USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > The story of Newton, Massachusetts : its natural beauty, attractive homes and historical associations > Part 1
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01067 4254
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019
https://archive.org/details/storyofnewtonmas00pres
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SUBURBAN LIVING AT ITS BEST
NEWTON MASSACHUSETTS
In the eighteen square miles which con- stitute this city, there is probably a greater measure of physical well-being, good citizen- ship, efficient administration and general con- fidence, than in any other section of the United States.
From editorial on Newton, The Boston Herald, December 4, 1933.
The Charles River Above Riverside.
THE STORY of
NEWTON
MASSACHUSETTS
Its Natural Beauty, Attractive Homes and Historical Associations
BY JOHN R. PRESCOTT Clerk of Newton Board of Assessors
Published Under the Auspices of the Newtonville Library Association, Inc.
Foreword
I N the summer of 1930, Newton, in common with Boston and other places in Massachusetts, cele- brated the Tercentenary of the Puritan Migration of 1630. As part of the celebration, a short historical sketch of the city was written, and incorporated in the Massachusetts "Chronicle and Tribute Book," a volume of over 400 pages, giving an historical and industrial record of the Commonwealth's progress.
The Newton Tercentenary Committee had the sketch printed in pamphlet form, and 10,000 copies were distributed in connection with Newton's cele- bration.
It has now been requested that this slight material be expanded to go with other material regarding Newton's suburban advantages. In compliance with this request, the writer of the original sketch has included additional matter.
Such a sketch, treating chiefly of Newton's resi- dential development, had to omit the wider survey of Newton's influential part in the history of State and nation. Always dependable in times of crisis, Newton was promptly at the front in the Indian, the Revolu- tionary, and the Civil Wars, and the Spanish and World Wars, while in the field of statesmanship and business, Newton has furnished many outstanding leaders.
Copyright, 1936 by John R. Prescott.
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NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS Historical Sketch
N EWTON, composed of eleven New England Villages, is distinctly a Boston suburb, a place where most of the residences are single houses with ample grounds; where people can own their own homes; where the large apartment house is almost unknown. Many circumstances have contributed to its evolution from a primitive farming community into a community of homes which meets the best ideals of suburban life. It is the purpose of this sketch to trace this development, and also call atten- tion to an almost forgotten industrial era.
Although America was discovered in 1492, more than 130 years passed before Boston was founded or the Newton area settled. The intervening period was spent in exploiting the country and in fruitless attempts at colonization. In 1620 the Pilgrims came to Plymouth and founded the first self-supporting settlement in America. This achievement was what practical men overseas had been waiting to have demonstrated before starting another colony in the New World.
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All previous settlements had been largely sup- ported and kept alive by supplies and forces from the Mother Country. Overpopulated and undernourished England had the people and the capital to colonize on a large scale, if permanent living conditions were assured.
The Plymouth experiment having proved successful after a ten-years' test, the time was ripe for the larger undertaking. The leaders in the movement were prominent and influential English Puritans, with
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a following of intelligent farmers, artisans, and representatives of every class in English life.
Their objective was to develop the resources of the new country through proper colonization, but under greater religious and political liberty than was possible in England.
This blending of religious, economic, and political ideals they purposed to work out along the shores of Massachusetts Bay. In furtherance of these aims, wealthy Puritan gentry and well-to-do colonists raised some £200,000 to finance the undertaking. This was equivalent in purchasing power to more than ten million dollars today - a striking evidence of their faith in it from the standpoint of an investment.
A Charter was secured from the King for the Massachusetts Bay Company, a trading corporation with broad powers, on the basis of which a self- governing colony was established. The Charter granted all the land between a line three miles south of the Charles River and a line three miles north of the Merrimac River, and extending westward to the Pacific or some undetermined frontier.
With the coveted Charter safely on board, seven- teen vessels bearing more than 800 Puritans sailed for Massachusetts Bay in the spring of 1630. The Arbella, the flagship of the fleet, had on board John Winthrop, the Governor of the Colony, and among others, the family of Sir Richard Saltonstall, one of the officers of the Company who had been influential in getting the Company's charter. Some of the new- comers settled in Boston where a fine harbor and good drinking water were appealing essentials. Others sailed up the Charles River to Cambridge and Watertown, making the settlements from which Newton sprang.
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Sir Richard was the leader of the large group that selected Watertown. With his three sons and three daughters he founded the line of Saltonstalls that has been so influential in New England's life for three centuries. The Watertown grants extended north and west as far as Concord, including Waltham, Weston, and parts of Lincoln.
Thus Newton began as a part of the great Puritan migration of 1630-1640. Its territory was originally included in the Watertown grant, but shortly after- wards passed to Cambridge. Cambridge, settled in 1631, was originally called the New Town, or New- town, because no definite name could be decided on at that time, and its territory was confined to the north side of the Charles River. By 1634 these New Town people were clamoring for more land, and threatening to remove to Connecticut. To keep them contented, Watertown and Boston offered them the territory now covered by Newton, Brighton, and
Entering Newton by way of the Charles River, with the Tower of the Perkins Institute for the Blind in the distance. The fore- ground marks the site of the earliest settlements in Newton.
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Brookline on the south side of the river. New Town ac- cepted, and the General Court confirmed the transfer.
From that time until 1688 the history of Newton is an honorable part of the history of Cambridge. It became known as Cambridge Village to distinguish it from Cambridge Town, the settled part of Cambridge around Harvard Square. It was sometimes called New Cambridge or Nonantum, the Indian name. The name "Cambridge Village" was retained until 1691, when, on petition of the inhabitants, the Gen- eral Court ordered that it be called Newtown or New-Town. Seventy-five years later (1766), Judge Abraham Fuller, the Town Clerk, on his own respon- sibility changed the name to Newton, and by virtue of his office made the change official.
Judge Fuller, who was so influential in shaping the early growth of Newton, served his native town for an unusual length of time and in many capacities. He was successively Selectman, Town Clerk, and Treasurer for twenty-seven years, Representative to the General Court for eighteen years, Delegate to the Provincial Congress, Senator, Councillor, and Judge.
Entering Newton by way of Chestnut Hill with the Chestnut Hill Reservoir in the foreground and the Boston College group of buildings beyond.
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In his private life he had a great aversion to owing even the smallest sum of money. It is related that on his death-bed he recalled being in debt ninepence for mending his shoe, and was uneasy until the man was sent for and the money paid. When the Judge died, the fee of the attending physician was found in his hand.
While Newton was not set off as a distinct township until 1688, parts of its territory are believed to have been occupied as early as 1631. The earliest occu- pants were transient settlers who were soon gone, leaving no descendants in the town. Their holdings were on the river front of Hunnewell Hill near the Brighton line. This location, passing into other hands, became the definite starting point of Newton's growth. The first permanent settler here was John Jackson, from London, who came in 1639, followed by the Fullers, Wards, Parks, Hydes, and other well-to-do families typical of the higher class of settlers of that period. Their quest was for the large holdings of farm lands made possible by the liberal grants of that time. Some of their estates included 1,000 acres, but the large families of the next generation brought about substantial sub-divisions. Until then, the settlers' homes were widely scattered; there was little community or village life.
There were patriarchal families among those early settlers. John Jackson, the first settler had fifteen children, but he was soon surpassed in this particular by Jonathan Hyde, the fifth settler in Newton, who was twice married and had twenty-one children, all but one of whom bore Scriptural names. After such a start, it is not surprising that the Hyde clan reached a numerical importance which was fittingly recognized in the selection of one of its members, the Hon. J. F. C.
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Hyde, as Newton's first Mayor. It is not recalled that any subsequent Mayor had this background.
Apart from the well-to-do settlers who first took up land in Newton, there were many of moderate means who had just enough cash to pay the fees for taking up the land. In this way an enterprising and self- respecting man could acquire a home by his own labor and get title to his land. It appears that the early Puritans did not build log houses as we see them today. Log cabins were introduced to America by the Swedes and Finns on the Delaware, and did not appear on the New England frontier until the eigh- teenth century.
Log Sawing Pit - 1630.
The sawing pit took the place of the sawmill before water power was utilized.
An accurate reproduction of some of the houses built by the earliest settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony can be seen in "The Pioneer Village," Salem. The Village covers three acres, and has twelve build- ings showing the various types of that period-1630.
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The Hammond House, corner of Hammond and Beacon Streets, Chestnut Hill, was originally built by one of the very early settlers, probably about 1645. Until 1919 it had been owned by only two families - the Hammond family and subsequently the Woodman family.
It was purchased in 1919 by William H. Coburn, and carefully restored at that time; a further restoration and addition was made in 1930. It is now called "Old Newtowne."
The Jackson Homestead at the corner of Washington Street and Jackson Road. Built in 1809 by Timothy Jackson, it still has that charm which belongs to one of the best examples of the later colonial period. It is owned by descendants of the original settlers.
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By the time Newton was settled, houses were of hewn or sawed timber, with roofs pitched steep for thatch, which the first comers used and were slow to abandon for cedar shingles.
Many of these houses allowed the second story to jut out a foot or two over the first, following the English custom of that period and not intended as a defense against the Indians, although later serving that purpose. This style is commonly called the "Garrison Type," as used in modern houses.
In those early days church and state were closely allied, with reciprocal interests which were naturally reflected in the laws governing the early settlers. Under an old law of the General Court, it was ordered that none could be freemen but those who were in full communion with the Church of Christ. In other words, no one should have a share in the government or in the election of officers unless he belonged to a church. This restriction was modified in 1647, and finally repealed sixteen years later. At the time Newton was separated from Cambridge, there were sixty-five men qualified as freemen or voters.
Under this system, the clergy could become the leading citizens, and in one case at least, they did not hesitate to assert their rights and carry a claim to the Court. Through the death in 1668 of its first minister Rev. John Eliot, the first church built in Newton was without a pastor for six years. During that period various ministers served the church, and, objecting to the compensation offered, sued the town for additional payment, which the Court ordered the town to pay.
In the early churches the members of the congre- gation were seated according to their dignity: First,
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the minister and magistrates or all in authority; second, those who paid the largest parish tax; third, the most aged persons, and fourth, all others. En- forcing this rule could not have made the seating com- mittees' job an enviable one. While in theory the first settlers meant that all should be equal, in prac- tice they tended to become aristocratic. This un- democratic custom was abolished in 1800.
As early as 1634, when the territory of Newton was a part of Cambridge, the General Court passed this order : "It is ordered that no person shall take tobacco publiquely under penalty of eleven shillings, nor privately in his own house, or in the house of another before strangers, and that two or more shall not take it anywhere, under the aforesaid penalty for each offence."
Some have been ungracious enough to suggest that in that age of Puritan strictness, the use of tobacco was prohibited because it was something that could be enjoyed. Just when the reaction came is uncertain, but 150 years later, Newton could boast of four snuff mills, doing the most extensive business of that kind in New England.
Puritan restrictions on the pleasures of life were generally less severe in America than in England, where, to quote Macaulay's well-known remark: "The Puritans objected to bear-baiting, not because it was painful to the bears, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators."
From a material standpoint, the early settlers were doing well. Soil and climate were suited to the grow- ing of the familiar European cereals and fruits, and the valley of the Charles must have seemed a land of plenty to the newcomers from England, where an
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agricultural depression hung over the land. Farm- ing, hunting, and fishing supplied the food, supple- mented by the native Indian corn which yielded abundantly. The Charles River, which nearly en- circled the town, teemed with fish, a great economic asset. Watertown, which was settled before Newton, so regarded it, and the tract of land she now holds on the Newton side of the river was originally granted her to safeguard the fishing rights she claimed.
Unlike most pioneer settlements, Newton had no trouble with the Indians. The great plague of 1617 destroyed a large part of the Indian population, but the settlers lived in peace and amity with those who were left, and saw them become the first tribes in North America to accept Christianity, a tribute to the force of example and patience on the part of those early Newton settlers. This event is commemorated in the City Seal and also in the Eliot Memorial, a handsome stone terrace at the foot of Eliot Memorial Road, Newton, on the spot where John Eliot began to preach to the Indians in 1646, seven years after the settlement of the town. His first sermon in the Indian language was one and a quarter hours long. The distribution of apples and biscuits to the children and of tobacco to the men, at the close of the sermon, was an effective method of holding audiences - a method not entirely unrelated to some modern usages.
Natick became the center of Eliot's missionary work where Indian pastors and teachers were trained, and it is estimated that over one thousand converts were scattered through the Colony besides several hundred more of the Plymouth Colony.
It is well to dwell on this for a moment, because "these praying Indians, as they were called, refused to
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Eliot Memorial.
Foot of Eliot Memorial Road, Newton. Where John Eliot preached his first sermon to the Indians in 1646.
W
LIBERTY AND
UNION.
FOUNDED,1630.INC
88. A CITY 1873
NO
UM.
NA
Seal of the City of Newton picturing John Eliot preaching to the Indians.
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join King Philip in his devastating war on the Massa- chusetts towns, and co-operated as scouts and auxili- aries with the settlers in their desperate struggle. It is very probable that but for the previous missionary work of Eliot and his colleagues, Mayhew and Gookin, Massachusetts Bay as an English Colony would have been exterminated."*
The good-will of the Indians was secured from the start by recognizing their claim to possession of the land. The territory had been duly bought from the Indians, according to the original instructions from England: "If any of the salvages pretend right of inheritance to any or all of the land granted in our pattent, we pray you to endeavor to purchase their tytle that we may avoyde the least scruple of in- trusion."
As early as 1640 legal title to all the land in Newton had been obtained from the Indians, forty years earlier than Boston perfected its titles. The Indian names, Waban, Nonantum, Nehoiden, and Nahanton, happily have no associations of Indian violence or cruelty.
The opening up of roads became a matter of im- mediate concern to the settlers. "All New England was covered with a network of Indian trails which had been worn by the natives in the centuries before the coming of the white man. As the settlements multiplied, it was by the Indian trails that the pioneers made their way from one settlement to an- other, and it was along the Indian trails that they penetrated to the interior. The most available of these, in time, became the Colonial Bridle Paths which eventually widened into roads."+
*Samuel Eliot Morison - "Builders of the Bay Colony."
+Porter Sargent's "Handbook of New England."
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Newton highways probably followed such trails, anticipating many present-day routes. From north to south, Centre Street led to Upper Falls and Ded- ham. The road from east to west (now Washington Street) took the stream of travel through the Lower Falls to Worcester and beyond.
As farming became established and roads were laid out, mills to grind corn and saw lumber followed. The first gristmill was on Smelt Brook at the outlet of Bullough's Pond. The water power here was in- creased by water brought from Crystal Lake through an artificial channel. A more dependable water power was found at Upper Falls, and here and at the Lower Falls, Newton's industrial development had its start. Such a development was plainly needed, for the farmers' lands were not productive enough to serve the increasing population or permit a proper standard of living.
This development had been held back by the ab- sence of iron ores and the consequent scarcity of metals so necessary to industry. Newton, however, contributed one of the temporary substitutes in "bog ore," taken from its swamps and marshy places. The presence of this ore would often be indicated by a brownish coating on the surface of stagnant water, beneath which lay the mineral deposits peculiar to such localities.
Bog ore existed in the wet grounds now occupied by the Newton City Hall, and it is said that con- siderable quantities were taken from there and carried to the furnaces in Easton to be smelted. The marshes of Saugus and the Cape were similarly worked. From the ore taken from Saugus Pond alone, a blast furnace in Lynn was turning out seven
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Tudor Gothic Manor House Type, Chestnut Hill.
Residence of the late Judge James A. Lowell, Hammond Street, Chestnut Hill.
With a few alterations, the house built by one of the Hammonds in 1725 still meets all the requirements of comfortable living.
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tons of pig iron per week. The discovery of work- able rock ores in the western part of New England ended the bog-ore period.
For the first century of our history, Massachusetts was the center of the iron industry. Newton although dependent on its natural resources shared in this prosperity through its rolling mills, forges, nail fac- tories, and related industries. This combination of industrial efficiency with natural resources has always been characteristic of Massachusetts people.
The first mill on the Newton side of the Charles River was a sawmill at the Upper Falls, where a fall of twenty feet or more was utilized as early as 1688. A few years later (1704) the water power at Newton Lower Falls was turning the wheels of a young and growing industry.
Here, iron works were established as early as 1703. One of the first paper mills in the country was erected here in 1791, and is still in operation. The Lower Falls was so important industrially and because of its location on the main stream of travel to the west, that the first Post Office in Newton was established there about 1818. (See Tablet there in front of Methodist Church.) One hundred and twenty years ago, these two major industrial centers had reached an unusual growth with corresponding prosperity. To a great extent, these industries owed their rise and growth to the inventive genius of Newton mechanics.
The period of the material prosperity of Newton Lower Falls, was naturally reflected in its attractive homes with an agreeable social atmosphere. Here was the birthplace and home of Hon. Alexander H. Rice, thrice Governor of Massachusetts and twice Mayor of Boston. His home on the bluff opposite
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The old Parker House at the corner of Parker and Boylston Streets, is believed to be over 150 years old. Like the "Wayside Inn," the original house was changed some seventy years ago, from a two-story with a lean-to, to one having a gambrel roof. The present owner, Maurice B. Biscoe, a Boston architect, has care- fully made restorations that preserve its old-time features and atmosphere.
Parker House
One of the fireplaces in the old Parker House. There were four of these fireplaces, and the family cooking was done here and in the brick oven at the left.
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the old stone mill on Washington Street, was known in his day as the Governor's Mansion, and is still stand- ing.
The Governor was active in extending the paper making industry at the Falls, and at one time his paper mill on the Charles River manufactured news- print for The Boston Herald.
In the light of present conditions in Newton's manufacturing centers, it may be worth while to revert for a moment to the industrial life in the same centers in Newton one hundred and twenty years ago. The busiest parts of the town at that time were Newton Upper and Lower Falls, and the following is a list of the diversified and profitable business enter- prises carried on there at that time: two paper mills, four snuff mills, tannery, leather mill, forge shop with trip-hammer, fulling mill, wire mill, screw factory, nail works producing more than 500 tons of nails annually, blacksmith shops, annealing house, rolling mill, saw- mill, clothing-mills, machine shops, and two year- round hotels and many stores; while on the Needham side of the river was a cotton mill with 3,000 spindles.
As late as 1824 the hours of labor in one of the cotton mills were from five in the morning to seven at night with half an hour for breakfast and three- quarters of an hour for dinner.
At Bemis, on California Street, on both sides of the river, were several prosperous mills, among them a paper mill erected in 1779, operated by David Bemis. His mills, as early as 1812, are said to have been the first buildings in the United States to be lighted by gas, and the earliest to make canvas or cotton duck. The first ship to use American sail cloth was equipped from these mills. The dam across the Charles River
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A house on Brush Hill Road in the Newton Countryside Develop- ment. On the southern side of Newton, where ample lots and open spaces make for comfortable living.
Wide Streets with Houses Well Set Back Are Characteristic of Newton.
at this point was built in 1778, and a tablet there states that it is the only Rolling Dam in America. The type was rare even in Europe, that at Warwick Castle across the Avon being the best English example.
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Colonial Customs
Before leaving the Colonial period, we might con- sider some unusual orders issued by the town authori- ties as illustrative of the times. We can appreciate their frankness, although the connection is not quite clear :
Voted in 1699: 30 shillings to Daniel Ray to look after the meeting house and the swine. In 1637 an early Court held in Newtowne, ordered that "no person shall be allowed to sell cakes and bunns except at funerals and weddings." In 1663 a tree was granted to the Rev. Mr. Mitchell for a cider press. As late as 1773 the Town Records state that "a committee was chosen to examine the church stocks."* Appar- ently both church and town offenders at one time were disciplined on the church premises. At a later period, 1833, the town voted to build a Town Hall near the powder house at Newton Centre. At a later meeting, however, the matter was reconsidered and a location was finally chosen in West Newton, at a safer distance from the powder house.
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