USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Somerville, past and present : an illustrated historical souvenir commemorative of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the city government of Somerville, Massachusetts > Part 1
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Go 974.402 So49s 1137042
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00084 6094
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/somervillepastpr00samu_0
490
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VIEW DOWN BROADWAY.
SOMERVILLE, MAS24
PAST AND PRESENT
An Illustrated Historical Souvenir
COMMEMORATIVE OF THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.
EDITED BY
EDWARD A. SAMUELS,
AUTHOR OF "ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY OF NEW ENGLAND," "MAMMALIA OF NEW ENGLAND,"' AMONG THE BIRDS," "WITH FLY-ROD AND CAMERA," EDITOR OF "A THOUSAND MILES' WALK," "THE LIVING WORLD," ETC.
AND
HENRY H. KIMBALL, A. M.
BOSTON : PUBLISHED BY SAMUELS AND KIMBALL, 1897.
COPYRIGHT, 1897, By SAMUELS & KIMBALL.
INTRODUCTION. 1137042
IN placing this volume before the public, the editors desire to express their gratitude for the kindly encouragement, the more than liberal support they have received from the people of Somerville. A work of such magni- tude as this, one involving such a great amount of detail labor, could not well be prepared without the generous assistance, the hearty co-operation of a large portion of the community ; and that such aid has been given us, together with a generally expressed approval of our undertaking, we gladly put upon record.
In addition to much other valuable assistance that has been received, many important papers have been prepared for us, and they present a fairly complete résumé of the history of the city's various institutions.
The scholarly contributions of Charles D. Elliot, George I. Vincent, Joshua H. Davis, Frank E. Merrill, John S. Hayes, Albert E. Winship,- William E. Brigham, J. O. Hayden, and many others will receive the ap- proval of all who are interested in Somerville's history, and they will serve as an invaluable basis for the work of the future historian.
To the "Somerville Journal," the "Somerville Citizen " and John K. Whiting we are indebted for several of the illustrations we have used, also to Mr. Gordon A. Southworth for the portraits of " Citizens for whom Som- erville Schools were named," and for reports containing their biographies. The typographical and artistic features of the volume speak for themselves : it has been our constant aim to secure the best available work, and we hope that our efforts will receive the approbation of the public.
Somerville is a municipality of diversified interests, and of many social centers. Hence, he who is prominent in one section may, perhaps, be almost unknown in others. It would seem desirable, therefore, that the various interests, business, official and social, should have ample represen- tation, and, acting somewhat on the principle outlined by City Librarian John S. Hayes in one of his admirable reports (1893), that we should " Re- ject nothing that relates to Somerville, or her children, and should gladly preserve everything that comes to us which will aid the future student in
obtaining a correct idea of how the present generation employed its time," a generous number of portraits of citizens who have become prominent in some walk in life is presented. It is a collection of which any city may well be proud, and it will be treasured not only by the present but by gen- erations to come.
Greatly to our regret, historical sketches of some of the organizations were not received in time to obtain a place in this volume, but a reasonably full showing is made of the almost numberless associations for which this city is distinguished.
EDWARD A. SAMUELS. HENRY H. KIMBALL.
CONTENTS.
SOMERVILLE'S HISTORY.
CHAPTER I .
. 17
ORIGIN AND SETTLEMENT. - GRANTS, ETC. - DEED FROM WEB-COWET AND SQUAW- SACHEM. - EARLY TOPOGRAPHY. - FIRST SETTLERS. - GOVERNOR WINTHROP'S TEN HILLS FARM.
CHAPTER II
26
EARLY EVENTS. - PASTURING AND HERDING. - CHARACTERISTICS OF EARLY IMMIGRANTS. - MACHINERY OF PRIMITIVE INDUSTRIES SET IN MOTION. - ESTABLISHMENT OF TOWN GOVERNMENT OF CHARLESTOWN. - MUNICIPAL REGULATIONS. - PERSONA NON GRATA. - FIRST HIGHWAYS. - THE STINTED COMMON. - CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS. - PETI- TION OF EZEKIEL, CHEEVER. - THE FIRST TOWN SCHOOL. - MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS AND FORTIFICATIONS. - KING PHILIP'S WAR. - INDIAN ALLIES.
CHAPTER III .
34
ADVENT OF ANDROS AND CONSEQUENCES TO THE COLONISTS. - TITLES TO ESTATES IMPERILED. - TEN HILLS FARM AND ITS OWNERS. - A FAVORITE HOME FOR GOVERNORS. - " THE BLESSING OF THE BAY" BUILT AND LAUNCHED. - CAPTAIN ROBERT TEMPLE. - SLAVE HOLDERS IN SOMERVILLE. - THE FIRST PRIVATEER IN AMERICA. - COLONEL SAMUEL. JAQUES. - THE OLD POWDER HOUSE. - JEAN MALLET. - A TRAGIC LEGEND.
CHAPTER IV . 45 .
FRICTION BETWEEN THE COLONIES AND HOME GOVERNMENT. - PREPARATIONS FOR THE GREAT STRUGGLE. - SEIZURE OF POWDER. - FIRST HOSTILE DEMONSTRATION OF THE REVOLUTION. - THE WHOLE COUNTRY IN ARMS. - RESIGNATION OF LIEUT .- GOVERNOR THOMAS OLIVER. - ARBITRARY MEASURES OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. - SECRETION OF ARMS AND DISTRIBUTION OF MILITARY SUPPLIES BY THE COLO- NISTS. - HOSTILE STEPS TAKEN BY THE BRITISH. - THE PATRIOTS WARNED. - PAUL REVERE'S RIDE. - BATTLE OF LEXINGTON. - ROADS IN SOMERVILLE TRAVERSED BY BRITISH TROOPS. - BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. - VIVID SCENES.
CHAPTER V
57
THE SIEGE OF BOSTON. - INTRENCHMENTS MADE. - EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS. - BATTLE OF HOG ISLAND. - GAGE'S PROCLAMATION OF AMNESTY. - FORTIFICATIONS ON PROSPECT AND WINTER HILLS. - ARRIVAL OF GENERALS WASHINGTON, PUTNAM AND LEE. - DECLARATION OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. - DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PATRIOTS' CAMPS. - SUFFERINGS OF THE PEOPLE AND TROOPS. - FIRST UNFURLING OF THE NEW FLAG OF THE UNITED COLONIES. - SEIZURE OF DORCHESTER HEIGHTS. - EVACUATION OF BOSTON BY THE BRITISH.
CHAPTER VI . . · 70
DESIGNED ISOLATION OF NEW ENGLAND. - SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE. - HESSIAN PRISONERS QUARTERED IN SOMERVILLE. - BALL AND SUPPER GIVEN BY GENERAL RIEDESEL'S WIFE. - POOR BARRACKS FOR THE PRISONERS. - SCARCITY OF FUEL. - REMOVAL OF THE PRISONERS.
77
CHAPTER VII .
REVIVAL OF INDUSTRIES AFTER THE REVOLUTION. -- BRICK-MAKING IN SOMERVILLE. - CELEBRATED FARMS. - THE BLEACHERY. - THE MIDDLESEX CANAL. - COMPLETION OF BRIDGES TO BOSTON .- THE FIRST RAILROAD THROUGH SOMERVILLE .- ESTABLISH- MENT OF THE MCLEAN ASYLUM. - ROBBERY OF MAJOR BRAY. - THE URSULINE CONVENT AND ITS DESTRUCTION. -- TOWN IMPROVEMENTS. - ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOLS. - BEGINNING OF A FIRE DEPARTMENT. - SEPARATION OF SOMERVILLE FROM CHARLESTOWN.
CHAPTER VIII
86
TOWN BEGINNINGS. - EXPENSES OF EARLY TOWN GOVERNMENT. - HIGHWAYS DESCRIBED. - GROWTH OF THE TOWN. - SURVEY OF THE TOWN. - RAILROADS AND THEIR EXTEN- SION. - HORSE RAILROADS OPENED. - INDUSTRIES OF EARLY SOMERVILLE. - FIRE DEPARTMENT AND ITS GROWTH. - ORGANIZATION OF THE SOMERVILLE LIGIIT INFANTRY - SCHOOLS AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT. - CHURCHIES.
CHAPTER IX . . 105
SOMERVILLE'S RESPONSE TO PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S CALLS FOR MEN. - APPROPRIATIONS BY THE TOWN FOR SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES. - BOUNTIES OFFERED. - SOMER- VILLE LIGHT INFANTRY. - SOMERVILLE GUARD, -VOLUNTEERS FOR THE WAR .- STATE BOUNTIES. - OFFICERS OF SOMERVILLE COMPANIES IN THE WAR. - SERVICE DURING THE WAR OF THE COMPANIES FROM SOMERVILLE. - THE MARTYR ROLL.
CHAPTER X · I18
IMPROVEMENT OF HIGHWAYS. - GAS INTRODUCED. -- WATER SUPPLY. - SEWERS. - GREAT IMPROVEMENTS. - CENTRAL HILL PARK. - HORSE RAILROADS. - THE TOWN FARM. - ATTEMPTS TO DIVIDE THE TOWN. - CITY CHARTER AND HALL. - FIRST CITY ELECTION.
CHAPTER XI .
. I26
APPRECIATION IN VALUE OF REAL ESTATE. - GREAT INCREASE OF HOUSES. - STEAM RAILROADS. - EXTENSION OF STREET RAILWAYS. - WEST END RAILWAY, - WIDEN- ING OF SOMERVILLE AVENUE AND BROADWAY. - THE BROADWAY PARK. - THE MILLER'S RIVER NUISANCE. - ANNEXATION TO BOSTON DISCUSSED. - PARKS AND BOULEVARDS. - TUFTS COLLEGE. - OLD LANDMARKS.
HISTORY OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT.
CHAPTER XII .
· 145
FIRST BOARD OF OFFICERS. - STATISTICS OF POPULATION, VALUATION, ETC. - THE MILLER'S RIVER NUISANCE. - GREAT IMPROVEMENTS MADE. - MAYOR FURBER'S ADMINISTRATION. - ERECTION OF NEW POLICE BUILDING. - CONSTRUCTION OF THE BROADWAY PARK. - GREAT SANITARY IMPROVEMENT. - MAYOR BELKNAP'S ADMIN- ISTRATION. - CONSTRUCTION OF LARGE SEWERS. - COMPLETION OF THE PUBLIC PARK. -FIRST CONTRIBUTION TO THE SINKING FUND. - ADMINISTRATION OF MAYOR BRUCE. -- RECONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES. - ADMINISTRATION OF MAYOR CUMMINGS. - GREAT IMPROVEMENTS ON CENTRAL HILL. - ERECTION OF NEW BUILDING FOR THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
CHAPTER XIII
. 153
ADMINISTRATION OF MAYOR BURNS. - THE WATER SUPPLY. - APPLICATION OF THE SINKING FUND. - REDUCTION OF THE CITY DEBT. - INTRODUCTION OF THE POLICE SIGNAL SYSTEM AND ELECTRIC STREET LIGHTING. - CONSTRUCTION OF NEW SCHOOL- HOUSES. - ADMINISTRATION OF MAYOR POPE. - INTRODUCTION OF A HIGH WATER SERVICE. - THE OLD POWDER HOUSE. - THE SOMERVILLE HOSPITAL ORGANIZED AND ESTABLISHED.
CHAPTER XIV
158 .
ADMINISTRATION OF MAYOR HODGKINS. -- ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATHAN TUFTS PARK. -CELEBRATION OF THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY. - PAVING IMPORTANT THOROUGHFARES. - ERECTION OF THE NEW HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING. - A NEW CITY HALL ADVOCATED. - ERECTION OF A NEW CENTRAL FIRE STATION. - GREAT IM- PROVEMENTS MADE IN VARIOUS DIRECTIONS. - ADMINISTRATION OF MAYOR PERRY. CHANGES AT THE CITY HALL. - IMPORTANT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SEWER SYSTEM. - HIGH CREDIT OF THE CITY. - FUNCTIONS OF DIFFERENT BOARDS OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT. - SCOPE OF CITY CHARTER.
HISTORY OF THE SCHOOLS.
CHAPTER XV .
· 177 FROM 1842 TO THE CLOSE OF TIIE SUPERINTENDENCY OF JOSHUA H. DAVIS, 1888.
CHAPTER XVI
. 194
SUPERINTENDENCY OF CLARENCE E. MELENEY.
· 202
CHAPTER XVII
SUPERINTENDENCY OF GORDON A. SOUTHWORTH.
CHAPTER XVIII
226 EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS.
CHAPTER XIX . . 237 HISTORY OF THE WATER-WORKS.
CHAPTER XX . · . 253
THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND POLICE COURT.
CHAPTER XXI
. 258
HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
CHAPTER XXII
269
HISTORY OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
CHAPTER XXIII
HISTORY OF THE CHURCHES. 282
EAST SOMERVILLE BAPTIST. - FIRST BAPTIST. - RANDALL MEMORIAL FREE-WILL BAPTIST. - PERKINS STREET BAPTIST. - UNION SQUARE BAPTIST. - WINTER HILL BAPTIST. - BROADWAY CONGREGATIONAL. - DAY STREET CONGREGATIONAL. - FIRST CONGREGA- TIONAI, (UNITARIAN). - FIRST ORTHODOX CONGREGATIONAL. - HIGHLAND CONGREGA- TIONAL. - PROSPECT HILL CONGREGATIONAL. - WINTER HILL CONGREGATIONAL. - ST. ANN'S (CATHOLIC). - ST. CATHERINE'S (CATHOLIC). - EMMANUEL EPISCOPAL. - ST. THOMAS EPISCOPAL. - ST. JAMES EPISCOPAL. - FIRST METHODIST-EPISCOPAL. - PARK AVENUE METHODIST-EPISCOPAL. - UNION SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN. - FIRST UNIVER- SALIST. - THIRD UNIVERSALIST. - WINTER HILL UNIVERSALIST. - EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION CHURCH.
333
CHAPTER XXIV
CHARITABLE AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS.
SOMERVILLE HOSPITAL. - HOSPITAL LADIES' AID ASSOCIATION. - SOMERVILLE ASSO- CIATED CHARITIES. - SAMARITAN SOCIETY. - SOMERVILLE DAY NURSERY. - WILLARD C. KINSLEY POST 139, G. A. R. - WILLARD C. KINSLEY RELIEF CORPS. - WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION. -- FIREMAN'S RELIEF ASSOCIATION. - SOMERVILLE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. - MASONIC: SOMERVILLE ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER; ORIENT COUNCIL; JOHN ABBOT LODGE; SOLEY LODGE. - ODD FELLOWS : SOMERVILLE ENCAMPMENT; WINTER HILL ENCAMPMENT; CALEB RAND LODGE; OASIS LODGE; PAUL REVERE LODGE. - REBEKAII LODGES : IVALOO LODGE; RAMONA LODGE; ERMINIE LODGE. - ODD LADIES: CONSTELLATION LODGE; LONGFELLOW LODGE. -- ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN : SOMERVILLE LODGE. - KNIGHTS OF HONOR : MT. BENEDICT LODGE; CAMERON LODGE. - KNIGHTS OF PYTHIIAS: ARCADIA LODGE. - ROYAL ARCANUM : SOMERVILLE COUNCIL; ELM COUNCIL. -- SOMERVILLE LIGHT INFANTRY. - CENTRAL CLUB. - SONS OF MAINE CLUB. - DAUGHTERS OF MAINE CLUB. - HEPTOREAN CLUB. - IHILLSIDE CLUB. - WEBCOWIT CLUB. - WINTER HILL CLUB. - CONVERSATION CLUB. - SOMERVILLE LITERARY ASSOCIATION. - SUF- FRAGE LEAGUE. - SOCIETY OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL. - LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR. - FRIENDLY HELPERS OF THE POOR. - REMINISCENCES OF SOMERVILLE. - HOME CIRCLE : WASHINGTON COUNCIL; HARMONY COUNCIL; SOMERVILLE COUNCIL; LOYAL ORANGE INSTITUTION : MT. HOREB LODGE.
CHAPTER XXV
BANKS OF SOMERVILLE.
446
CHAPTER XXVI INDUSTRIES OF SOMERVILLE. . 452
NORTH PACKING AND PROVISION COMPANY; FRESH POND ICE COMPANY; THE SPRAGUE AND HATHAWAY COMPANY; UNION GLASS COMPANY; DERBY DESK COMPANY; BRICK- MAKING; MIDDLESEX BLEACH, DYE AND PRINT WORKS; CARPET CLEANING, ETC.
CHAPTER XXVII MISCELLANEOUS. · 465
BOSTON AND MAINE RAILROAD. - STREET RAILWAYS IN SOMERVILLE. - THE "SOM- ERVILLE JOURNAL." -THE "SOMERVILLE CITIZEN." - WESTWOOD ROAD AND ITS RESIDENCES.
CHAPTER XXVIII
·
484
BIOGRAPHIES.
NEW DAY STREET CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
SOMERVILLE LIGHT INFANTRY IN THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL PARADE.
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CHARLES D. ELLIOT.
SOMERVILLE'S HISTORY.
BY CHARLES D. ELLIOT.
CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN AND SETTLEMENT. - GRANTS, ETC. - DEED FROM WEB-COWET AND SQUAW- SACHEM. - EARLY TOPOGRAPHY. - FIRST SETTLERS. - GOVERNOR WINTHROP'S TEN HILLS FARM.
SOMERVILLE was formerly a part of Charlestown, that honored ancestor of the towns of the Mystic valley, -and whose bounds originally ran "eight miles into the country from their meeting house," and included Woburn, Stoneham, Winchester, Burlington, a part of Arlington and Med- ford, Somerville, Malden, Everett and the Bunker Hill peninsula, and whose early history is the heritage of each.
New towns one after another were broken off from the old, the last being Somerville in 1842, and in this account the name Somerville is used in narrating the events which have occurred within its limits, since its first settlement.
The title of the white man, whether Spanish, French, Dutch, or Eng- lish, to the home of the Indian, rested usually in a royal grant; "by turf and by twig," and in the name of their king and religion they took posses- sion, seldom consulting the aboriginal owner.
The title to the territory of Somerville has this royal authority and more. First, in the grant of James I to the Plymouth Council of all lands between 40° and 48º N. latitude from sea to sea.
Second, by grant of the Plymouth Council, March 19, 1628, to the Massachusetts Bay Company.
Third, by royal charter, March 4, 1629, to the Massachusetts Bay Com- pany, which confirmed the grant of 1628; and fourth, a title not every colony can claim, a deed from an Indian sovereign, " Squa-Sachem."
Other grants covered the territory and caused much trouble.
The Plymouth people had already, in 1622. granted ten miles along the shore and thirty miles inland, to Robert Gorges ; he dying, his brother John, in 1624, leased to John Oldham and John Dorrill all land between the Charles and Saugus Rivers, for five miles up the Charles, and three up the Saugus. And again John Gorges, in 1628, deeded to Sir William Brereton all the land between Charles River and Nahant, for twenty miles inland.
I7
18
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
But little came of these later grants, unless possibly Blackstone, the first settler of Boston, and Thomas Walford, the first settler of Charlestown (on the peninsula), claimed under them.
These conflicting grants caused the Bay Company to strengthen their claim by actual occupation, and they accordingly sent settlers to several localities within the disputed territory, Charlestown being one.
Among the instructions from the Company, written from England in 1629, to Mr. Endicott, is the following :-
" If any of the Salvages pretend right of inheritance to all or any part of the lands granted in our patent, we pray you to endeavour to purchase their title, that we may avoid the least scruple of intrusion." Under these instructions several deeds from the Indians were secured, the one covering Somerville land being from Squa-Sachem, who on the recent death of her husband became chief of her tribe.
The deed begins as follows : -
"The 15th of the 2d Mo. 1639.
"Wee, Web-Cowet, and Squaw Sachem do sell vnto the Inhabitants of the Towne of Charlestown all the land within the lines granted them by the court," and closes with " wee acknowledge to have received in full sat- isfaction, twenty and one coates, ninten fathoms of wampum, and three bushels of corne."
" In witness whereof we have here vnto sett our hands the day and yeare above named."
EARLY DESCRIPTIONS AND TOPOGRAPHY.
Descriptions of this part of the country sent to England by the early comers, often read like advertisements of modern Eldorados. They were generally directed to intending settlers, and usually with the desired effect : after reading they emigrated ; for health and plenty stood on the shore, and with open arms welcomed each new arrival. The sea, the rivers, the woods, and the fields were great natural store-houses, stocked abundantly with fish and fowl, furs and fuel, fruits and flowers; the air and water were the purest; "New England's air was better than old England's ale," and as one writer said, "We are all freeholders, the rent day doth not trouble us."
If all that was written were true, this must have been a paradise to the sportsman, farmer, and lover of nature.
Yet there was much that was true in their high-colored, curious de- scriptions.
Mr. Graves, the earliest civil engineer in Charlestown, writing in 1629 or 1630, thus describes the topography of this section : " It is very beautiful in open lands, mixed with goodly woods, and again open plains, in some places five hundred acres, some places more, some less, not much trouble- some for to clear for the plough to go in ; no place barren but on the tops of the hills. The grass and weeds grow up to a man's face in the lowlands, and by fresh rivers abundance of grass and large meadows, without any tree or shrub to hinder the scythe."
1
... .....
THOMAS CUNNINGHAM.
ASA DURGIN.
- - -
21
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
The peninsulas of Charlestown and Boston, when settled, were much alike in shape. From the mainlands on either side they reached out toward each other and shut in the great basin of Back Bay. They were attached to the mainland by low, narrow necks, which being overflowed, made each an island at highest tides.
From Charlestown neck, the marshes extended to the shores of Miller's and Mystic Rivers, and from the foot of Prospect Hill round to the foot of Convent and Winter Hills; Asylum Hill was a peninsula at high tide.
Several creeks and brooks now mostly extinct, meandered from the higher land, across these marshes to the adjacent rivers. Chief of these was Miller's, first known as Gibones' River from Captain Edward Gibones who lived on its shores, probably near Cobble Hill. A later name for this was Willis' Creek, or Wills' Creek; and one French translation makes it "Crique de Vills." It was probably called Miller's River, and Cobble Hill, Miller's Hill after Thomas Miller, who owned land in that locality.
This rivulet had its source in old Cambridge, South of Kirkland Street ; thence in earlier days it flowed, a pellucid stream through sandy upland, and sedgy meadow, to its mouth near the Charles.
A branch of Miller's River began its course not far from the Old Folks' Home on Highland Avenue, crossing Central Street near Cambria, and School Street near Summer, joining the main stream not far from Union Square.
East of Miller's River, and flowing into the same great Charles River or Back Bay basin, was Crasswell Brook, named after one of the early owners ; its outlet still exists, and forms part of the city boundary; a ditch through the McLean Asylum grounds marks approximately a part of its old course. Washington Street bridged it, and its source was probably not far from the junction of Cross and Oliver Streets. Passing over "the Neck " we come to Mystic River, into which five streams poured their constant tribute. The first, opposite Convent Hill, was perhaps never named, and was possibly of no great length or importance. The next was probably the "Winthrop Creek " of the old records, named for the Governor and more recently known as Bachellor's Creek. It marked the easterly boundary of the grant of Ten Hills Farm to him. Its source was not far from Gilman Square; it wound its way easterly, crossing Broadway near Walnut Street, and thence across the Park and through the marshes to the river ; all west of Middlesex Avenue is now filled. Following up the shore to where the new Trotting Park now is, we come to Winter Brook ; like the hill, called so, no man now knows why ; its source was in Polly Swamp, not far from the junction of Lowell and Albion Streets ; thence it flowed northeasterly, crossing Broad- way near the railroad bridge, and Medford Street (in Medford) just north- west of its junction with Main Street, probably where the present water- course, its successor, is bridged.
Further on was Two-Penny Brook; I might have said is, if a sedgy ditch cut to straight lines, can be called a brook ; it rose near the old school on Broadway, opposite the Simpson estate, flowing through the College and
22
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
Robinson estates, under the Lowell Railroad, along the easterly border of the brickyards, to the river; forks of each of these brooks started near the foot of Powder House Hill. The fifth stream was Alewife Brook, our western boundary, then called by its Indian name, "Menotomy " River. This name has many spellings in ye ancient record, one or two of which commenced with a "W." It has also been known as "Little" River. This is the outlet of Fresh Pond, and there is much of interest connected with it. Into Alewife Brook ran another, from near Davis Square, westerly into Cambridge, entering Alewife Brook near the former tanneries on North Avenue, whence in later times it has been called Tannery Brook; the Somerville part of it is now a covered drain.
The hills of those old days are fast disappearing as well as the rivers, both in name and substance. Within a year or two the " high fielde" of the original settlers, the "ploughed hill " of the Revolution, better known in our day as " Nunnery " or "Convent Hill " or " Mount Benedict," will be a memory only. Asylum Hill, which was the Miller's Hill, or Cobble Hill of a hundred years or more ago, has the seal of destruction set upon it. The historic heights of Prospect Hill, the Mount Pisgah of the Revolution, have long since gone to bury the less historic shores of Miller's River.
Winthrop Hill, on the Ten Hills Farm, and the other eminences near it, are but scarred relics of their former picturesque beauty. Winter Hill, strange to say, so far as is known, has suffered no change since " long ago," either in height, contour or name; like Winter Brook, the origin of its name is in obscurity ; whether named for a person, or a season, is an enigma.
Walnut Tree Hill, now College Hill, has probably seen little change in shape since the Indian roamed over it. Wild Cat Hill, on the borders of Alewife Brook, from the remotest day until recently, has remained to thrill the mind with the possible cause for its name ; but now it is degraded to a city gravel-bank, and will soon be gone.
Quarry Hill, smooth and polished, with little left of its antique charm, yet remains crowned by its old tower, which, though architecturally modern- ized with cut stone archway and window, is still a historic inspiration.
Strawberry Hill, where is and where was it ? Possibly and probably, if old records are correct, in which there is but one mention of it, east of Beacon Street and north of Washington Street, a part of it still remaining on the Norton's Grove estate in Cambridge. Spring Hill in name is recent, probably, and in shape much as of yore, as is Central Hill, which on some old Revolutionary maps is styled " Middle Hill."
In the foregoing, the endeavor has been made to retrace the natural features of the town, and the old naming with which the earlier residents were familiar, as well as that of more recent times.
FIRST SETTLERS.
Probably the first white men who wandered over Somerville soil were Standish and his exploring party from Plymouth in 1621.
Seven years later came a party of settlers from Salem, prospecting for
JOHN F. NICKERSON.
CROMWELL G. ROWELL.
25
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
a place to locate in. These were "Ralph Sprague with his bretheren Richard and William, who with three or four more" ... " did in the sum- mer of anno 1628, undertake a journey from Salem, and travelled the woods above twelve miles to the westward, and lighted of a place situated and lying on the north side of Charles river, full of Indians called Aberginians," ... " and upon surveying, they found it was a neck of land, generally full of stately timber, as was the main, and the land lying on the east side of the river, called Mystick river." Here on the peninsula they settled and built, and others came soon after. In 1629, "it was jointly agreed and concluded, that this place on the north side of Charles river, by the natives called Mishawum, shall henceforth, from the name of the river, be called Charlestown "; and in this connection it may be of interest to recall that the river was named by Captain John Smith, in 1614, after H. R. H. Charles, Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles I, who, Smith says, "did change the barbarous names of their principall Harbours and habitations, for such English, that posterity may say King Charles was their Godfather." Among the first of the Charlestown settlers to locate on Somerville territory were John Woolrich, Captain - Norton, Edward Gibones, Mr. William Jen- nings and John Wignall; followed a little later by Richard Palsgrave, Edward Jones and others, and by the Governor, John Winthrop, in 1631.
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