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WINTHROP
HISTORY OF BEDFORD.
DUDLEY
LIBRARY
OF THE
ENSE PETIT
QVIETEM
PLACIDAS
MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
No. 24195 DATE 6-1903 SOURCE a. S. Brown M 18+
F 74 B2B8 +
44 22 71
CARD
MEETING HOUSE . 1729.
IN WHICH THE FIRST/ TOWN MEETING WAS ASSEMBLED BY
Jonathan Bacon
BELL HOUSE BUILT IN 1753.
JONATHAN BACON Who Departed fois life Jan? 12 +175 Time B2nd Year of his Ass
S SCHOOL HOUSE .
"AS NEAR TO BENJAMIN KIDDER'S WALL AS CAN BE WITH CONVENIENCE"
"THE
BACON HOMESTEAD .
HELIOTYFE PRINTING CO. BOSTON
HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF BEDFORD,
MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS,
FROM ITS
EARLIEST SETTLEMENT TO THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1891.
EMBRACING
AN ACCOUNT OF INDIAN CLAIMS AND TROUBLES; COLONIAL GRANTS; SKETCHES OF ITS HEROES ; ITS PART IN THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE AND THE WAR FOR NATIONALITY; ITS BURIAL GROUNDS AND EPITAPHS ; ITS INDUSTRIAL SUCCESS, AND A RECORD OF ITS WHOLE PROGRESS.
WITH A
GENEALOGICAL REGISTER OF OLD FAMILIES.
BY ABRAM ENGLISH BROWN, AUTHOR OF THE HISTORY OF THE FIRST SABBATH SCHOOL OF BEDFORD.
Illustrated.
" The kindly spot, the friendly town, where every one is known, And not a face in all the place, but partly seems my own."
" Write this for a memorial in a book." - ExoDU's xvii. 14.
BEDFORD: PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 1891.
Copyright, 1890. All rights reserved by the Author.
DEDICATION.
TO THE MEMORY OF
Jonathan Bacon, AND HIS ASSOCIATES IN THE WORK OF INCORPORATION, THIS VOLUME IS GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR.
I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times." -- Ps. Ixxvii. 5.
" The fathers sleep, but men remain As true and wise and brave as they ; Why count the loss without the gain ? The best is that we have to-day."
WHITTIER ..
24195
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER.
I. - EARLY GRANTS, ETC. II. - ORGANIZATION. III. - ECCLESIASTICAL. IV. - ECCLESIASTICAL. V. - ECCLESIASTICAL. VI. - SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES.
VII. - MILITARY.
VIII. - MILITARY. IX. - MILITARY. X. - MILITARY.
XI. - FINANCIAL TROUBLES.
XII. - CHARITY. XIII. - BURIAL GROUNDS. XIV. - HIGHWAYS. XV. - STAGES AND POST OFFICE. XVI. - WATERCOURSES. XVII. - MISCELLANEOUS.
XVIII. - ENFORCEMENT OF LAW. XIX. - NOTED OCCASIONS. XX. - TOPOGRAPHICAL. XXL -TAX COLLECTING.
CHAPTER. XXII. - PUBLIC GROUNDS. XXIII - THE ANCIENT MEETING HOUSE. XXIV. - LATER MEETING HOUSES. XXV. - PROFESSIONAL MEN. XXVI. - REPRESENTATIVES TO THE GENERAL COURT. XXVII. - EARLY CUSTOMS. XXVIII. - RECORDS. XXIX. - INDIVIDUAL MILITARY SERVICE IN EARLY WARS.
XXX. - INDIVIDUAL SERVICE IN CIVIL WAR. -
XXXL. - BEDFORD WOMAN'S EXPERIENCE. XXXII. - MOTHER TOWN OF BEDFORD. XXXIII. - EPITAPHS. XXXIV. - HOMESTEADS. XATT. - CLERGY MEN.
SECTION II.
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.
PREFACE.
This volume is the outcome of a contract with the publishers of the History of Middlesex County to prepare a sketehi of Bedford for that work, and of a series of papers read at the request of the citizens in public at different times.
Any seeming disconnection of subjects is due to the fact of the first twenty chapters having been prepared for the above-named work, and printed without regard to issning a town history.
It is to be regretted that a volume of this character had not been completed at an earlier period and by other and abler hands. Two sons of the town. representatives of a generation par- lier, began the work, but died before its completion. Such fragmentary notes of the late .Jolmn W. Simonds as have been preserved have been at our command, but we have not had access to the more extended manuscripts of the late Josialı A. Stearns.
Various reasons have conspired to lead us to issue this volume. First. the rapidly thinning ranks of those who have stood as oraeles, beyond the allotted age of man : since the preparation of this volume began, several aged people, who had treasured up a great store of anecdotes and incidents, have passed away, and with others the ear has grown dull, the eye dim, and the under- standing clouded. In the anticipation of these changes we garnered some sheaves from their store-houses, and record them as precious memorials.
Another impelling motive is the imperative demand of the day for each town, however small, to have its annals in printed form, whereby its own people may be benefited. and by exchange of volumes, towns may become familiar with the inner workings of one another. A town may legally appropriate money for gathering and preserving its annals, but we have felt that other pressing demands must put the day far off when this town could reasonably be expected to make an ade- quate appropriation for a town history ; hence we have endeavored to perform this service as best we could. without burdening any one.
We are happy to acknowledge much valuable assistance from many living sons and daughters of the town, without which we could not have done the work. We reluctantly forbear mentioning any, lest we might inadvertently omit some. Those who have at our request prepared special arti- cles are credited with their labor of love in the chapters where their contributions are found.
Through the generous response of families to our invitation, the large collection of illustra- tions is added to the work. and the volume made doubly attractive and valuable.
Our primary object has been to make the book correct and readable. We have preferred not to weary the reader with our authorities. but have regarded the dates as sufficient guides to state, town and church records, from which we have necessarily gleaned freely.
Finally, this brief volume is submitted, with its many imperfections, to the people of whom it treats, trusting that they will excuse all errors and omissions, and exercise that degree of char- ity which circumstances demand.
ABRAM ENGLISH BROWN.
"Few town histories will ever be written a second time, the pains are too great and the praise too little."-N. A. REVIEW.
PLAN OF BEDFORD.
EXPLANATIONS.
I. Gov. John Winthrop Farm, 1638.
II. Lient .- Gov. Dudley Farm. 1638.
III. Gov. John Winthrop Meadow, 1639.
IV. Thomas Oakes Farm, 1649-1652.
V. Edward Oakes Farm, 1649-1652.
VI. Daniel Gookin Grant, 1649.
VII. Rev. Mr. Mitchel Grant, 1652.
VIII. Squadron south of Oakes Farm, divided, 1707.
IX. Edward Stearns Farm added, 1766.
4. Obed Abbott.
9. Bacon's Mill (later Fitch).
7. Michael Bacon.
2. Brother Rocks.
15. Bowman (later Robinson).
18. Meeting House.
11. Eleazer Davis.
28. Stephen Davis.
27. Benjamin Farley.
19. Joseph Fassett (later Wm. Page).
17. Patrick Fassett.
29. Fawn Lake (Bedford Springs).
3. Samuel Fiteh.
12. Zachariah Fiteh.
23. Samuel Hartwell.
24. William Hartwell.
1. Josiah Hill.
1
22. Col. Timothy Jones.
13. Benjamin Kidder (later Jeremiah Fitch). 5. Job Lane.
8. Hugh Maxwell (later Butterfield).
26. Cheever (later Taylor, later Mead).
25. Dea. Nathaniel Merriam.
21. John Moore.
16. Nathaniel Page.
14. Dea. Israel Putnam.
30. Stearns' Mill (later Hobbs').
6. Capt. Jonathan Wilson.
10. Wilson's Mill (later Staples').
20. Woolley (later Henry Woods).
1
The author and the public are indebted to Mr. and Hale's Plan of 1830. The dotted line ----- shows Charles W. Jenks for the following Plan.
This Plan is drawu, after comparison of the Plan The dotted lines - show the location of various grants. The Winthrop Farm lines are from a plan in possession of A. B. Cutler, Esq. The other of Town of Bedford by Stephen Davis, about 1760, the Plan of Town of Bedford by Thompson Bacon, 1794, both in the office of the Town Clerk of Bedford; lines are merely approximate. as the boundaries of the Plan of Town of Bedford, 1794, the Plan of Town the grants are irregular and difficult to determine. of Bedford by John G. Hale, 1830, both in the office The roads marked B are plotted from the Bacon of the Secretary of State ; an old Plan of Billerica by | Plan of 1794. Danforth, an old Plan of Bedford. both in the posses- The points marked D are from the Davis Plan of (1760 ?) sion of the Mass. Historical Society in Boston: Beers' Map of Middlesex County, 1875; Hazen's History of The Roman numerals are used to designate the Billerica: U. S. Geological Survey. 1886: and many Grants. smaller local plans.
The Arabic numerals show the location of the The full black outline is from Bacon's Plan of 1794 homesteads and points of interest.
enero
1
Billenca
Billinea Goaliele
E
Concord
Garnele
7
Showthis Quy
Concord ants
11
8
45
Hotum
,6
Pigeon
Burlington
E
B
Garante Will
concord formes D
Lexington 1
Concord
N
1
16
Concord afterwards Lincoln
the difference in Plan of Stephen Davis (1760 ?)
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
PACE
Frontispiece.
Chestnut Avenue and Residence of Dudley L. Pick-
Plan of Town,
Inan, .
103
Brother Rocks, .
6 | The Stearns House, .
104
Old Parish Meeting-House,
16 Union School-House. .
.
109
Banner of Concord Fight,
23 Mineral Spring,
110
.
34 | Bedford Lumber and Manufacturing Co.,
110
Winthrop Deed, .
Bedford House, .
40
William R. Hayden, M. D.,
4S
Jonathan Bacon,
50
Hannah Reed,
52 |
SECTION II.
Meeting-House of Trinitarian Congregational Society, 57
Bunyan's Cottage,
77
The Embankment Promenade, Bedford, England, $1
Gravestone of Capt. Jonathan Willson, . 01
Old Oaken Bucket,
03 Corey's Bedford Stage Coach,
-1
Page Ilomestead,
95
Sage Arms, .
BO
Benjamin F. Hartwell Home (South Bedford),
97
; Stearns Arms,
Shawshine House, John Webber Home, .
98
Elijah Wyman Stearns,
The Stream and Mill,
99
David Rood's Tavern Sign,
100
Webber Cradle,
Bedford Springs,
100
Residence of Wallace G. Webber,
Robinson llouse,
10T
Lane Homestead,
4.5
Sampson House,
101
Abner Stearns' Commission,
The Author.
-
Bellows-top Chaise,
Jonathan Bacon Homestead,
1
-
Rev. Samuel Stearns, .
1
AN HISTORICAL SKETCH
OF THE
TOWN OF BEDFORD.
CHAPTER I.
The Parent Towns - Early Grants and Settlements-The Tuto Brothers- Discharge of Indian t'laims-Garrisons-Iucorporation.
BEDFORD stands number twenty-five in the fifty- nine townships thus far incorporated in Middlesex County. It has a twin mate-Westford. They were both incorporated by the General Court September 23,1729.
Bedford was taken from Concord and Billerica, but not until the parent towns had almost reached their first centennial. It then appears that the early his- tory of the territory known as Bedford is included with that of the parental towns. That which may be designated as the south and west part of the town was taken from Concord, and the greater part of the north and east was from Billerica.
For nearly a century this territory comprised the outlying districts of Concord and Billerica.
It represents a part of the first inland town of Massachusetts and includes portions of very early grants.
A commendable pride prompts every true New Englander to seek for Puritan descent, and to date the settlement of his locality from the landing of those grand worthies. Hence, in considering the origin of Bedford, it may be admissible to repeat a few familiar facts of history, with their dates.
The Pilgrims landed in the year 1620. The charter of Massachusetts was granted in 1629, by King Charles I. In 1630 came Winthrop and Dudley with
fifteen hundred passengers. September 2, 1635, Mus- ketaquid (Concord) was granted to Mr. Buckley (Rev. Peter Buckley) and - Merchant (Major Simon Willard), with other families.
November, 1637, the Court made grants to Gov- ernor Winthrop and the deputy, Mr. Dudley. In the following spring the grants were located, the original having been somewhat enlarged.
In June, 1641, "Shawshin is granted to Cambridge, prvided they make it a village."
The town of Bedford comprises a portion of the Musketaquid grant, the whole of the Winthrop and a portion of the Shawshine grant.
The first house occupied by English, within the present limits of Bedford, alluded to in a report made in 1642 as the "Shawshin house," proves that the first settlement was made here within twenty-two years after the landing of the Pilgrims.
The nature of the land included in the above named grants is seen in reports and descriptions made about that time. Hubbard describes the Concord settlement as "right up in the woods," and Johnson as " in desert depths where wolves and bears abide," and the journey to it he describes as " through watery swamps, through thickets where the hands were forced to make a way for the bodyes passage, and their feete clambering over the crossed trees, which when they missed, they sunk into an uncertaine bottome in water, and wade up to their knees, tumbling, some- times higher and sometimes lower."
Of the grants made to the Governor and deputy (lieutenant), the whole of the former is included in the present limits of Bedford. Its western boundary
5
6
BEDFORD.
being Concord River. The grants were located 1638, May 2d, as follows :
" It was ordered by the prsent Court that John Win- thrope, Esq', the prsent Governor, shall have 1200 acres of land whereof, 1000 was formerly granted him. & Thomas Dudley, Esi', the Deputy Governo", has 1000 acres granted to him by a former Courte, both of them about 6 miles from Concord, north- wards ; the said Governor to have his 1200 acres on the southierly side of two great stones standing neare together, close by the ryver side that comes from Con- cord."
The depnty's was north of it within the present limits of Billerica. Winthrop has given us an ac- count of the location of these farms in his journal.
" Going down the river about four miles, they made choice of a place for one thousand acres for each of them. They offered each other the first choice, but because the deputy's was first granted, and himself had store of land already, the Governor yielded him the first choice. So, at the place where the deputy's land was to begin there were two great stones which they called the Two Brothers in re- membrance that they were brothers by their chil- drens marriage and did so brotherly agree, and for that a little creek near those stones was to part their lands."
A little later the Conrt added two hundred acres to the Governor's part, and still later he received an additional portion of sixty aeres of meadow " within a mile or two of his farme, beneath Concord, towards the sontheast of the said farme."
In 1636 Matthew Cradock expressed a desire to obtain a grant of two thousand acres "at a place called Shawe Shynn," and in 1637, August, "Capt. Jeanison & Leift. Willi : Spencer were appointed to viewe Shawshin & to consider whether it be fit for a plantation." The report was not made, however, until after it had been granted to Cambridge. The explorer's experience is thus described by Sewall as taken from Woburn records: " As they were engaged Nov. 9, 1640, shortly after their appointment, in ex- ploring the land about the Shawshin river they were overtaken and lost in a snow-storm, and in this sad dilemma they were forced as night ap- proached, for want of a better shelter, to lye under the Roekes, whilst the Raine and snow did bediew their Rockye beds." The following is the report of the committee, which is not as valuable for accuracy as it is helpful, in locating the Shawshine house :
" Wee, whose names are underwritten, being appointed to viewe Shawshin & to take notice of what fitness it was for a village & accord- ingly to of apprehensions make returne to the Crt ; wee therefore mani- fest thus much : that for the quantity it is sufficient, but for the quality in or apprhensions no way fit, the upland being very barren & very little medow there abont, oor any good timber almost fit for any use. Wee went after we came to Shawshin beuse, by estimation. Some 14 to 16 miles at the least, in compass ; from Shawshin house wee began to go
downe the ryver 4 or 5 miles near East ; then we left that point & went neere upon north, came to Concord Ryver, a little holowe the falls, about one mile or neare; then we went up the ryver some 5 miles untill wee came to a place called the Two Brethren : and from thence it is about two miles & Jg to Shawshin, & the most part of all the good land is given ont already ; more land there is at the south side of the honse, between the side of Concord line & the heade of Cambridge line, but littell medow, & the upland of little worth ; & and this is what we can say hearin.
" SIMON WILLARD. " Epwd CONVERS. "
The signers of the report were not the ones ap- pointed for this exploration by the Courtin 1637, but the former, Willard was a prominent inhabitant of Concord and Convers was of Woburn, and as sneh may have had an eye to this territory for their own advantage and hence were unconsciously influenced in making their report, which is not an accurate de- seription of the land. After receiving the report of the exploring committee the General Court renewed the grant to Cambridge and specified the bounds: " All the land lying upon Shaweshin Ryver & between that and Concord Ryver, and between that & Merri- mack Ryver, not formerly granted by this Co't." May 9, 1644, the Court "ordered that the ryver at Shawshin shall be called by the name of Shawshin."1
By a vote of January 2, 1654, a second division of land was made in Concord. "It was voted to divide the town into three parts or quarters;" as the east quarter, in part, fell to Bedford, it is to that division that we confine our investigation. The report of the committee to make the division is as follows : "The east quarter by their familyes are from Henry Far- weles all eastwards with Thomas Brookes, Ensign Wheeler, Robert Meriam, George Meriam, John Adames, Richard Rice."
In 1663 the town voted "that every man that hath not his proportion of lands laid out too him, that is due to him, shall gitt it laid out by an artis " before 1665; "and that each one should give to the town clerk a description of their lands." Mr. Shattuck's table, made from the records, is helpful in showing some of the divisions that fall to Bedford: William Hartwell had 241 acres; John Hartwell, 17; Wm. Taylor, 117; Joseph Wheeler, 357; Caleb Brooks, 150; Thos. Pellet and Joseph Dean, 280; Eliphalet Fox, 106; others are indicated as being in the east quarter, but are omitted, as there is no reasonable eer- tainty of their exact location. Each quarter had the care of its own highways and had a board of overseers to look after its interests. Mr Shattuck says: " Regu- lations were established in each quarter, similar to
1 The spelling of this as of many proper names of early colonial days is variable. Shattuck, in his history of 1833, seems to prefer " Shaw- sheen." Walcott in his receot work, " Concord in the Colonial Period," accepts Shawshine as the more approved. In following his good judg- meot we use the latter form,
"The Governour and Deputy went to Concord to view some land for farms, and, going down the river about four miles, they made choice of a place for one thousand acres for each of them. * * * At the place where the Deputy's land was to begin, there were two great stones, which they called the Two Brothers, in remembrance that they were brothers by their childrens marriage and did so brotherly agree."
John Winthrop's Journal. April 24, 1638.
7
BEDFORD.
those in wards of a city. Each chose its own officers, kept its own records, made its own taxes," etc. The first overseers for the east quarter were Ensign Wheeler and William Hartwell (without doubt Wil- liam I.).
The Governor Winthrop grant remained intact, and probably unoccupied until 1664, when it was sold by Fitz John Winthrop to Job Lane for £230. Mr. Lane was distinguished as an "artificer " and a " house wright." He paid for the Winthrop farm by erecting a mansion for Fitz John Winthrop at Nor- wich, Connecticut, and he built one of the college buildings at Cambridge. His skill and reputation are acknowledged in being selected as an "able and honest artificer for erecting a bridge over Billerica River." The contract made January 11, 1667, shows that he was to receive for the work " seven score and five pounds starling ;" "ten in cash, ten in wheat, ten in malt, and the remainder in corn and cattle."
The discharge of obligations, of importance like the two cited above, by the use of barter, suggests the state of the currency at that time. The conveyance of the Winthrop farm is made on vellum, now in the possession of the heirs of Mary Lane Cutler; the deed is in an excellent state of preservation, and after hav- ing lain in folds 225 years and changed custodians many times, can be read with comparative ease. It begins as follows :
"This indenture, made the second day of August, in the year of our Lord, one thousand six hundred and sixty & four, in the sixteenth year of the reign of ye Sovereign Lord Charles the Second, by the grace of God, of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, King and defender of the faith. To wit: Between Fitz John Winthrop, of New London, in the Colony of Connecticut, in New England, Esq., on the one part, and Job Lane, of Malden, in the County of Mid- dlesex, in New England, carpenter, on the other part."
The purchaser of the Winthrop farm was from Riekmansworth, in Hertfordshire, England, where he inherited property from which he received an annual income that he bequeathed to his son John.
Job Lane built a honse very soon after he came in possession of the farm, 1664. The Hiram Dutton house is supposed to mark the spot, if it is not in part the original house. It was the only house in Biller- ica south of Ralph Hill's at the time of King Philip's War. Job Lane went to Malden some years before his death, which occurred in 1697, and established a home. He gave by will, the Winthrop farm to three of his heirs. They agreed to a division of the farm, which was found, by survey, in 1706, to contain 1500 acres, Each had a portion of upland, meadow and woodland, and many of the odd-shaped lots of land of to-day are the result of that division. Capt. John Lane had 750 acres, Samuel Fitch had 375 and Mat- thew Whipple had 375. The former, Capt. John Lane, was son of Job; Fitch and Whipple were
grandsons, who represented deceased daughters of Job Lane.1
There is no evidence that Whipple settled on his portion, but the others did, and some of the lots are held, in 1890, by their descendants, (the sixth genera- tion).
The Shawshine grant included all of the remaining land that was set off to Bedford at the incorporation. Two small accessions were made later. It does not appear that Cambridge took action towards the settle- ment of Shawshine until April 9, 1648. Only those grants known to be in Bedford are mentioned here. Gookin (Gooking), had 500 acres; it comprised the northeast section of the present town of Bedford. The grantee was Capt. Daniel Gookin, and was thus pub- licly recognized as a valuable servant of the Colony. He was a faithful friend of the natives and a co- worker with the Apostle Eliot, and had a great influ- ence with the Wamesit Indians. His name appears as Magistrate in 1684, before whom depositions were taken in regard to the Musketaquid purchase of 1636. Rev. Joseph Mitchell had 500 acres. This was all purchased by Michael Bacon, in July, 1682, for £200. Nathaniel Page bought a grant of Grimes, in 1687. It contained 500 acres. Edward Oakes had a grant of 300 acres, extending from the Page land southward to "Concord Old Line." Thomas Oakes had 150 acres, extending from the Bacon purchase to Winthrop farm on the west. The Bedford Springs covers this grant.
"The great meadows," east of the Poor Farm, in- cluding sixty acres, constituted the last grant to Gover- nor Winthrop. With the exception of the Winthrop meadows, all of the land remaining between Thomas Oakes, (Bedford Springs) and "Concord Old Line," bounded on the east by Page and Edward Oakes, and on the west by the Winthrop Farm, was known until 1708 as Billerica Commons, (the squadron south of Oakes farm) Bedford Village is included in this.
Dr. Page, in his " History of Cambridge," has the following : "Michael Bacon, of Woburn, bought of Rodger Shaw a farm in the northwesterly part of Cambridge (now Bedford), including all the meadows adjoining to the great swamp near the east corner of Concord bounds that falls to Cambridge. The Shaw- shine River runs from this swamp."
This must have been a second purchase of land in this town by Mr. Bacon. There still remains about 700 acres of the Shawshine grant within the limits of Bedford, the section east of the Page purchase and the Rev. Joseph Mitchell grant. This must include some minor grants, among which, doubtless, is that of thirty acres to John Wilson, in 1685, " for encour- agement towards his corn-mill." The Billerica Com- mon lands or " Squadron South of Oakes farme," be-
1 The law of Massachusetts gave to the oldest son a double portion of a parent's estate, which may account for the unequal division.
8
BEDFORD.
fore mentioned as including the village of Bedford, containing 600 acres, was divided in 1708. The al- lotment, according to Hazen's Billerica, was as follows : " It is agreed that Lt. John Stearns should attend the laying out of the lots as fast as might he, and to carry the hind end of the chain, (only as to his own) and Daniel Hill or Henry Jefts to carry the chain for said Stearns's lot."
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