USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Marlborough > Topographical and historical sketches of the town of Northborough, with the early history of Marlborough, in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, furnished for the Worcester magazine > Part 1
USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Northborough > Topographical and historical sketches of the town of Northborough, with the early history of Marlborough, in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, furnished for the Worcester magazine > Part 1
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Gc 974.402 N817a
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
L
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00082 9371
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/topographicalhis00alle_0
Faiths Brigham
northborough 1826
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL
SKETCHES
OF THE
TOWN OF NORTHBOROUGH,
WITH THE
EARLY HISTORY OF
MARLBOROUGH,
IN THE
Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
FURNISHED FOR THE
WORCESTER MAGAZINE.
BY REV. JOSEPH ALLEN, PASTOR OF THE CHURCH IN NORTHBOROUGH, AND MEMBER OF THE WORCESTER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
WORCESTER: PUBLISHED BY W. LINCOLN & C. C. BALDWIN. CHARLES GRIFFIN ...... PRINTER. 1826.
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117
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1805025
HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
NORTHBOROUGH, though one of the youngest and smallest incor- porated towns in the County of Worcester, was, for nearly 50 years, prior to the date of its incorporation, a part of Westborough ; first as part of an undivided whole, and then as a separate precinct or parish. This carries us back to the year 1717, before which time, Westborough itself, including Northborough, belonged to the large and ancient town of Marlborough. Northborough then, as being included in Marlborough, may lay claim to considerable antiquity. Marlborough was incorporated in 1660, only about 30 years after the commencement of the Massachusetts Colony. The stream of emigration may easily be traced back from this, which was for ma- ny years a frontier settlement, bordering upon the unexplored wil- derness, to the fountain head. The settlement in Marlborough was commenced four years before the date of its incorporation, by emi- grants from Sudbury, which was older by about 20 years than Marlborough, having been incorporated in 1638. The next step carries us back to Concord, which was purchased of the natives and incorporated in 1635 .*
The next step brings us to Watertown, where a settlement was made in 1630, the same year that Boston began to be built. It was in this year that a large number of emigrants arrived from England, which served greatly to enlarge and strengthen the Colony, then in its infancy. The oldest town in the Massachusetts Colony is Sa- lem, where a settlement was commenced in 1628, eight years after the landing of our fathers at Plymouth.
1. Mass. Hist. Col. Vel. I.
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HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
Thus we see that within the short space of 30 years from the first planting of this Colony, the wilderness had been explored, and a permanent settlement effected, by our enterprising forefathers, in the ancient town of Marlborough, which then included Westbo- rough, Southborough, and Northborough, now within the limits of Worcester County.
It will not therefore be improper to prefix to the history of this town some account of the first settlement and early history of the Plantation at Marlborough.
The following petition was presented to the General Court in May, 1656.
"To the Hon. Governor, Dep. Governor, Magistrates and Depu- ties of the General Court now assembled in Boston."
" The humble petition of several of the Inhabitants of Sudbu- ry, whose names are hereunder written, humbly sheweth ; that whereas your petitioners have lived divers years in Sudbury, and God hath beene pleased to increase our children, which are now divers of them grown to man's estate, and wee, many of us, grown into years, so as that wee should bee glad to see them settled be- fore the Lord take us away from hence, as also God having given us some considerable quantity of cattle, so that wee are so streigh- tened that wee cannot so comfortably subsist as could bee desired ; and some of us having taken some pains to view the country ; wee have found a place which lyeth westward, about eight miles from Sudbury, which wee conceive might bee comfortable for our sub- sistence :
"It is therefore the humble request of your Petitioners to this Hon'd Court, that you would bee pleased to grant unto us ) eight miles square, or so much land as may containe to eight miles square, for to make a plantation.
"If it shall please this Hon'd Court to grant our petition, it is farther than the request of your petitioners to this Hon'd Court, that you will bee pleased to appoint Mr. Thomas Danforth or Lies- tenni Fisher to lay out the bounds of the Plantation; and wee shall satisfy those whom this Hon'd Court shall please to employ in it. So apprehending this weighty occasion, wee shall no farther trouble this Hon'd Court, but shall ever pray for your happinesse."
Thomas King, William Ward,
Edmond Rice, John How,* John Bent, Sen'r. John Maynard,
* According to a tradition handed down in the family, the first English person that came to reside in Marlborough, was John How, son of a How, of · Watertown, supposed to be John How, Esq. who came from Warwickshire, in
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HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
John Woods, Edward Rice, John Ruddocke,
Richard Newton,
Peter Bent, Henry Rice,
Thomas Goodenow.
"That this is a true copy of the original petition presented to the General Court, May, 1656, left on file and thereto compared, is
Attested, per EDWARD RAWSON, Sec'ry." -
To this petition the following answer was made.
At a General Court held in Boston, May 14, 1856.
"In answer to the petition of the aforesaid inhabitants of Sudbury, the Court judgeth it meete to grant them a proportion of land of six miles, or otherwise, in some convenient form equivalent there- unto, at the discretion of the committee in the place desired, pro- vided it hinder no former grant, that there bee a Towne settled with twenty or more families within three years, so as an able min- istry may bee there maintained. And it is ordered that Mr. Ed- ward Jackson, Capt. Eleazer Lusher, Ephraim Child, with Mr. Thomas Danforth, or Liestennl Fisher, shall bee, and hereby are ap- pointed as a committee to lay out the bounds thereof, and make return to the next Court of Election, or else the grant to bee void.
"This is a true copy taken out of the Court's Books of Records, as Attests EDWARD RAWSON, Secr'y."
England, and who, as appears from a record in the possession of Mr. Adam How, of Sudbury, also a descendant of John, was himself the son of John How, of Hodinhull, and connected with the family of Lord Charles How, Earl of Lancaster, in the reign of Charles I.
Mr. How came from Watertown to Marlborough, built a cabin a little to the east of the Indian Planting field, where his descendants, lived for many generations. By his prudence and kindness, he gained the good will and confidence of his savage neighbors, who accordingly made him the um- pire in all their differences.
The following is related as one of the verdicts of this second Solomon. Two Indians, whose corn fields were contiguous, disputed about the posses- sion of a pumpkin, which grew on a vine, that had transgressed the limits of the field in which it was planted. The vine was planted in one field; the pumpkin grew in the other. The dispute grew warm, and might have led to serious consequences, had it not occurred to them to refer the matter in de- bate to the arbitration of the white man, their neighbor. Mr. How is accord- ingly sent for, who after having given a patient hearing to both parties, directs them to bring him a knife, with which he divides the pumpkin into two equal parts, giving half to each. Both parties extol the equity of the judge, and readily acquiesce in the decision, pleased, no doubt, quite as much with the manner in which the thing was done, as in admiration of the justice of the deed.
The descendants of John How are very numerous in Marlborough, and in the towns in the vicinity. 'There are 28 of the name of How on the list of voters, in Marlborough, for the present year.
Col. Thomas How was a son of the above, who, for many years, was one of the leading men in the town. John How died sometime before 1686, as appears by a deed of his son Josiah to Thomas, of that date. Rev. Perley How, of Surry, N. H. was a descendant of John, and of Col. Thomas How.
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HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
The Plantation was accordingly soon commenced in the neigh- borhood of Ockoocangansett, (the Indian name of the hill back of the old Meeting House in Marlborough,) and thence extending to Whipsuppenicke, (a hill about a mile southeasterly of the former,) and the neighboring parts. By this name, Whipsuppenicke, or Whipsufferadge, as it was sometimes written, the English Planta- tion of Marlborough was known, till its incorporation, in 1660.
Of the Indian Plantation at Marlborough, called, from the hill abovenamed, Ockoocangansett, some account will be given here- after.
A plan of the English plantation was made in May, 1667, by Samuel Andrews, surveyor, which was approved by the Deputies, 17th 3mo. 1667. WM. TORREY, Clerk.
Consented to by the Magistrates. EDWARD RAWSON, Sec'y.
This plan was made on parchment on a scale of two inches to a mile, and is now in the hands of Mr. Silas Gates of Marlborough.
The plantation contained by admeasurement 29,419 acres, which, with the 6000 acres reserved for the Indians, of which we shall presently speak, amounted to 35,419 acres. The Indian planting field, on Ockoocangansett, the hill back of where the old meet- ing house stood, was included within the bounds of the English plantation, and formed a square containing about two hundred acres. From the northwestern angle of this field the boundary line between the Indian plantation on the east, and the English plan- tation on the west, extends three miles north, seven degrees west, to a point a little. beyond the river Assabett *. From this point the boundary line runs seven miles west, twenty five de- grees south, (cutting off what is now the northwest angle of Northborough, and which forms what are called the New Grants.) Thence five miles south-southeast, to the south west extremity of the plantation; thence two miles and three-fourths of a mile east, nine degrees north, leading into Cedar swamp; thence southeast, two hundred and fifty six rods on Sudbury River; thence two miles and three quarters, due east; thence two miles and one hundred and twenty rods northeast, thirteen degrees north; thence three
* This name is written and spoken variously by different persons. In the report of the Canal Commissioners presented at the recent session of the Le- gislature of this State, it is written Elsebeth, and is supposed to be a corrup- tion of Elisabeth. By some aged persons, it is called Elsebeth ; in Whitney's Hist. Assabet. In the earliest records of Marlborough, however, it is almost uniformly written with a final h, Asabeth or Assabeth. If either of the two last letters are omitted, it should probably be the t. In which case the name would be Assabeh.
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HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
hundred and forty eight rods north, seventeen degrees east ; thence one mile and three fourths of a mile due north, which reaches to the Indian line ; then three miles, due west, on this line, which completes the boundaries of the English plantation.
It would seem, from the above account, that the proprietors ex- ceeded the limits of their grant by more than 6000 acres. We are not to conclude, however, that they acted fraudulently in this bu- siness ; since it appears that the draft of the plantation was present- ed to the General Court for their acceptance, and approved by the Deputies and Magistrates.
The form of the plantation was evidently regulated by a regard to the surface and soil. Thus the boundary lines on the north and west included all the meadows on the Assabeth, west of the Indian plantation, and the extensive intervale, including several large meadows and cedar swamps, which runs through nearly the whole extent of Northborough and Westborough. The boundaries on the south and east were also fixed with the same sagacity and foresight.
It is said that the meadows, at the first settlement of our country, produced much larger crops of grass, of a much better quality, than at the present day. This circumstance, together with the difficul- ty of subduing the uplands, will account for the eagerness manifest- ed by the first settlers to possess a good supply of meadow grounds .*
The first meeting of the proprietors of the English plantation, was holden 25th of the VIIth month (September) 1656.1
In 1657, the following eight names are found among the propri- etors, in addition to the thirteen original petitioners above men- tioned, making up the number of twenty one.
* It appears from the early records of Marlborough, that for many years after its incorporation, the town was greatly infested by wolves and rattle- snakes.
In a single year, (1683) the town paid a bounty for no fewer than twenty three wolves. In 1680, the following record was made. "Voted, to raise thirteen men to go out to cil rattelsnakes, eight to Cold Harbour-ward, and so to the other place they cal boston, (now the northwestern corner of West- borough) and five to Stoney Brook-ward, to the places thereabout. John Brigham to cal out seven with him to the first, and Joseph Newton four with him, to the latter, and they were to have two shillings apiece per day, paid out of a town rates."
+ "Sept. 25th. 1656. Upon amitinge of the petitioners apoynted to take sum course to lay out the plantation granted to several inhabitants of Sudbu- ry, it was ordered that all that doe take up lottes in that plantation shall pay all publique charges that shall arise upon that plantation, according to their house lottes and to be resident there in two years or set in a man that the town shall aprove one, or else too loose their lotts ; but if God shall take away any man by death, he have liberty to give his lott to whom he will."
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HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
William Kerly,
Samuel Rice,
Peter King,
John Rediat, John Johnson,
Christopher Banister.
Solomon Johnson,
Thomas Rice,
" At a meeting of the proprietors of this plantation the 26th of Xber, (December) 1659.
" It is ordered that all such as lay clayme to any interest in this new plantation at Whipsufferadge, (by the Indians called Whipsup- penicke) are to perfect their house lots by the 25th of March next insueing, or else to loose all their interest in the aforesaid planta- tion."
Agreeably to this order, thirty eight house lots, including one for a minister, and one for a smith, were set off, and granted to the proprietors, the 26th of Nov. 1660.
Besides the persons already mentioned, the following had house lots assigned to them, at this date.
Joseph Rice,
Richard Ward,
John Barrett,
John How, Jr. Benjamin Rice,
Jos. Holmes,
Henry Kerley, John Bellows, Samuel How,
Richard Barns, Abraham How, Henry Axtell,
Andrew Belcher, Tho. Goodenow, Jr. John Newton.
Obediah Ward, John Rutter,
These thirty eight house lots, amounting in all to 992} acres consisted of some of the best and most commodious tracts of land in Marlborough. They contained from fifty to fifteen acres each, ac- cording to the interest of the several proprietors in the plantation. The principal part of the land, which was not taken up for house lots, with the exception of Chauncey, (now Westborough and North- borough,) was left common (called Cow Commons) to be disposed of by subsequent grants.
The following boundaries were assigned to the Cow Commons in 1662.
"From John Alcocks line (now known by the name of the Farm) to Stoney Brook ; thence up the brook to Crane Meadow, and so along to Stirrup Meadow Brook, and to be extended as the Brooke runs to Assibathe River, and down the said river till it comes to the Indian line. This is, and shall remain a perpetual Cow Common for the use of this town, never to bee altered with- out the consent of all the inhabitants and proprietors thereof at a full meeting ; excepting four score acres of upland this town hath reserved within the aforesaid tract of land to accommodate some such desirable persons withall as need may require, opportunity present, and the town accept."
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HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
A vote was passed at a meeting of the proprietors in 1705, to divide the Cow Commons among the original proprietors and such as had acquired rights in the plantation, in proportion fo the first grants.
So early as 1660, it appears that measures had been adopted by the proprietors of Marlborough, for the maintenance of public wor- ship; and that Mr. William Brimsmead, afterwards ordained as their pastor, was employed as a preacher.
In the following year, they voted to build a house for their minister; and, in 1662, the frame of a house, with the house lot on which it stood, were granted to Wm. Brimsmead, Minister .*
In 1662, a rate was made of 12 pence per acre upon all house lots for building a Meeting House ; and again, in 1664, of 34 pence per acre for finishing the house. This house, which was after- wards burnt by the Indians, stood on the old common, within the limits of the Indian planting field, which, Hutchinson says, "caused great disputes and discouragements."t
It appears from the following record, that the land on which the Meeting House was erected was afterwards purchased of an Indian, whose title to the land was probably disputed by his breth- ren of the Indian Plantation.
" 1663, April 4. Anamaks, an Indian of Whipsuppenicke, for divers reasons and considerations, sold to John Ruddock and John How, for the use of the town of Marlborough, the land that the Meeting House now stands on-also the land for the highway on the fore side of said Meeting House, and so upon a square of ten feet, round about the said Meeting House." This land, with the addition of half an acre purchased in 1688, of Daniel, Samuel, and Nathaniel Gookin, sons of Maj. Gen. Daniel Gookin, of Cambridge, constitutes what is now the old common, the whole of which did
* The house built for Mr. Brimsmead stood on the lot of land west of Ock- oocangansett, not far from the spot on which the old Meeting House was af- terwards erected. There is a tradition that Mr. Brimsmead's house was set on fire by the Indians in King Philip's war, and that the flames communicated with the Meeting House, which was the occasion of its being burnt.
It may be interesting to the antiquary to learn the form and dimensions of a dwelling house erected more than 160 years since. It was 36 ft. by 18 ft. and 12} ft. high between the joints. It had four windows in front, and two at the west end. It had besides two gables in front, 10 ft. wide and 8 ft. square, (projecting 8 ft.) with two small windows on the front side of the ga- bles. It was built by contract for £15, to be paid in corn ; one third wheat, one third rye, and one third Indian corn. Wheat at 4s. 6d. rye at 4s. and Indian corn at 3s. per bushel. For the payment of this sum, a rate was made of 73 pence per acre upon all house lots in the Plantation.
Hist. Col. I. p. 167.
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HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
not come into the possession of the town till 1706, when the half acre above mentioned was purchased by Abraham Williams and Joseph Rice, "for the use of the town, to set a Meeting House on."
Till 1675, nothing serious appears to have occurred to inter- rupt the prosperity of the inhabitants of this flourishing settlement. But their prosperity received a severe check in the war which now ensued. After the destruction of Lancaster, (Feb. 10, 1676, O. S.) a party of the enemy directed their course through Marlbo- rough, where they committed some depredations, on their way to Sudbury and Medfield, in the latter of which places nearly 50 dwel- ling houses were burnt, and 15 persons lost their lives.
A second attack was made upon the English settlement at Marl- borough, on the 20th of the following month, which, though no lives were lost, was attended with more disastrous consequences. It was Lord's day ; and the inhabitants were assembled for public worship, when the preacher, the Rev. Mr. Brimsmead, was inter- rupted in the midst of his discourse by the appalling cry, that the Indians were advancing upon them. The Assembly instantly dis- persed ; and, with a single exception,* succeeded in reaching the neighboring garrison house in safety before the enemy came up. But though they defended themselves, they could afford no protection to their property, much of which was wasted or destroyed. Their Meeting House and many of their dwelling houses were burned to the ground ; their fruit trees hacked and pilled ; their cattle killed or maimed, so that marks of their ravages were visible for many years.
The alarm occasioned by this attack, and the defenceless state to which the inhabitants were reduced, led them to retire from the place, and to seek shelter in a more populous neighborhood. Short- ly after the close of the war, which lasted little more than a year, they returned to their farms, and were permitted for many years to cultivate them in peace.t
* The person to whom allusion is here made was Moses Newton, grand- father of the late Deac. Paul Newton, of this town. Being detained behind the rest in the benevolent attempt to rescue an aged and infirm female, who would otherwise have been exposed to certain destruction, he received a ball in his elbow, which deprived him in a measure of the use of his arm ever af- ter. Solomon Newton, a grandson of the above, is now living, (1826) aged 92 years, with his son, Willard Newton, Esq. in Southborough, on the farm taken up by his great-grand-father, Richard Newton, nearly 170 years ago. Richard came from England, and was one of the 13 original proprietors of Marlborough. Richard had three sons, Moses, Ezekiel and John. Moses was the father of eight sons and two daughters, viz. Moses, Jonathan, James, Josiah, David, Edward, Hannah, Mercy, Jacob, and Ebenezer.
" There are no records in the Proprietors' Books of what took place be-
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HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
Soon after their return, they proceeded to the erection of a new Meeting House, which, like the former, was thatched with straw, or rather a species of tall grass, taken from the meadow since cal- led, from that circumstance, Thatch Meadow. This building, which was left in an unfinished state, lasted but a few years. In 1680, an unsuccessful attempt was made to enlarge and repair it; and at length, in 1688, a larger and more commodious house was erected, near the site of the former, which lasted more than one hundred and twenty years, having stood till the new Meeting House in the east Parish was erected, in 1809 .*
Prior to the year 1684, it appears that nothing effectual had been done towards purchasing a title to the land " cleare of the In- dians, who were continually making demands upon the towne." The Plantation was commenced under the auspices of the Gen. Court ; and, as 6000 acres, bordering upon this Plantation, had been re- served by order of the Court, for the use of the Indians, nothing further seems to have been thought necessary for many years, either by the English or the Indians, to give the former a perfect title to their lands. It was not indeed till the Indian Plantation was broken up, and most of the inhabitants dispersed, that the Indians of Natick and Wamesit, (now a part of Tewksbury,) who belong- ed to the same tribe with the Marlborough Indians, put in their claims. to a right in the soil which had been cultivated by the En- glish now for nearly 30 years.
At length, in the winter of 1684, a Committee of three persons
tween May, 1675, and July, 1677. It appears that the inhabitants had re- turned some time before the latter date. It appears from the Records of the General Court, that preparations for defence against the Indians had been made as early as 1670. " Ordered, that the Surveyor General shall forth- with deliver unto Maj. Hathorn, or to Lieut. Samuel Ward, 60 great shot, fit for the guns in the Fort at Marlborough. A Fort was maintained there through the war.
* The old Meeting House was valued, in 1689, at £10; the pulpit at £4, "which were improved in the new Meeting House for carrying on the finishing of that."-It would appear, from the following vote, which passed with great unanimity at a meeting of the proprietors, May 21, 1688, that there had been some controversy respecting the location of the new Meeting House, and that it was even then in contemplation to divide the town into two parishes.
" Voted, That if the westerly part of the town shall see cause afterwards to build another Meeting House, and find themselves able so to do, and main- tain a minister; then the division to be made by a line at the cari-way at Stirrup Brook, where Conecticot way now goeth over, (now within the limits of Northborough,) and so to run a parallel line with the west line of the bounds of the town." It would seem highly probable, from this vote, that there were inhabitants then living west of the line thus defined, and which was afterwards (1717) made the boundary line between Marlborough and Westborough.
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HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
was appointed by the town to treat with the Indians ; who, April 17th and 18th, with the help of Maj. Peter Bulkley and Capt. Thomas Hincksman, made a bargain that the town should pay them £31 for a deed in full. The town accepted the conditions, and agreed to bring in the money, (assessed upon the proprietors, now 50 in number,) to the Meeting House, on the 20th of May next, which was accordingly done, and the deed signed by the Indians presented to the town, who directed that it should be kept by Abra- ham Williams, as also the plat of the plantation made by Samuel Andrews, of which an account has already been given.
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