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The STORY of SHERBORN
DOWSE MEMORIAL LIBRARY Sherborn, Massachusetts
SHERBORN LIBRARY
3 8106 96068 452 1
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Testuboro! Mard.
The STORY of SHERBORN
Coolidge, Deborah P. D.
THE STORY of SHERBORN
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CONTAINING ALSO "A BASKET OF EGGS" A TRUE STORY OF JUNE 17, 1775
SHERBORN -:- MASSACHUSETTS
Dedicated TO THE CHILDREN OF SHERBORN BY DEBORAH PERRY DOWSE COOLIDGE OF SHERBORN 1918
SHERBORN
S HERBORN, one of the old historic towns of Massachusetts, lies on the western shore of the Charles river about twenty miles from its mouth. This river, first called the "Massachu- setts" by Captain John Smith, who afterwards changed its name to "Charles," in honor of the King's second son, was naturally of great interest to the pioneers.
The first exploration of the river after Cap- tain John Smith's in 1614, seems to have been by some of the colonists who arrived on the "Mary and John." Captain Roger Clapp, who was a passenger on this boat, stated that they arrived off Nantasket the 30th of May, 1630, and that the captain "of that Great ship of four hun- dred tons" would not bring them into the Charles river as he was bound to do, but put them ashore with their goods on Nantasket Point, and left them there to shift for themselves. They pro- cured a boat of some old planter, loaded their goods on her and went to Charlestown, and thence up the Charles river until it grew narrow and
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shallow and there landed, but after they had been there many days, they had orders to leave and they went to a place called Mattapan. This short stay of the Dorchester people was on the meadows now a part of Watertown and where the United States Arsenal now stands.
After the arrival, about a month later, of the Big Fleet with Governor Winthrop, a party went up the Charles and formed a permanent settle- ment at Watertown. There is no record of further explorations of the Charles for five years, but who can doubt that many a dugout was paddled up the beautiful winding river until stopped by the falls.
In 1635, some of the inhabitants of Water- town and Roxbury, joined in forming a town on the East side of the Charles which at this point flows directly north, calling it first "content- ment," and afterwards "Dedham." This town was about fifteen miles from the mouth of the river. It broke up later into several towns but its ter- ritory seems to have been entirely on the East side of the river. As late as 1640, the land on the western shore was "country land" and belonged to no one.
The first grant made West of the Charles was in 1643, when the General Court granted to the Rev. John Allen of Dedham, two hundred acres
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of wild land lying in the forest beyond the west bounds of the town of Dedham. In 1649 a grant of land, bounding on John Allen's farm was made to Capt. Robert Keayne, a wealthy mer- chant of Boston, and following this, grants were made successively to men of prominence in the new colony until a great deal of the territory now Sherborn had been given away. The original pro- prietors apparently never settled on the land but sold it to others, and about 1659 actual settlement of the territory began.
The land consisted of untouched forest and open meadows where the under-brush was cleared away by burning, the Indians doing this always to afford grazing places for deer. Such meadows were always in great demand as the felling of trees, removal of the stumps and prep- aration of the soil was a long and arduous pro- cess. The value of the cleared meadows was therefore so great to the colonists that in the alot- ment of lands they were always given house lot, woodlot and meadow, each of the three being necessary to their very existence.
The first settlers of Sherborn were Thomas Holbrook and Nicholas Wood, they having pur- chased of the Rev. John Allen his right to land on the Charles river opposite Medfield, and they also purchased more land there and settled on
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their respective holdings in 1652. Before the incorporation of the town, over twenty years later, the territory was called Boggestow, this be- ing the name given by the Indians to that part of the valley of the Charles river lying between Med- field on the east and Medway and Sherborn on the west. After the land was granted by the Court, the grantees, or the settlers who pur- chased of them, satisfied the Indians who were the real owners of the land that the Court had given away. Although it may seem to the mod- ern mind that the price paid was frequently of small account, it should be remembered that the Indians had much land, valued it little and were glad to exchange it for the commodities brought by the settlers from the old country, strange and new to them but meaning so much comfort. There never seemed to be in Massachusetts or Pennsylvania the intention to exploit the Indians, and in several instances in the former State after negotiations were completed, the colonists find- ing that the Indians felt they were entitled to more, voluntarily gave it to them. The names of the Indians who signed the deed to the Sherborn lands, were John Amasonog, Peter Ephrim, John Magus, Andrew Pittimee, and Great John who are styled "natives and natural descendants of the ancient inhabitants and proprietors of the lands."
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Today, paddling in a canoe on the Charles river along the borders of Dover and Medfield, one appreciates the beauties of the western shore, especially if it is in the early morning of a sum- mer day, when the rising sun lights up the dark woods and rich meadows, or near sunset when the light filtering through the trees makes the dim distance appeal with its air of mystery. It is no difficult matter to visualize the western shore of those earlier days; the tall sombre forest outlined against the blue sky, the open green meadows, the only sounds being the call of bird or beast and the plash of the river, the sole guard for the virgin territory. The wonder is that the wood- man's axe was not heard ringing out from the primeval forest before 1652.
The first settlement in Sherborn was near the Narrows, now set apart for a public reserva- tion; and not far away was Stannox, the last camp of the Nipmuck Indians, the name meaning fresh-water and given these particular natives to distinguish them from those dwelling near the ocean. The novel "King Noanet," by Frederick Jessup Stimson, a picture of the early times, has the scene of its action laid in this region.
The land on which Thomas Holbrook first settled is one of the most beautiful spots on the river's bank, and today the residence of Mr. Oscar
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Howe stands there. About three-quarters of a mile north, Nicholas Wood built; where the Jason Leland house now stands. This house is one of the oldest in town and commands a fine view of the river and the hills.
The Indians were allowed by treaty to still hunt and fish on the land purchased by the set- tlers, to gather herbs and materials for their bas- kets, so they were an ever-present sight and for many years gave the settlers no trouble; tales persist of individual cases of warm attachments between the settlers and their red neighbors. But with Indian outbreaks all about them the women in their lonely houses with their men in the for- est or the fields must have been sadly nervous at times.
The people who settled in Sherborn were the same type of sturdy English yeomanry as colo- nized other towns in the vicinity. Between 1620 and 1630, thirty ships had come to New England bringing many people; before 1650 there were about five thousand colonists in the country. They were not driven from their native land like the French Hugenots nor did they come for mere gain and pleasure like some of the southern colo- nies. "What sought they thus afar?" They came undoubtedly, the first of them, for free- dom and peace, a chance to live their lives with-
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out domination by others, especially in religious matters; they were men and women of unlimited courage and the spirit of the times was reflected in their ardent piety. There is truth in the quaintly expressed sentiment of an old writer, "The Lord sifted the kingdoms of Europe to ob- tain good seed wherewith to plant the sterile fields of New England." They left behind a fair amount of civilization and came to a vast amount of wilderness. They set their souls to the struggle and did not weaken. Winthrop wrote on the voyage in 1630, "We must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities for the supply of other's necessities." How well the seed was chosen and how carefully the spirit of liberty was nurtured was seen over one hundred and fifty years later, when that liberty was threatened and we see today, the same spirit animating the inheritors of their ideals, and showing the wil- lingness to dare all and give all to obtain for the whole world, that Liberty that has blessed their descendants from father to son until the present day.
What did the people do to live when they first came to the Boggestow lands? They had the immense forests and the open green meadows filled with good grass. First the axe was heard and shortly the first dwellings arose, log huts,
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moss-chinked and mud-plastered, with no glass for the windows but heavy wooden shutters in- side and out; huge fire-places with chimneys of green oak logs or stones, furnished both a place to cook and the heat for the household. There was plenty of fuel, but while there was good heat near the hearth, the outer edges of the room received little of it and beds for the young chil- dren and the feeble or old were made in a Joft just above the fireplace where the heat ascended through the log floor.
Even in the mother country, many of the common necessities of today were unknown; forks were just beginning to be used in the shape of a steel needle like a nutpick which was used to pick up the food instead of the fingers. Here the only eating implement was the spoon. The meat was cut in small pieces before being put on the table and the bread was sliced and buttered, when they had butter. The men's clasp-knives being frequently the only knives in the house- hold. Tea, coffee, and chocolate were unknown until 1750. No teapots came in the early boats, which were all small and only able to bring, if there were passengers aboard, sufficient food and water for them, which was no small quantity when a voyage lasted several weeks.
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The great dependence of the colonists was on maize or Indian corn, unknown in England and not much used there at the present day. The Indians taught them how to raise it and how to bury it in the ground for winter use. After it was hulled it was made into meal, at first, by pounding it in stone mortars, but soon there were mills in the new settlements, and it was carried to them and ground. A man was supposed to be able to carry a bushel on his back and a boy half as much. Once a boy who had carried his corn five miles to be ground and found the mill shut down, walked ten miles further to have the work done and then all the way back, rather than go home and have no bread. Besides the corn, they had wheat and rye, wild beans, dried cher- ries, berries, apples, and pumpkins which lent variety to their food, while meat of certain kinds was plentiful and both ocean and rivers abounded with fish.
"Coarse bread and water is most their fare Sometimes God gives them fish or flesh,
Yet they're content without;
And what comes in, they part to friends And strangers round about."
So Roger Williams wrote of his people, and it was as true of Sherborn as of Providence.
Two dogs came over in the Mayflower and the Indians had a wolfish breed, so there must
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have been some in the settlement. The first cattle in New England, a bull and two heifers were brought from England in 1624. When Long- fellow, in "The Courting of Miles Standish," made Priscilla ride from her wedding in 1622 on a white bull, he took advantage of poetic license rather than of fact.
The ships came steadily from England bringing many necessities, such as seeds, garden tools, fish lines, scions of trees, etc., and Win- throp in 1630, brought two hundred and forty cows and sixty horses. In return the colonists sent to England many hundred tons of salt fish, lumber, pitch, and other things which they found here.
The boys and girls must have enjoyed the new country, although the times were so stren- uous that there was not time for much play. Pleasure indeed for old and young was sadly de- ficient. The boys collected and cut firewood, hulled corn, set snares for partridges and rab- bits, fished, picked the berries, cherries and nuts. The friendly Indians of Sherborn made them bows and arrows and taught them much wood- craft, showing them where to find the best fish- ing-pools, the red partridge and sweet winter- green berries, teaching them to dig the sassafras root, and betraying to them the haunts of the shy
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deer, for the Indians apparently were endowed by nature with such great skill at these things that they seemed to the colonists to have been especially endowed by nature with separate gifts to enable them to live in their wild country. They told time by making a sun-dial of their own bodies and observing the shadow cast; they could examine the bending of grass and bushes and see which direction a person had taken or by putting their ear to the ground listen to his prog- ress a distance away; they told north from south by the bark on the trees, sometimes by the trees themselves and the moon served them as a weather prophet. This information they gladly imparted to the boys who drank it in and as they grew to manhood became in many instances as expert as their teachers.
The girls had while little, light household tasks, patchwork, knitting, and of course, dolls, such queer ones, made of corncobs, clothespins and walnuts. As they grew to womanhood, they embroidered samplers, many of which remain un- til the present; some of these were beautiful and even very young girls did most excellent work. They frequently bore pious mottoes like :-
"Remember thy creator God, For Him thy powers employ,
Make Him thy fear, thy love, thy hope, thy con- fidence and joy."
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DOWSE MEMORIAL LIBRARY Sherborn, Massachusetts
The STORY of SHERBORN
The Sherborn settlers made the best of their hardships and the most of their few pleasures. They did not lack for food even from the first, for they found already to their hand, wild grapes, nuts, cherries, berries and ground nuts, the river was full of fish, and deer, partridges, and wild turkeys abounded in the woods. There was, of course, much dangerous animal life also in the woods, bears were plenty, and the shriek of the panther and the howl of the wolf frequently brought fear to the heart of the busy housewife. Bounties were offered for the destruction of the menacing wild life, and in 1680 John Eames re- ceived £5, a large sum for the time, for killing wolves in Sherborn.
The life of these pioneers was a busy one and each person was obliged to practice every handi- craft in order to live. They were builders, farmers, hunters, fishers, they made stools, tables, beds, settles and even wooden dishes, which were the sort mainly used, as there was very little pew- ter in the country and crockery came very slowly into use. Bathtubs for the children and women were the wash tubs, although it is recorded that in one instance some one hollowed out a log big enough for a man to lie in, which was used in one household. The ordinary bath was the swimming hole, for there was plenty of water,
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ponds abounding in New England, as well as good springs for drinking water.
Toothbrushes were made from sassafras twigs fringed at one end. Soap was made in the home, the lye being obtained by leaching the wood ashes from the fire. There were no matches and tinder boxes were used to strike a light. Pine torches and home made candles were the only light excepting the fire.
Henry Leland, it is recorded, was a tailor, but at first he could not have been very busy, later there was wool for linsey woolsy and flax for linen, all spun at home though afterwards many weavers came to the country. Hopestill Leland raised hemp from which he made ropes and halters and exchanged them in Connecticut for wool. Skins of animals were made into shoes and caps, and used on the floor as a carpet. Do- mestic animals increased so by the time the town was incorporated there were nearly all kinds here. An inventory in 1669, mentions oxen, cows, sheep, swine, and horses.
There were no dentists, the doctor serving in his place if the village barber did not. In fact the barber was more or less of a surgeon. The doctors were scare and had very large areas to cover, so every woman gathered herbs such as pennyroyal, catnip, sage, motherwort, 'winter-
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The STORY of SHERBORN
green, and sassafras. The midwife attended al- ways to the births of the children and was re- spected in the towns. In fact, the practice of medicine in these simple communities was largely in the hands of the women. There were few household servants, for even if maids came out for service, the need for wives in the new country was so great that they were not long available. Some of the settlers tried to make servants of the Indian children but it was not successful and fortunately for New England, she never resorted to the importation of the criminal class as did the southern colonies. A good many prisoners-of-war were sent over but they soon became household- ers themselves. However, life was simple, and neighbor helped neighbor, the women in the houses and the men in the fields.
In spite of the rigorous climate, which must have seemed very harsh to people accustomed to the mildness of England, the settlers advance towards prosperity was surpising and makes one realize what brains, coupled with necessity, will do in a free country. Their religion was austere, dancing and cards or games of chance was for- bidden, Christmas celebration was forbidden. Life was very earnest and very busy, for these men and women were employed not only in pro- viding for the daily needs of themselves and their
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communities, but in forming that good policy of government which made New England famous and powerful among the other colonies.
In Sherborn, where agricultural interests ranked high, Thomas Holbrook soon had an orchard. Henry Leland's wife brought the seeds of a famous spice apple with her, and Parson Porter was the originator of the apple that bears his name. Since the earliest times the apple- orchards of Sherborn have made her famous.
Sherborn was incorporated as a town in 1674. It was probably named from the English home of some few of its settlers. For a long while Henry Adams was supposed to have come from a town of that name but it is now known that he came from Kingweston, Somerset. There are towns named Sherborn in Dorset, Gloucester and Warwick, so which is the "parent town" of Sherborn in Massachusetts is not known yet. On the occasion of the (1200) twelve hundredth anni- versary of the founding of the town of Sherborn in England, the Town of Sherborn, Mass., sent a greeting and the acknowledgment by the English is framed and hung in the Dowse Library.
About a year after the incorporation of the town, the Indian War, commonly called "King Philip's War," from the name of that astute war- rior who, realizing how the Indians were losing
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their lands, became the prime mover of a large and concerted uprising against the English. Its first outrage in Sherborn was the scalping of Eleazer Wood, nephew of Henry Leland, who was left for dead, but recovered although he was ever afterwards depressed and "strange." Among his noted descendants were Dr. Henry Ware of Har- vard University, and Hon. Asher Ware of Port- land, Maine.
On Monday morning, Feb. 21, 1675-6, oc- curred that outbreak of Indians in Sherborn known as the battle of Boggestow Fort. The savages after burning the town of Medfield, came across the river to the southern part of Sherborn, burning the bridge since known as Death's, and encamped some five hundred strong at Bog- gestow. They held a feast there to celebrate their victory, in full sight of the smoking ruins of poor Medfield. King Philip was in charge and could be seen on a black horse galloping among his warriors and evidently laying his further plans. Fortunately the people had provided themselves with a stone fort near Boggestow pond and to this they fled. It was placed just back of Mr. Arthur Bullard's house. The Indians besieged the fort for several days and tried to set the build- ing on fire but failed in the attempt and finally retired. It was several weeks before the women
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and children were allowed to leave the fort for fear that the foe would return. The following July, Captain Joseph Morse, pursued a band of Indians as far as Taunton and captured fifty of them and soon after this King Philip was slain and the savages left this part of the country and Sherborn was not again disturbed by them.
The old oak under which John Eliot preached to the Indians is in South Natick, Old Town, ad- joining Sherborn. It has been made famous by Professor and Harriet Beecher Stowe and makes the old town an interesting place for tourists.
Sherborn in the succeeding years lost slices of her territory. The history of these early New England towns abounds in boundary disputes, owing to the loose way the land grants were bounded and Sherborn was no exception to the rule. It contains now ten thousand acres and is six miles long from north to south and four miles from east to west. The elevation is about nine hundred feet above sea level. The highest point of land is Brush Hill, the top of which is owned by Mr. C. Perry of Oregon, a descendant of the family who had lived there for generations. There are two lakes in the eastern portion of the town, the larger being about a mile across. The town owns a small park on its western side. The drives through the woods and over the hills by
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the river and lake are equal in beauty of scenery to many more famous ones abroad. The roads are generally good and shaded by trees of various kinds. In 1708, the town was given a grant of four thousand acres of land farther west in what is now Worcester County, which they called New Sherborn, and which later became the town of Douglas. In 1724, a part of Sherborn was estab- lished as Holliston; in 1820, a part of Sherborn was annexed to Natick, and in 1852 the old name of Sherborn which was "Sherburne" was changed to "Sherborn."
The General Court endeavored from the first to have schools established, requiring that returns be made about educational matters as well as re- ligious. At first, however, families were so scat- tered that instruction was given in the homes, although school dames were employed wherever possible. However, in the very early times very little was taught besides the "three R's," and many a man signed documents with his mark, fre- quently when he could write his name. In the seventeenth century writing was generally better than in the eighteenth, but spelling always seems to have been a trifle uncertain. A schoolmaster's diary of 1775, in which he states that he had "30 schoolers," and at other times had been "digging a seller" and again had bought some "injun corn," is evidence of this.
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About 1800 there was a dame-school where the flag station is now on Main Street, and Miss Catherine Perry stated that it was taught by Miss Lucy Wythe and that the Perry children from Brush Hill were boarded near by in order that they might attend it. Select schools were kept by the ministers to assist those desirous of obtaining more knowledge than was furnished by the dis- trict schools, and it also fell to their lot to prepare many a lad for college. The first of these schools was kept by Rev. Samuel Locke and Dr. Dowse and his brother kept the last one.
In 1858 the town received a bequest of five thousand dollars from the estate of Mr. Thomas Dowse, who in his boyhood had lived in Sherborn in the first house from the Natick line, of which only the cellar now remains. The money was to. be used for a high school, which later was kept in the lower story of a new Town House built with his money. The first principal was Mr. Fisher Ames Baker, now of New York. A few years later, Miss Patty Sawin left to her native town sufficient money to build a handsome brick build- ing, and the income from both bequests supports a school whose graduates are admitted to the col- leges. Mr. Edward Allen of Newton was its first principal. The district schools are now consol- idated and contained in a graded school in one
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building in the centre of the town, the children being brought there at the town's expense.
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