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HISTORY OF
STONEHAM, MASS.
WILLIAM B. STEVENS
Go
974.402
St728
1127802
M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01101 2983
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HISTORY
OF
STONEHAM,
MASSACHUSETTS.
By
WILLIAM B. STEVENS, ESQ.,
WITH
Biographical Sketches
()F MANY OF ITS
PIONEERS AND PROMINENT MEN.
COMPILED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF F. L. WHITTIER. 1
ILLUSTRATED
STONEHAM, MASS. :
F. L. & W. E. WHITTIER,
1891.
"ג
1127802
PREFACE.
FROM time immemorial the citizens of Stoneham have shown a desire to know and possess something concerning the history of the town in which they live, and biographies and reminiscences of its pioneers and prominent men, both living and dead, and to supply the growing needs of the day, the publishers present this somewhat brief but comprehensive volume. For the history of the town we are deeply indebted to our fellow-townsman and his- torian, William B. Stevens, Esq., and in presenting it to the public we feel assured of its authenticity. The biographies and reminiscences of our pion- eers and prominent men, here contained, have been prepared with great care, and no expense has been spared to give our patrons a genuine statement of what Stoneham was and what she is today. To increase the usefulness and attractiveness of the work, many portraits and views have been introduced. This volume is commended to the favorable regard of the public.
-F. L. & W. E. WHITTIER.
STONEHAM, March 1, 1891.
Silas Dean
STONEHAM.
BY WILLIAM B. STEVENS: .
D URING the year 1620 if a white man could have stood upon the sum- mit of Bear Hill a grand and lovely view would have stretched out before him. Turning his face to the east, he would have beheld the rays of the sun gleaming along the waves of the Atlantic. With his back to the ocean, the murky lines of Wachusett and Mt. Monadnock would have traced their forms on the western horizon. Three or four miles to the south, upon the shores of the Mystic, he would have seen the late habitation of Nanepashemit, chief of the Pawtuckets. and the dominion of the Massachusetts.
Beyond the Charles was Shawmut At his feet he might have noticed an Agawome or a Naamkeek paddling his canoe over the picturesque waters of Spot Pond. On the plains to the north he might perchance have dis- covered fields of Indian corn breaking the sweep of continuous forest, and detected here and there smoke rising over the fields and above the wigwams, but he could have discerned no trace of civilized habitation. Captain John Smith and a few navigators had sailed along the eastern shores of Massachu- setts, but no explorer had penetrated so far into the interior. Through the primeval wilderness was seen only the track of the savage. The history of all the past was buried in oblivion, and yet for ages these hills and valleys had been peopled by a race so primitive and barbarous that they have left behind them hardly a trace of their existence. As the plough turns up the earth, the farmer occasionally discovers the head of a spear or an arrow- head. Sometimes the rudest kind of a stone implement is found, and just beyond the eastern limits of the town, in Melrose, extensive heaps of arrow chips constitute about the only memorial in the immediate neighborhood left behind them by the warlike aborigines.
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HISTORY OF STONEHAM.
. Prior to 1632 there is no evidence that any portion of Stoneham had been visited by a European, but on February 7th of that year the following record of a visit by Governor Winthrop has been preserved :
THE RECORD.
"The Governor, Mr. Nowell, Mr. Elliott and others went over Mystic River, at Medford, and going North and East among the rocks about two or three miles, they came to a very great pond, having in the midst some Islands of about one acre, and very thick with trees of pine and birch, and divers small rocks standing up in it, which they therefore called Spot Pond. They went all about it upon the ice, from thence towards the Northwest about one-half mile, they came to the top of a very high rock, beneath which, towards the North, a goodly plain partly open land and partly woods, from which there is a fair prospect, but it being then close and rainy, they could see but a small distance. The place they called Cheese Rock, because when they went to eat somewhat they had only cheese, because of the Governor's man torget- ting for haste to put up some bread."
This must have been the north part of Bear Hill. Very generally the early towns of Massachusetts were of very large territorial extent. The original settlement often served as a nucleus from which radiated other set- t'ements, the inhabitants spreading out through the wilderness, forming sep- arate communities, and gradually organizing into independent towns. These communities, in many instances, were separated from each other by long dis- tances, with no means of communication between them but by an Indian trail or the rude path of the forest. This was true of Charlestown, which, within a few years after its settlement, included Woburn, Malden, Stoneham, Burlington, Somerville and Melrose, a large part of Medford, and a small part of Cambridge, Arlington and Reading. Woburn, including Burlington, was incorporated in 1642 ; Malden, including Melrose, in 1649, and Stone- ham in 1725. Charlestown was settled in 1629 and '30, so for almost a cen- tury she embraced within her limits the territory comprised within this town. The early settlement of Charlestown having been made between the mouths of the Charles and the Mystic, it soon became a matter of great importance to extend the boundaries and fix the limits, which was done by negotiations with the Indians, and by grant from the General Court. July 2, 1633, the Court granted "Mistick Side" to Charlestown, ordering that "the ground ly- ing betwixt the North (Malden) River, and the creek on the north side of Mr. Maverick's and up into the country, shall belong to the inhabitants of Charlestown." But this grant does not say how far up into the country the limits of the town shall extend, and so on March 3, 1636, another order was more definite : "Ordered that Charlestown bounds shall run eight miles into the country from their meeting-house, if not other bounds intersect, reserv- ing the propriety of farms granted to John Winthrop, Esq., Mr. Nowell, Mr. Cradock and Mr. Wilson, to the owners thereof, as also free ingress and egress to the servants and cattle of the said gentlemen, and common for their cattle on the back side of Mr. Cradock's farm." May 13, 1640, on petition of the town, an additional grant was made "of two miles at their head line, provided it fall not within the bounds of Lynn Village (Reading), and that
II
HISTORY OF STONEHAM.
they build within two years." So it appears that as early as 1640 all the territory afterwards embraced within the limits of Stoneham formed part of Charlestown, although it contained at this time not a single white inhabitant.
In 1653 an order was passed by the selectmen "that no inhabitant of the town or any other town shall under any pretence whatever fell or cut down any trees upon the Common without the neck, or the Common beyond Mis- tick Pond within Charlestown bounds, or the Common on Mistick side be- longing to Charlestown, without first acquainting the selectmen therewith, upon the forfeit of what the selectmen shall see meet, who are to judge ac- cording as they are to conceive of the offence."
THE DIVISION.
Prior to 1658 all the territory at Mistick side afterwards comprised within the bounds of Stoneham was owned by the inhabitants of Charlestown in their corporate capacity ; but this year it was divided among them in sever- a'ty. A committee had been appointed to make the division, and on the 13th of February, 1657, they made the following report :
The returne made by those brethren that werc deputed by the inhabitants of Charlestowne for the propounding of a way for dividing their town's land on Mistic Syde into Commonage, as alsoe, the dividing of the wood and tymber that each inhabitant may have in his proportion. After some debate spent, and tyme in the consideration hereoff, all the committee unanimously concurring therein doe present this as their advice unto the sayd town. Imprimis; that every head rated in the cuntry rate be vallewed at twenty pounds. 2. That all women, children and servants that are not rated in the cuntry rate in icgaids of their heads, that every two of them be vallewed at the like proportion, that is to say at twenty pounds. 3 That cvery £100 estate brought in to be rated to defraye cuntry charges, then that to have the like proportion, that is to say five tymes as much as he that is only ratable for his head, and ten tynies soe much as where there is onely women and children; that is to say, ten of them to £100 estate; and soe where there is not £100 rated yet what part of a hundred pounds that is rated, then that to have its proportions as aforesayd, and soe where there is but one woman, childe or servant, they to have their proportion as being halfe head -. 4. Ffor the division of the wood and tymber we conceave the whole to be divided into ten ¿quall parts, and the divisions to run from Mistik bounds to Redding bounds the longest way. 5. That the whole according to the proportions above sayd be cast up as supposing them a thousand parts, that then every hundred of these be comprised under cach equal part of the ten parts. the first division to be made by survayors ·chosen out by the whole towne, the latter to be made by those whose lot shall fall to be to gether in any one of the ten parts. 6. That because some inhabitants in this towne are ratable and yet not rated by means of bearing some publick office; and being freed by Court order; as these alsoe that arc troopers and soe exempted by their heads in poynt of cuntry rates, as alsoe some by means of poverty; yet all these to have their proportion in this devision, they that have estate for them to have a proportion accordingly, and those that have no estates yett those of years to be vallewed at twenty pounds. And those that are women and children and ser -. vants that they be va lewed as aforesayd, that is two to twenty pounds.
"THOMAS BRATTLE in behalf of the rest."
The division was finally made on the Ist of March, 1658, under the fol- lowing agreement :
"CHARLTOWNE, the first of March, or the first moneth 1657-165S.
"I. It is Agreed that the first head line shall be Medford Farne, that line between them and our Towne, And all other head lines to run Parralell with that line foure score poole asunder.
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HISTORY OF STONEHAM.
"2. The first Lott, distinguished by th . figure one, shall begin at the southeast corner where Mr. Nowell's Farme and Meadtord farme meet, And so successively according to the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, &c., is to the end of the last figure or lott. And at the end of the first Range to turne back againe in the second Range. Aud so to the third, &c , successively till each inan have ha fe his proportion, for the first, And then the first to begin again, 1. 2, 3, 4, &c., and suc- cessively each number to take place, in the second division, as in the first, till every man have his other halfe of his Lott.
"3. It is Agreed that the Ponds shall not be measured.
"4. It is Agreed that he that Tarrys not in the Towne as an inhabitant for one year next en- suing the date hereoff, upon his going out of the Towne shall lose his whole Propertie, both off wood and common.
"5. It is further Agreed, that no man shall sell his wood or commons but to the Inhabitants of Char etowne, upon forfeiture of twelve pence, p. load of eyther wood or Tymber; And not to dispose of the commons to any of any other Towne, upon forteitur .. of the same, And if any remove to inhabite in any other Towne, shall make no use of their commons, but shall sell it or lett it to some of the Towne of Charletowne, that the commons may be reserved for ever to the use of the Inhabitants of Charletowne.
"6. It is Agreed that each shall pay for the laying out of his wood lott within one month after it is layd out, upon forfeiture of his wood and common. And the selectmen of Charle- towne shall hereby have power to sell it to pay the survayour.
"This was Agreed unto by vote of the inhabitants of Charletowne at a meeting in the meet- ing-hous, this first of March 1657-16;S and ordered to be Recorded in the Towne Booke."
It appears by the foregoing order that, commencing at what was then the line of Medford Farm, about one mile and a fourth south of the present Stoneham boundary, range lines were run in an easterly and westerly direc- tion a quarter of a mile apart, there being two divisions, and seven and a half ranges in each division. These ranges extended north to near where Captain Rufus Richardson's Lane, so called, connects with Main Street. The territory north of this and westerly of High Street was retained by the town in its corporate capacity, and constituted what was afterwards known as the Charlestown Farms. There was also excepted from this allotment Spot Pond Meadows. Nearly all the long stretches of wall running easterly and westerly mark these ancient range lines. The land was drawn by lot and set off to. the several inhabitants in proportion as they were rated, one-half of the share of each lying in the first division, and one-half in the second division, prob- ably for the purpose of equalizing, so far as possible, the value of the land .. This allotment is of great interest, because it lies at the foundation of nearly all our titles, which can be traced back directly to it, where the deeds have been recorded. Could one go back to the year 1658, and accompany a sur- veyor of that time, as he came up from the Market Place (now Charlestown Square) with compass and chain in Mistick side, he would leave the road near the river and strike into the primeval forest by a trail or possibly a path over which had been hauled timber and cedar from the swamp near Spot Pond. No break or clearing would meet his eye, except reaches of water and meadow,. till his arrival at Doleful Plain, where part of the land was open and had been used, as we suppose, for fields of Indian corn. He would roam through an almost trackless wilderness and could probably discover no human habitation
A VIEW ON THE WEST SIDE OF MAIN STREET.
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HISTORY OF STONEHAM.
unless possibly a few Indian lodges. No public road had penetrated the recesses of the forest, and there was hardly a landmark to indicate the presence of civilized man. A few years prior to this time, in 1642, Charles- town Village, incorporated as Woburn, had been settled three miles to the west of us, and three years earlier, 1639, just over the line to our east, Lynn Village (afterwards Redding) had Leen planted. There were forest paths connecting these two settlements, by means of which the adjacent colonists. visited their neighbors, but no highway was built for many years subsequent. The chain-bearer, the blazed lines and the allotment of 1658 paved the way for the early settlement of what was afterwards known as Charlestown End.
There was an individual proprietorship in the land which stimulated its occupancy and improvement. The first settlers seem to have been attracted to the northeast part of the town, probably on account of its nearness to. Reading (now Wakefield). It was many miles to the meeting-house in Charlestown, and but a short distance to the meeting-house in Reading ; and then our ancestors in this section of the town could derive all the advantages and protection to be obtained from the neighborhood of an established com- munity. In case of an Indian raid they could flee to the block-house of their neighbors. There was no organized movement and general settlement, as in most of the New England towns. The axe of the solitary pioneer first rung out and broke the stillness of a hundred centuries. Little clearings. were made here and there and the first farms started. The first toilers were hardy men, with an education insufficient in some cases even to write their own names. The foundations of Stonehan were laid, not by men of culture and wealth, but by the brawn and courage of laborious yoemen. It is im- possible to state with absolute certainty the name of the earliest inhabitant or the exact year of his settlement, but in March, 1678, the inhabitants were Thomas Gery, John Gould, Sr., John Gould, Jr., William Rogers, Thomas. Cutler and Matthew Smith. These were the fathers of the town. But little is known of them. The monuments which survived them were the fields. they cleared, the walls they built and the families they reared. The records have saved a little and tradition something more. Thomas Gery, probably of Irish ancestry, was born about 1638, is supposed for a time to have lived in Reading, where he owned land, and in 1668 or 1669 moved to Charlestown End. He made a clearing and built a house or cabin just beyond the northern slope of Farm Hill, on or near the present High Street, and had his home there during King Philip's War. In 1668 he was complained of for cutting an acre of grass in the meadow of Charlestown. He was at the same time a cunning and a courageous man. It is said that on a certain occasion, having risen early in the morning, his attention was attracted by the sus- picious movements of an Indian lying concealed behind a log, and having reason to believe that he was lying in wait for him, and not caring himself to unnecessarily expose his person, he extended through the partly open door
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HISTORY OF STONEHAM.
his coat and hat in such a manner as to draw the arrow of the unwary savage, and the next instant the ball had whizzed from his unerring musket with fatal effect. Fearing the vengeance of the tribe should they discover the dead body, he buried it in his own cellar. On another occasion, as the story goes, he had been away from home one winter's day cutting wood, and on his return, just after dark, stopped at the house of his neighbor, Thomas Cutler . Mr. Cutler invited him to remain and spend the night, urging upon him the danger of his proceeding, as a pack of wolves had been heard in the neigh- borhood. Mr. Gery, thinking of his family and their anxiety should he stay away, declined the invitation, and shouldering his axe, started on. He had proceeded but a short distance before he was greeted by the howls of the wild beasts. On they came, we can imagine with gleaming eyes and lolling tongues, thirsting for human blood. A weak man, a cowardly man might well have been demoralized and lost ; not so the hardy woodsman. Backing himself against a tree and swinging his axe to the right and left, he soon cleared a space and drove away the brutes. The next morning, on returning to the spot, he found the carcasses of four dead wolves. By family tradition it has been handed down that this man died as a soldier in 1690, when returning home from Canada in the expedition of Sir William Phipps. From then till now his name has been borne by numerous descendants, many of whom have been among the chief men of the town of which he was one of the first settlers.
Of the colony of 1678 the oldest inhabitant was John Gould, Sr., and very probably he was the first pioneer who established himself at Charlestown End. At this time he was sixty-eight years of age, and came here some time prior to 1668. He was an extensive land-holder, and his farm was in the extreme northeastern section of the town, most of it being embraced in what is now Wakefield, and, including the land of his son John, extended as far west as land of Thomas Cutler (now of Mrs. Doyle). He is supposed to have come from Towcester, in Northamptonshire, and to have embarked for America in the "Defence," from London, July 7, 1635. Originally he was described as a carpenter, and later in life as a planter. It would seem that he was one of the most substantial men of the town, for in the allotment of 1658 there were only nineteen who were rated as high or higher than he, while there were one hundred and eighty-two rated lower. For many years he lived in Charlestown before he moved to the north end of the town. He joined the church in 1638, but later in life seems to have been subjected to church discipline, probably because he lived so remote from the house of public worship. Under date of April 28, 1667, we find the church records contain the following :
"The acknowledgment and confession of Brother John Gould, who had been formerly ad- monished in order to his acceptance to Comm union again, vizt. God hath helped me to see many things wherein I have formerly given offence to his people both of this church and of Redding, for which I have been admonished and I do not nor would justify myself therein but
A VIEW ON THE EAST SIDE OF MAIN STREET.
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HISTORY OF STONEHAM.'
rather I doe justify the church in their proceeding with me looking it to have been the duty of the church to deal with me for what was offensive. God has done me much good thereby and I desire that the Church would forgive me and accept of me to their communion which formerly before m admonition I did enjoy. This was read to the brethren liberty given to them who had anything of weight to object but none did object against it bu it was accepted of as satis- factory. He was (the brethren consenting) received to that state of communion which he had before his admonition and by the sentence of the church declared to be restored."
On the 25th of September of the same year :
"John Gould appearing before the select men being demanded whether he would pay any- thing to the maintaining of ordinances for the time past answered plainly that he was not willing to pay'anything for the time past."
THE MILITARY SERVICE
in the early days must have been very exacting, for it appears that he was excused from training in 1682, when he was seventy-three years old. He conveyed his house and about ninety acres of land to his son Daniel in 1687, and this farm remained in the family of Daniel Gould till a few years since, when it was owned by the late Dr. Daniel Gould, of Malden, who was the son of Daniel Gould, Esquire, or "Square Gould" as he was called. The name Daniel seems to have been attached to the land for two hundred years, having descended from father to son. In 1690 John Gould conveyed to his grandson Thomas a tract of land bounded on the east by Smith's Pond. Dying in 1691, he left a numerous offspring. This family for one hundred and fifty years was perhaps the most influential one of the town. The names of Deacon Daniel Gould, Lieutenant Daniel Gould, Captain Abraham Gould, Square Gould and Colonel J. Parjer Gould, from generation to generation, have represented men of the best type that Stoneham has ever produced. The name has almost disappeared from our midst, but in the female line the : blood of old John Gould still circulates amongst us in many households. Next westerly or southwesterly from his father, was the house and farm of John Gould, Junior, who probably lived on the west side of the old road to Wakefield.
Adjoining the land of John Gould, Junior, and westerly .therefrom, the clearing of Thomas Cutler would next have appeared. Thomas Cutler lived . on what was afterwards known as the "old poor farm," which remained in . the family till the death of the widow Elizabeth Cutler in 1825, after which it was sold to the town, no male representative remaining here who bore the name. Thomas Cutler must have had an eye for beautiful and extensive scenery, his home commanding incomparably the finest view of any among the first inhabitants. He died in 1683, at the age of forty-eight.
About one-third or one-half mile southwesterly from the house of John Gould, Senior, lived William Rogers, who occupied the farm lately owned by Captain Buck. In 1669 he married Abigail, the daughter of Mr. Gould, and at that time was a resident here. His house probably stood on or near the spot where Mr. Currier now resides. But little is known of him. He died
2
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HISTORY OF STONEHAM.
prior to 1688, for on February 7th of that year his widow married John Rogers of Billerica. He was succeeded by his son William. John Cutler conveyed to him in 1690 twelve and one-half acres, "reserving highway two poles wide for use of the town." The son remained here till 1728, when he sold his farm of thirty acres to Deacon Daniel Gould, and from that time nothing is known of the family. They made no lasting impression upon the town and none of their descendants appear to have remained.
The last one of the first inhabitants whose shades we invoke is Matthew Smith. In the early history of Charlestown there were three generations of Matthew Smith, and it is not quite certain whether it was Matthew first or second who planted himself at Charlestown End. In 1678 Matthew resided here, and ten years later Matthew Smith, Senior and Junior, were residents. It would rather seem that the first one of the name remained in the old town, although it is by no means certain, and probably was the same one who em- barked at Sandwich, County Kent, with wife Jane and four children in 1635. He was a shoemaker; inhabitant 1637 ; with son Matthew, herdsman, 1649 and 1655 ; town crier, 1657; aged about seventy-two in 1682. He was town messenger at thirty shillings a year in 1637. In the division of 1658 he was allotted eleven acres, five and one-half in the second division, which probably included the land where D. H. Tilton now resides. One of the name, either the father or son, died in 1690, who had married, about 1684, Mary Cutler, probably the widow of Thomas Cutler. He must have been a man of some substance, for in his inventory are found two oxen, one horse, four cows, three yearlings, nine sheep and four swine, and he carried on a farm which he leased of Charlestown. This farm is described as bounded on the north and east by Thomas Gery, and on the south and west by the town, consisting of forty acres, "with as much meadow as he can get out of Parley's swamp, and out of town land nigh Redding, not exceeding twenty- five acres for twenty-five years; rent after twelve years, four pounds per annum; he to plant and build a house eighteen by twenty-two, and barn, to be left the town." The house in which he lived stood on the north side of North street, near where Mr. Pierce now resides, or possibly it was the house of the late Deacon Dunlap. This completes the list of the first settlers.
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