USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Dorchester > History of the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
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
தம் - திர். பிரிந்து ஜீ வம்பர்வழி-ரை
Gc 074.402 D72c 1149719
M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01100 9179
74 72 14
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofd00dorc_0
HISTORY
OF THE
1
TOWN OF DORCHESTER,
MASSACHUSETTS.
BY A COMMITTEE OF THE
Dorchester Antiquarian and Historical Society.
" God bless the Puritan ! " "Name, monarchs may not bear, Name, nobles may not share, Exultingly we wear Linked to the heart."
974.402 0720
BOSTON : EBENEZER CLAPP, JR ....... 184 WASHINGTON STREET.
1859.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, BY EBENEZER CLAPP, JR. In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
DAVID CLAPP, Printer.
Stace - 15.00
PREFACE.
1149719
IN the early part of the present century, the Rev. Dr. THADDEUS M. HARRIS (at that time, and for many subsequent years, the much respected minister of Dorchester) wrote a history of this ancient town, and published it in the printed Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Vol. 9, 1st Series. In the latter part of his life he contemplated pub- lishing a much more elaborate work upon the same subject, for which his long residence in the town, and his taste for historical research, eminently qualified him ; but before mak- ing much progress in carrying out his design, his declining health and subsequent deccase deprived the public of the accumulated materials chiefly entrusted to his memory. After this event, sundry gentlemen of Dorchester, impressed with the importance of collecting and preserving all existing ma- terials tending to illustrate the early occurrences of the pio- neer plantation of the Bay,* from which it is believed more than 200,000 persons now living in the United States can trace their origin, associated themselves together under the name of the DORCHESTER ANTIQUARIAN AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY .
This Society has already published the valuable Memoirs of Roger Clap, James Blake's Annals of Dorchester, and
* Massachusetts Bay, at the settlement in 1629, included only the territory between Nahant and Point Alderton. See Endicott's instructions in Hazard, Vol. 1, p. 260.
iv
PREFACE.
Richard Mather's Journal - the original copy of the latter production, in the hand-writing of the author, having been accidentally discovered among some papers formerly belong- ing to Mr. Blake. In furtherance of its purpose, the Society appointed a Committee to arrange and connect all such facts as they possess into a methodical History of the Town, inter- spersed with such comments and remarks as would add to the interest of the subject.
The sources of information within reach of the Society are only such as most of the early towns of Massachusetts can furnish. Nearly four years elapsed after the settlement be- gan, before the present town organization of Massachusetts was formed ; and during the period of plantation existence few records were made except grants of land. An accurate detail of the early proceedings of the Dorchester plantation would be of great value to the history of Massachusetts, as it covers a period when the present institutions of New Eng- land were unfolding, and the West Country Company, which selected this site for their abode, formed a prominent part of the great Association which gathered in England in 1629, under the wing of the Massachusetts patent, and, in the spring of 1630, sailed in seventeen ships for the Bay. Of this fleet the Mary and John, containing our company, were the first to arrive. The early transactions are doubtless much obscured by the removal to Connecticut, in 1635-6, of a large number of the prominent men of the first settlers, taking with them the church records. Diligent inquiry has in vain been made for those memorials. The present town record book probably commenced with the settlement in 1630, but the first two leaves, containing four pages, which may be supposed to have been the record of the first transactions of the plantation, are wanting, and were probably lost before Mr. Blake compiled his Annals, more than one hundred years
V
PREFACE.
ago. The existing church records commence with the Cove- nant adopted at the settlement of Mr. Mather, August 23, 1636. The record of births previous to the year 1657 was accidentally burnt, and the few that have been preserved before that date were furnished afterwards from family Bibles. The few facts relating to the first three years, are gathered from the Court Records, Winthrop's Journal, and some other pub- lications usually resorted to in like cases, and from Roger Clap's Memoir. We would gladly exchange the well-filled pages of wholesome religious instruction, written by Mr. Clap for the benefit of his posterity, for an equal quantity of historical facts which his opportunities doubtless might have enabled him to record. Still, he has rendered an invaluable service by the relation as it exists. Mr. Blake's Annals are for the most part a transcript from the town books, with some valuable additions of his own.
The manuscripts in the State archives have afforded valua- ble information for our purpose, and the genealogical part has been aided by a diligent search of the Probate Records and Deeds of the County of Suffolk.
Notices of matters which have originated during the pre- sent century, have been compressed into the smallest space. Indeed, our limits have prevented the insertion of any refer- ence to numerous subjects which from time to time have engrossed private enterprise or public interest. To do any thing like justice to a record of these, would be to publish facts already familiar to our readers, at the risk of abridg- ing the circulation of the volume. We present the work as the result of earnest associated effort for the preservation and diffusion of a truthful record of the History of Dorchester.
Should any irregularity in the arrangement of the materials of the work be discovered, or any repetitions be detected, it is hoped the reader will find an excuse in the mode of its pub-
vi
PREFACE.
lication-successive portions of it having been prepared, printed, and issued in numbers, at irregular intervals. The same excuse is also offered for any want of uniformity, in ap- pearance, of the paper and typography of the volume.
DORCHESTER, DECEMBER 1, 1859.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Smith's Voyage to Massachusetts, and the Excursion of the Ply-
Page mouth Pilgrims to the Bay 1
CHAPTER II.
Thompson's visit to Dorchester, and settlement on the Island afterwards called by his name .- The Neponset Tribe of Indians 7
CHAPTER III. Emigration in 1630 .- Mr. John White .- Arrival of the Dorches- ter Company
13
CHAPTER IV.
Mattapan selected by the Dorchester Company .- The Town laid out and House Lots distributed .- Portions appropriated for Cul- tivation .- The Trade of Fishing · 20
CHAPTER V.
Boundaries of the Town .- Freemen and their Privileges .- Return of Emigrants .- The Dorchester Record Book .-- Orders relating to Meetings of the Plantation 25
CHAPTER VI.
Erection of first Meeting-House .- Building of Stoughton's Mill .- New Burying-Ground commenced .- Controversy about remov- ing to Connecticut 33
CHAPTER VII.
List of the first Settlers of the Town
38
viii
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII. Additional Settlers previous to 1636 . 93
CHAPTER IX.
Second Emigration from England · 100
CHAPTER X.
Privations and Influence of Woman in the Settlement of the Coun- try .- Additional Names of Male Inhabitants of Dorchester prior to 1700
142
CHAPTER XI. 1
Removal of a part of the Colony to Connecticut .- The Pequot War-Orders of the General Court and of the Town . 148
CHAPTER XII.
Orders of the General Court and of the Town-(Continued) . 181
CHAPTER XIII.
Settlement of Dorchester, in South Carolina, and of Midway, in
Georgia .
CHAPTER XIV. , 261
Ecclesiastical Council at Medfield .- Religious Association of Young Men .- Land for Free Schools .- Death of Gov. Stoughton .- Boundaries of the Town .- Town Orders, &c.
266
CHAPTER XV.
Arrival and Preaching of Rev. George Whitfield ; its effects in the Church at Dorchester .- New Meeting-House .- Siege and Cap- ture of Louisbourg .- Heavy drafts of Men and Money .- Exces- sive Drought .- Great Earthquake .- Death of Gen. Hatch . 303
CHAPTER XVI.
Colonial Events preceding the Revolution .- Great Celebration in Dorchester .- Patriotic Resolutions by the Town-Rev. Jonathan Bowman .- Rev. Moses Everett .- Drafting of Soldiers for the War .- Fortifying of Dorchester Heights .- Small-pox Hospitals 320
CHAPTER XVII.
Forestalling Provisions. - The Currency. - The Revolution. -
Names of Dorchester men engaged in the War . 340
CONTENTS.
ix
CHAPTER XVIII. Shays's Rebellion .- Col. Pierce's Diary of Important and Interest- ing Events
352
CHAPTER XIX.
Duel at Dorchester Point .- Three young Men drowned .- Annexa- tion of Dorchester Neck to Boston .- Revival of Business at Commercial Point .- Gathering of the Second Church, and the Controversy with Rev. Dr. Codman 371
CHAPTER XX.
Political Parties .- New Meeting-House of the First Parish .- Situ- ation of Dorchester .- Houses .- Population .- Dress and Cus- toms of our Ancestors . 385
CHAPTER XXI.
Brief Sketch of the Religious Societies of Dorchester ·
·
404
CHAPTER XXII.
The Public Schools of the Town 419
CHAPTER XXIII.
Brief Notices of the Early Teachers in the Public Schools
479
CHAPTER XXIV.
Graduates of Harvard College from the Town of Dorchester
.
555
CHAPTER XXV.
Neponset River .- Its Sources, Tides, &c .- Neponset Tribe of In- dians .- Navigation of the River .- Various Fishes in its Waters. -Ferries, Bridges, &c. 574
CHAPTER XXVI.
Some Account of the various Mills on Neponset River . 600
CHAPTER XXVII.
Societies, Banks, Ministerial and Church Lands, Burial Grounds, Epitaphs, &c.
642
CONCLUSION
.
657
1
1
-
1
ERRATA AND ADDENDA.
Page 25, eleventh line from the top, the name of Lieut. Peaks should have been printed instead of " Heakes."
Page 35, twentieth line. It is not probable that Mr. Ma- verick went to Windsor, as he died in Boston, Feb. 3, 1636- perhaps at the house of his son Samuel at Noddle's Island.
Page 48, fifteenth line, it should be 1661, instead of " 1651."' Page 56, William Hannum, not " Hammond."
Page 59, the last line should read-John Hull, whose daugh- ter married Judge Sewall.
Page 67, fourth line from the bottom, read Josiah, not "' Thomas."
Page 80. We hear from Abner Morse that Thomas Rich- ards left many descendants.
Page 95, twenty-third line, Herring instead of "Haven."
Page 97, twenty-ninth line. John Russell, an early donor to the Church, belongs in this list.
Page 98, twenty-second line, read Richard Vore, not "Vose."
Page 99. Elizabeth Vose, born 8 (6) 1661, was daughter of Thomás.
Page 99, eighteenth line. There was no such person as Ebenezer, son of Henry Vose.
Page 105. Add to Humphrey Atherton's children-Eliza- beth, who married Timothy Mather ; Margaret, who married James Trowbridge ; and Isabel, who married - Wales.
Page 108, fifteenth line, Samuel "Pierce " should be Sam- uel Paul.
Page 110, twelfth line, add-Elizabeth, born Dec. 26, 1666, married Henry Vose.
Page 110, twenty-second line. Robert Babcock had bro- thers George and Enoch in Milton. George had a son George, born 26 (12) 1657, and died in 1734. Enoch died in 1711, leaving an only son, William, and daughters Susan, Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah.
Page 111, eighth line, add-Roger Billings, died Nov. 15, 1683, aged 65.
Page 118. Standfast Foster married Abigail Holman.
Page 120, sixth line from bottom, the sentence should read
xii
ERRATA AND ADDENDA.
-the wife of Joseph Belcher, of Milton, and mother of Jo- seph Belcher, minister of Dedham.
Page 124. For " Hammond " read Hannum; and for " Foye," read Fry.
Page 133. William Robinson was killed in his mill-wheel.
Page 164, third line, add for, after "you";
66 nineteenth line, for " before " read desire.
Page 195, twenty-second line, read Bolton instead of " Bat- ten."
Page 273. It appears as if the writer referred to had con- founded Chief Justice Stoughton with Judge Sewall.
Page 301, eleventh line, for "Mather" Withington, read Philip.
Page 345. Revolutionary soldiers omitted in previous list :
John Pope served at Squantum and Rhode Island ; he was raised to the rank of Lieutenant.
John Lemist was at West Point.
Thomas Pierce was at West Point.
Edward Foster was at Long Island.
Rufus Davis was in the marine service, under Com. Tucker. Jonathan Wiswall was at New York.
Thomas Lyon was at Squantum, Roxbury and Ticonderoga. All of the above are well remembered in town, and were among the last of the Revolutionary pensioners who died.
Page 377, seventh line, the number "eighteen " should be twenty.
Page 411, twenty-fifth line, it should have been stated that Rev. David Dyer was installed, not " ordained."
Page 411. Rev. Mr. Noyes also was installed, not " or- dained."
Page 418. The Tenth Parish was organized as Unitarian, in May, 1859, and Rev. F. W. Holland, of East Cambridge, called as Pastor.
Page 486, twentieth line, £60, not "$60."
Page 528. For " Crehore," read Cochran.
Page 534. Mr. Everett had other children.
Page 573. James Pierce was born Nov. 20, 1825.
Page 573. Edward L. Pierce is a graduate of Brown Uni- versity.
Page 584, fourth line, the date should be 1787, not " 1777." Page 656. The first epitaph should read-
Abel his offering accepted is His body to the Grave his sovle to blis On Octobers twentye and no more In tie yeare sixteen hundred 44.
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
landed on the Dorchester shore, carried on some traffic for furs with the Neponset Indians, and then run down the south shore towards Cape Cod. He mentions that some French vessels had shortly before visited the same place, and defeated one of his prin- cipal objects, by purchasing such furs as the Indians
2
xii
ERRATA AND ADDENDA.
-the wife of Joseph Belcher, of Milton, and mother of Jo- seph Belcher, minister of Dedham.
Page 124. For "Hammond " read Hannum ; and for "Foye," read Fry.
Page 133. William Robinson was killed in his mill-wheel.
Page 164, third line, add for, after "you ";
66 nineteenth line, for " before" read desire.
Page 195, twenty-second line, read Bolton instead of " Bat- ten."
Page 273. It appears as if the writer referred to had con- founded Chief Justice Stoughton with Judge Sewall.
Page 133, fifteenth line, for " 1638," read 1635.
twentieth line, Abigail Reed not the daughter of William, but of John, of Rehoboth.
Page 501, fourth line from bottom of the text, for "1693," read 1695. Page 530, fourth line from bottom, instead of " Hannah," read Eliza- beth.
Page 571. William S. Morton went to College from Milton.
Page 573. E. L. Pierce, born in Stoughton, went from that town to Brown University.
Page 577, third line, read Beaumont, instead of " Bomant."
Page 631, sixth line from bottom, read Delaware, instead of "New Jersey."
Bowdoin Literary Association incorporated 1855. 1st President, Robert Vose, Jr. Ist Secretary, E. P. McElroy.
Page 292, sixth line, Canton was incorporated in 1797.
Jugu viv. values rierce was born Nov. 20, 1825. Page 573. Edward L. Pierce is a graduate of Brown Uni- versity.
Page 584, fourth line, the date should be 1787, not " 1777."'
Page 656. The first epitaph should read-
Abel his offering accepted is His body to the Grave his sovle to blis On Octobers twentye and no more In tie yeare sixteen hundred 44.
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
CHAPTER I.
Smith's Voyage to Massachusetts, and the Excursion of the Plymouth Pilgrims to the Bay.
THE earliest recorded evidence of the presence of civilized man upon the soil of Massachusetts, may be found in the oft-quoted voyage to New England, in 1614, made by Capt. John Smith, of Virginia notoriety, a reference to which is especially appro- priate to the History of Dorchester, inasmuch as the concurrent testimony of various circumstances fixes upon the site of this ancient town as the only place of his landing within the bay. Smith entered what is now Boston harbor, in the summer of 1614, in a boat with eight men, leaving his vessels engaged in taking fish on the coast of Maine. He undoubtedly landed on the Dorchester shore, carried on some traffic for furs with the Neponset Indians, and then run down the south shore towards Cape Cod. He mentions that some French vessels had shortly before visited the same place, and defeated one of his prin- cipal objects, by purchasing such furs as the Indians
2
2
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
in that neighborhood had collected; an occurrence which probably explains the fact mentioned by Mr. Winthrop, that Mr. Ludlow, in digging the founda- tions of his house at Dorchester, in 1631, found two pieces of French money, coined in 1596. It has often been asserted that Smith entered Charles river ; and if no other record of his voyage existed than the one published in 1631, seventeen years after its occurrence, the assertion might have been credited. But this evidence is entirely overthrown by the map and description of his voyage, which he published soon after his return to England, wherein he em- bodied his acquired knowledge of the geography of the country, and which proves conclusively that he did not visit that part of the harbor which receives the Charles and the Mystic, and where the city of Boston is situated. Smith's work, entitled the " De- scription of New England," published in London, 1616, contained all the information which he ac- quired on the only visit he ever made to Massachu- setts. It contradicts some of his subsequent publi- cations, and confirms the statement made by Prince,* that the latter works were compilations from Winslow and others, who possessed more accurate knowledge than Smith ever had an opportunity to acquire. In the first work, he says of Charles river, " they report a great river, which I had not time to discover; I was sent more to get present commodi- ties than knowledge by discoveries ;" and his entire ignorance of this river is apparent from the map t
* Prince's Annals, p. 128. ¡ Reprinted in Mass. Hist. Col. vol. 23.
3
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
which accompanies it. He makes the bay an inlet running in a southwesterly direction towards the Blue Hills (called Cheviot Hills), receiving no riv- ers whatever, but he makes a broad straight river some miles to the north of the inlet, and separated from it by a promontory. This river runs directly into the sea, through a broad mouth, and he says that he had no occasion to examine " if the river doth pierce many days journey the entrails of the country."
In his " advice to inexperienced planters of New England," published 1631, he says, "I took the fairest reach into this bay for a river, whereupon I called it Charles River ;" a direct contradiction of the map and the first record. This sentence doubt- less caused the entry in the Charlestown records, made in 1664, fifty years after Smith's voyage, which has misled several recent writers in this matter. The probability is, that the quarrel which Smith mentions as occurring between himself and the In- dians who followed him to Cohasset rocks, hastened his departure, and his explorations were very imper- fect, and that his only knowledge of the great river called for Prince Charles, which he represented to the king as equal in importance to the river he had previously discovered in Virginia and called by the name of King James, was acquired in his intercourse with the Indians, or possibly from some European fisherman or fur trader who had preceded him .*
* Smith's first description of Massachusetts, or Boston Bay, printed 1616 (see Mass. Hist. Col. vol. 6, 3d series, p. 118 and 119), reads thus : " Then the country of Massachusetts, which is the paradise of all those parts, &c.,-the sea coast as you pass shows you large cornfields,
4
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
Smith's account was doubtless the origin of the ex- aggerated importance attached to this river by the first adventurers to New England, and it is very cer- tain that no accurate knowledge of it was possessed by the patentees when the Massachusetts charter was obtained, or this tortuous stream would never have been selected as the boundary line between the Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies; indeed, the whole of the present harbor of Boston seems to have been regarded by the early settlers as a part of Charles river. Roger Clap says, Gov. Winthrop's
&c., but the French having remained here near six weeks, left nothing for us to take occasion to examine the inhabitants relations, viz., if there be near 3000 people upon these isles, and that the river doth pierce many days journey the entrails of the country. We found the people very kind, but in their fury no less valiant, for upon a quarrel we had with one of them, he only with three others crossed the harbour of Quona- hasset (Cohasset) to certain rocks, whereby we must pass, and there let fly their arrows, &c."
Smith's second description of Boston Bay, printed 1631, without making another visit (Mass. Hist. Col. vol. 3, 3d series, page 34), says -- " From this place (Salem) they have sent 150 men to the Massachu- setts, which they call Charlton or Charles town. I took the fairest reach in this bay for a river, whereupon I called it Charles river, after the name of our Royal King Charles." (Charles I. became king 1625, 11 years after Smith's visit to Massachusetts, and 9 years after he published his first account, and was but 14 years old when Smith returned from his voyage.)
Smith's map, published long after his first description (see Mass. Hist. Col. vol. 6, 3d series), proves conclusively his ignorance of Charles river. The evidence in favor of his landing at Dorchester is, that the French ships could not have found their way to Charlestown (and they had no occasion to go there, as the head quarters of the Massachusetts Indians, whose furs they wanted, were at the mouth of Neponset), the French money found by Ludlow, and the Indians following Smith to Cohasset.
The evidence that Smith's description in 1631 was a mere compila- tion, is conclusive. He states, in 1616, that he was absent but six or seven months from' England-that he went to get commodities rather than make discoveries-that he caught 60,000 fish, and collected £1500 stg. worth of furs, and says, " I had not power to search as I would." But in 1631, he had a thorough knowledge of the geography of the country, had sounded five and twenty harbors, was acquainted with the pro- ductions of the soil, and the religion and character of the inhabitants, which important knowledge was all suppressed in his first publication !
5
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
fleet anchored in Charles river. Gov. Dudley writes, we found a place three leagues up Charles river, and thereupon unshipped our goods and brought them to Charlestown. It is probable that Capt. Squeb, who brought the Dorchester company, was chartered for Charles river, and considered himself at the mouth of the river when he anchored in Nantasket roads, and there is no evidence that any large ship had ever penetrated further into the harbor, previous to the arrival of the Mary and John, in May, 1630 .*
In 1621, seven years after Smith's visit to Massa- chusetts, took place the excursion of the Pilgrims to the bay, as related by Winslow. Any one fa- miliar with the localities, who reads the relation, will perceive that the Pilgrims (ten in number, with Squantum, or Tisquantum, and two other Indians), on their first visit to Massachusetts, an- chored at night under Nantasket head, where they met a few wandering Indians, doubtless sojourning temporarily at this place, for the purpose of obtain- ing lobsters and other shell fish, abounding in that locality. With these Indians they held some inter- course, and then run over to the Dorchester shore at Squantum, so called by them from the name of one of their Indian guides. On the following morn- ing, the party landed, and marched three miles into the country, which brought them near the head of tide waters, on the south side of the Neponset. Here
* Hubbard's assertion, repeated by Prince, that the Mary and John missed of Salem by accident, must be gratuitous, as Clap, a passenger on board, says nothing about it, but expressly asserts that they were bound to Charles river.
2*
6
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
they found the deserted residence of the deceased sachem, Nampashemet, his grave, and a palisadoed fort-soon after newly gathered corn, and shortly the women of the Neponset tribe, the men being absent. These women entertained them with boiled cod and parched corn, and traded with them, ex- changing what furs they were possessed of for other articles. They engaged the Indians to plant extra corn the next spring, promising to be their pur- chasers the following year. The Indians spoke of two rivers within the bay, the one whereof (doubt- less the Neponset), says Winslow, we saw. They returned to Plymouth after an absence of four days, with a considerable quantity of beaver, and a good report of the place, wishing they had been seated there .*
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.