paine had reported that the estate was "not Capable" of division, but the Court appointed Nathaniel Man, Amos Fuller and Jeremiah Fisher to appraise it. Among the items were "The Wood Lot at High Rock" £70, "The Lot Called the School Ground" £50, and "The Pine Neck Meadow" £20. In
1 Joseph Boyden owned fifty acres at the Chestnut Trees, and twelve acres at Pine Swamp Neck. In 1735 he kept a tavern in Sutton, and in 1738 removed to Worcester, where he died April 17, 1748. After Mr. Boyden the Alderidge farm of ninety-six acres and buildings was owned by Nathaniel Man, who sold it in 1765 to Joseph Colburn.
In 1784 Timothy Broad, executor of Joseph Colburn, sold to Thomas Gardner and Moses Man, for £710, thirty acres "with a house and barn and Slaughter house," sixty acres and also six acres, total ninety-six. The same year Mr. Gardner sold his interest in the buildings, and in a part of the land, to Moses Mann, who bought additional land. Mr. Mann was a well-known butcher, and that business had been conducted on the premises before his time. Nathaniel Mann, an earlier owner, was son-in-law of the Rev. Mr. Townsend. About 1763 he removed to Natick, but in their old age he and his wife lived with Dr. Morrill, who had married their daughter, and whose homestead is now a part of the Hunnewell estate.
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
1771 William Bowdoin, Esq., lived near the river, in the valley on the north side of the road leading from the Turn- pike to the Lower Falls, and later this was the home of David Ayres; there is still some vestige of the cellar, but the ground is swampy.
BACON
John Bacon and his wife came to Dedham in 1640, it is said from Ireland, and were the ancestors of many of the Bacons who have lived in Needham.1 John Bacon was a fence viewer in Dedham in 1694, and a surveyor of high- ways there in 1702. In 1700 he had land on the north side of the Charles River, and in 1729 John, perhaps the same, conveyed ten acres "near the Chestnut Trees" (Forest Street) to his son John in "Consideration love to Dutiful Son John and for the purpose of Settling My Earthly Estate". In 17II Samuel Bacon lived on the west side of what is now Hunnewell Street, near Webster Street, and owned much land. Horace Mann wrote that Stephen Bacon built a rude house in the southeast corner of "The Leg" in 1705, and later a better one, and that both existed in 1886, the first house, or rather a portion of it, as a shed. In 1895 Mr. Mann said that a part only of the second house was standing.
In 1724 Stephen Bacon lived south of the Framingham road, which was then irregular in shape, a mere path, and Timothy on the north side, and west of the present Deacon Wight place. Robert Jennison, for half a century a noted builder, "finished" a house for John Bacon in 1743, and one for Timothy in 1744, but it does not appear whether "fin- ished" necessarily referred to a new house. Mr. Mann said that Henry Bacon's house built in 1755 was extant in 1895.
On February II, 1774, John Bacon of Needham, "Gentle- man", sold Samuel Morse of Natick and Isaac Underwood
1 There is an abstract of Michael Bacon's will, dated 1648, in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. VII.
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
of Needham, both "Yeomen", seventy acres for £110, 14s., 6d., and mentions "Brother Henry Bacon". John's wife, Abigail, signed the deed. Ten years later the grantees sold fifty acres of this land for £120 to Benjamin Ward of Need- ham and acknowledged the deed before Josiah Newell, Justice of the Peace, whose name is familiar to those who examine deeds of that period.
The Bacons owned much land in the westerly part of the town after the Revolutionary War, and Lieut. John, killed at West Cambridge April 19, 1775, lived at the junction of Bacon and North Main Streets, now in Natick, at the ex- treme end of "The Leg". One of the last acts of the noted Col. John Jones as a Colonial magistrate was on July 25, 1774, when he fined Ephraim Bacon of Needham for "un- lawful absence from the public worship of God, Lords' Days, three months as expressed in a Bill of Indictment filed in ye Court of General Sessions of ye peace". Colonel Jones was well known through all this region, and was President of the Court of Sessions when Norfolk County was created in 1793.
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BAKER
Lieutenant John Baker, from whom Baker's Field takes its name, was a carpenter and builder in Dedham, and served in various town offices. Land was granted to him in "Burch plaine" as early as 1680.
BROAD
Hezekiah Broad was an inhabitant of Needham before its incorporation, and in 1709 Ebenezer Ware, "Husband- man," had sold to Robert Cooke, "hornebreaker", and Hezekiah Broad, "Tayler," "both of s" Dedham", ten acres in Rosemary Meadow for £60. Ware's wife, Martha, signed the deed. In 1710 Mr. Broad sold Jonathan Smith one hundred acres north of the Sherborn road by the "Pond Brook", and on a proposed highway. On March 12, 1746/7,
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
Hezekiah sold to Thomas Broad fifty acres, with a house and barn, in the 4th Hundred near Weston line. In 1773 Josiah Broad of Holden, Thomas Broad of Needham, Moses Fisk of Needham, Josiah Morse and Hezekiah Broad, both of Natick, all five of them "Yeomen", conveyed to Ephraim Jackson of Newton, "Gentleman," forty-five acres near Maugus Hill, "it being the house lot of the said Hezekiah Broad of said Needham deceased". The Broads had other possessions, and the Rev. Stephen Palmer knew as Broad's Pond the pond that is now Morse's Pond, it then presumably taking its name from Thomas Broad, who lived near by. There was a Broad homestead on Bacon Street, west of Oak Street, and in Natick there is Broad's Hill. A century ago Timothy Broad lived in the house known as the Pierce, or Peirce house, which was destroyed by fire on May 6, 1885. Three other old houses on Charles River Street have been burned within thirty years. Three more old landmarks in that neighborhood have been pulled down, but a portion of one of them, the Chamberlain house, was removed from Grove Street to the southerly side of Charles River Street, and located in a field, where it is the residence of the super- intendent of the Ridge Hill Farms.
BROWN
"Betty Brown House"
On April 1, 1773, Samuel Brown of Newton, "Yeoman," bought for £220, of John Fuller, Jr., of Needham, "Yeoman," fifty-five acres of land with house and barn, and also thirteen acres separate from the homestead. Mercy was the name of Mr. Fuller's wife. Samuel Brown later bought three parcels of land, amounting to fourteen acres, and also one lot near the West Meeting-house, which latter piece was sold him by Isaac Mills. Prior to 1800 Mr. Brown purchased from Philip Floyd six and three quarters acres on the Sher- born road. The Brown house was on, or near, the site of
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
the residence of the late Charles B. Dana, in Wellesley, and was built about 1702. Miss Betsey Brown, a daughter of Samuel, and a generous benefactress of the West Church, lived in the ancient house until her death in 1855. Mrs. Charles C. Greenwood has a drawing of this typical old homestead, sketched in 1861 by the late Timothy Newell Smith, who has placed posterity under obligations to him for views of other quaint old buildings, all of which have since disappeared.
BULLARD
Nathaniel Bullard bought land of one of the Dewings. He was admitted to the Church in Needham in September, 1727, and "laid hold on the Covenant 25 years since in Sudbury". He died June 17, 1754. Nathaniel was the father of Major Moses and of Ensign Ephraim Bullard.
COOK
Edward Cook was a field driver in Dedham in 1698, 1705, '06, '08, and '09, and lived in that part of the town which is now Needham. He died in 1711, and his grave- stone, judging by the date, is the oldest in the graveyard on Nehoiden Street. In 1696 he had a grant of six acres at Maugus Hill.
On January 1, 1700/1, the selectmen of Dedham consented to the purchase by Robert Cooke of Dorchester of forty acres of land "granted to William Nahaton neer the vper falls": Robert Cook of Needham was born in Boston, and his father's name was Robert. The younger Robert Cook had a brother, William, on account of whose service in the war against Canada in 1690 he was granted land in "Dor- chester, Canada" (Ashburnham). Robert was a surveyor of highways in Dedham in 1706, constable 1709, selectman 1710. He was one of the first settlers in what is now Need- ham, and lived on his farm near Cook's Bridge at the Upper
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