USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wilmington > Wilmington's 225th anniversary : Sept. 19-24, 1955 > Part 1
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Wilmington Memorial Library Wilmington, Mass.
WILMINGTON'S 225th
ANNIVERSARY
SEPTEMBER 19 - 24, 1955
SEPT. 25 1730
-to-
SEPT. 25
1955
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CU55
AN INFORMAL HISTORY OF THE
TOWN OF WILMINGTON
History is more than a recitation of dates and facts. It is the story of people. In this presentation of some of the episodes, in Wilmington's history, it is people who are being presented-the living people who have molded our destiny.
A YANKEE TOWN
Ask any person what would typify a town such as Wilmington. and the hundreds of other towns that were started, in early New England, and he would say that it is a Yankee Town. Ask him to further define Yankee, and he might tell you that the Yankees were the descendants of the first Englishmen who came to settle on the shores of Massachusetts Bay.
Yet a Yankee is not necessarily a person of English descent, nor is Wilmington which is a typical Yankee Town, one that was settled by Englishmen.
The Yankees were a mixture of English, Scotch and French, with a few more nationalities, including the Indian. The English Puritans had their Scot counterparts, and joining them were many of the French Huguenots, who had fled their native land at about the time of the Edict of Nantes.
Wilmington's first three settlers were, respectively, a Scot. a Frenchman, and an Englishman-with the fourth settler possibly being Scot, so that the English strain was not prominent. The Indian strain. alluded to before, was present, however, for the wife of the first settler, William Butter, was an Indian woman, accord- ing to tradition.
THE BEGINNING
When the Great and Generall Court was established in Boston. one of its first duties was to lay out bounds, for the various towns. Before 1640 lines had been laid out to show the limits of the early towns of Lynn, Charlestown and Cambridge, some of which go through what is today Wilmington. These lines radiated from Boston, and the Merrimack River was supposed to be the end of the lines which went to the northward, although they were never surveyed to that point. for the growth of the outlying settlements came too quickly.
Part of the line between Lynn and Charlestown exists today. the line between Woburn and Reading, just south of Wilmington. It extended from there to a point in North Wilmington, somewhere near where the "forefinger" of the map of Wilmington ends just where cannot be determined.
The line between Charlestown and Cambridge may also be traced, today. This line was later further defined, and, in this
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area, was called the "Shawsheen Line". It was to mark the bound- ary of the Towns of Woburn and Billerica, and was determined to lie one mile east of the Shawsheen River. The line was actually surveyed, about 1665. It exists today, from the Town Bound on Lake street, near the Melzar home, to the Town Bound on Salem street, between Wilmington and Tewksbury. The Salem Street Bound was near the northern end of the "Shawsheen Line" as originally surveyed.
Thus we find that Wilmington, as it is constituted today, comprises parts from four different towns. Reading (first known as Lynn Village, settled in 1642) contributed, roughly, the land which lies to the east of Woburn Street in North Wilmington and along West Street. Woburn, (first known as Charlestown Village, settled in 1642) contributed land which was known as "The Boggy End Meadow" and "The Land of Goshen", now the south and central parts of Wilmington, up to about Aldrich Road and just beyond Silver Lake, westerly and northerly. Billerica, which was laid out from a part of Cambridge, contributed (1737) the "thumb" of Wilmington, land that had been to the west of the Shawsheen Line when it was first surveyed, from about Aldrich Road to the present Billerica line, on the Shawsheen River.
The fourth town was Charlestown. It contributed the "Land of Nod", which comprised most of what is today known as North Wilmington.
THE FIRST REFERENCE
The first reference to land which is now in the Town of Wil- mington appeared in a book which was published, in London, in 1651. A quaint volume, it was written by Capt. Edward Johnson, Town Clerk of Woburn, and Commander of the Train Band (Militia) of that town. The book was called "The Wonder Working Providence of Zion's Saviour in New England."
The doughty Captain published his book anonymously, but there is no doubt as to the authorship, through what is known as "internal evidence". He lists three of the four Captains of Train Bands, in his book, and then says modestly that "the Wooburne Band is commanded by a Kentish Man" (Johnson was from Kent, in England).
Johnson, an intense Puritan (and progenitor of a famous Wo- burn family, still prominent in that city), made it a point to be present at the founding of each and every Puritan church, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The churches, in that day, were, of course, synonomous with the towns. Speaking of the founding of Ipswich, in 1636 (and probably written in that same year) Johnson said:
"Ipswich is a fair towne, that lieth on a fair river of the same name, which riseth from a small pond in the hills, some five and twenty miles in the interior, and abruptly descends into a large and marshy swamp, inhabited only by wolves and bears."
The pond, of which Johnson spoke, was probably a beaver pond, in what is now Burlington, at the headwaters of the Mill Brook, which crosses Chestnut Street, below Mill Road. It is in- teresting to note that Johnson, at that early date, assigned this stream to be the headwaters of the Ipswich, a point on which later
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geographers have been unable to agree. Mill Brook is the only stream which "abruptly descends".
The "large and marshy swamp" of course, is Wilmington. The wolves and the bears are gone, but the water remains, to this day.
Johnson made further descriptions of the land about Wilming- ton, in other parts of his book, especially where he was describing his town of Woburn. It is sometimes difficult to understand just what he is describing, because he, of course, knew nothing of the towns and cities that would follow him, but he does speak of "bog iron", which can be found, to this day in this town, and men- tions several points that can, perhaps, be identified.
Johnson was not the only one to describe Wilmington, for, as early as 1635 prominent features of Wilmington had been named, on maps which are still supposed to exist. Thus the swamp be- hind the Congregational Church was named "Cedars of Lebanon" from the many cedars that grew there, and the swamp on both sides of Maple Meadow Brook, from about Federal street to about Lowell street, were identified as "Ladder Pole Swamp", from the many straight swamp maples that grew there, handy for making ladder-poles. The very earliest settlers did not make stairways to the second floor of their buildings, they made ladders, and ladder poles were an important thing in the domestic economy.
The first Minister, in the Church of Christ of Woburn (for so the Puritans called their churches) was the Rev. Thomas Carter. A painting may be seen in the Woburn Public Library, of the or- Gination of the Rev. Mr. Carter, in 1642, an ordination which was not in conformance with the accepted ritual of the Puritan Church, and which scandalized many of the people of that day. Both the Rev. Mr. Carter and Edward Johnson have many descendants living in Wilmington today.
THE LAND OF NOD
When Woburn was settled in 1642, Charlestown owned a lot of land in the new township. In order to make affairs straight, it was proposed that Charlestown give the land to Woburn, and then take 3000 acies, to the north of the new town, for itself in compensation, and this was done. The new land, which was beyond the domain of any of the established churches, became known as the "Land of Nod", for reasons which are practically self-evident. That part of Wilmington which lies north of Lubber's Brook was known as the Land of Nod until after the Civil War.
It is pernaps ironic that the first ownership of land, in the Land of Nod, was accompanied by shady real estate transactions, in the light of today's accepted mores.
Charlestown gave the land (3000 acres) to ten of its prominent citizens, and ordered a survey to be made. The order to the sur- veyor was "starting at the most northerly point on the Shawsheen Line, go south two miles, and then easterly to the Reading Line, so as to encompass an area of 3000 acres."
Had the surveyor worked according to directions the Land of Nod would have lain in a triangle roughly marked by the northern end of MacDonald Road, Silver Lake, and the point where the Ipswich River and Woburn Street meet. However, through ignor- ance, or otherwise, the surveyor, starting at the right point, went
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THE OLD NOD MILL
(As it appeared in 1890 - Courtesy of the Wilmington Water Dept.) First established, on Martin's Brook, in 1695. During the Civil War it manufactured "Flannel Boards", for use in wrapping bolts of flannel, made in Ballardvale, for the Union Armies. It burned to the ground in a great fire, in 1892, a fire which started opposite the home of Silas Brown, and swept to Lynnfield. The "up and down" saw, of this mill, is still in existence, now the property of Mr. Edmund Sargent of Woburn Street.
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southerly on the Reading Line, and then swung easterly, to make up 3000 acres, arriving at the point where Salem Street crosses the North Reading Line, today. Thus an order of the Great and General Court was circumvented, and the Land of Nod, in effect, stolen from the Town of Reading.
The land having been surveyed, the ten Charlestown owners then made up a party to go and see the land which had been given to them. They found, when they arrived, a land of rocks and hills, covered with trees-and an Indian, named Nene-sawa-tucket.
The men, in order to make a better title for themselves, then decided to have Nene-sawa-tucket give them deeds, in return for the usual trinkets bartered to the Indians, in that day. This was done, to the obvious delight of the poor savage, who "never had it so good" to use a modern term. After the Charlestown men had left, he, having learned of the value of real estate, went to Andover, and sold the land all over, for a second time-an act which was to lead to endless difficulties, when Wilmington was finally incor- porated, for the Selectmen of Wilmington and Andover haggled over the Town Bounds for four years (1730-34) before finally com- ing to an agreement.
Today the Land of Nod may best be described as being north of a line along the route of Salem Street, and a few feet north of it, from the North Reading Line, to the crossing of the Portland Branch of the Boston & Maine RR (later known as the "Widow Blanchard Crossing"). An elm tree, on the lawn of the Brooks home (lately Caleb Harriman's estate) is reputed to be one of the original bounds of the land, a tree which is today held together by chains, and is obviously not destined to live much longer.
THE FIRST SETTLER
It isn't positively known who was the first settler in what is now Wilmington, but William Butter, a Scotsman, has probably the best claim. He built his home in "The Boggy Part of Woburn" "across the river" (Maple Meadow Brook). The site is today at the corner of Mill Road and Chestnut Street, and Mill Road is probably the oldest road in town, being described at about that time as "the road over Wood Hill, to Will Butter's". It is interest- ing to note that he spelled his name Butter. The Butters, with an added 's' came later, after the family had increased in numbers, and given its name to the street on which they lived-Butters Row.
William Butter was born about 1630, in Scotland. He grew up in the days of the English Civil War, and the Scots Covenanters and English Puritans. It will be remembered that the Puritans were the "Roundheads" who, under Oliver Cromwell, deposed the King, Charles I, and later executed him. His son, who later became Charles II had many loyal supporters in Scotland, and landed there, sometime after his father's death, to raise the Stuart Standard.
The Scottish Clans rose, and there were two battles, near the English-Scottish Border. The New Model Army, under Oliver Crom- well, crushed the Clans (1649-51). Butter, serving with the Scots, was taken prisoner, probably at Worcester, and put into a jail at Kingston-on-Hull, together with 5000 of his compatriots.
These 5000 prisoners proved to be a vexatious problem for Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England, for he couldn't
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WILMINGTON'S FIRST HOUSE
A drawing of what is believed to have been the first house built in what is now Wilmington, by Will Butter, in 1665. This building was standing on the site, in 1856, at the time that Cyrus Thompson, of Woburn made a survey of the area, in an effort to determine the true facts concerning the Baldwin Apple. Thompson made a sketch of the Solon Johnson house, as it was then known, and this drawing has been taken from that sketch. The original house burned down during the Civil War.
If Thompson's sketch is accurate, and it appears to be, the Will Butter House was not constructed to face South, as were nearly all houses in that day, but rather to the Southeast.
kill them (and profess to be a Christian) and he couldn't let them go (for then the Clans would rise again). Keeping them in prison was too costly, so he finally solved his problem by selling them, as indentured servants, to settlers in the New World-New England and Jamaica.
Will Butter thus found himself sold to a Woburn farmer, to serve out nine years of indenturehood. What year he arrived in Woburn is problematical, but it was probably before 1655, which would mean that he was a free man by 1664. This much we know,- that in 1665 he was listed in the tax rate as the owner of a home in the Boggy End. When he built the home isn't known, but the Puritan masters were generally quite kind (for that day and age) to their indentured servants, and many of their servants had their new homes built several years before their servitude was expired.
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Will married possibly an Indian woman, and had one child, William Butter II. He served, in the ranks, in King Phillips War, as is attested by the Woburn records. His son, William Butter II, born in 1665, was probably the first white child born in what is now Wilmington, and he married Rebecca Jones, a Woburn girl, in 1687, building about that time his home, which stands next to the "Apple Monument" to this day, and is probably the second oldest dwelling in Wilmington. He in turn was the father of 12 children, who spread out, to the north, and gave the name of Butters Row to a road that started where Marion Street joins Burlington Avenue today, and ended at the present end of Butters Row, on Main Street.
Will Butter, a Covenanter, had no use for the Puritan church, and never joined it, a very positive act for that day and age.
His son, however, did, and was, in the latter years of his life, given the honor of being on the first Board of Selectmen, in the new Town of Wilmington. He was then known as William Butters. Several homes exist today which were built by grandchildren of Will Butter. The best preserved is that which lies across the street from the Wilmington Skating Club, built in 1712 by Samuel Butters. It was originally built as a "Garrison House", a shape it preserved for over 100 years. It has been altered much, since then.
OTHER FIRST SETTLERS
While the honor of being Wilmington's first settler probably goes to Will Butter, it might belong to Abraham Jaquith, or to Richard Harnden.
Abraham Jaquith (later known as Sergeant Abraham Jaquith) was a French Huguenot, who settled on what is now Aldrich Road, near Forest Street, at about 1665. The land was, at that time, a part of Billerica. The cellar hole was plainly visible 75 years ago, but is not now to be found. It might possibly have been enlarged, and became part of another cellar hole, which lies on or near the site described for the original house.
Like Will Butter, Sergeant Jaquith became the progenitor of a large and populous family, which has spread all throughout the United States. Not too much is known of the life of Sergeant Jaquith, but it might be presumed that he, too, served in King Phillip's War. On the property which he owned stood a hemlock, at that time probably 50 or 60 years old, a hemlock which was cut down within the past two years-The Jaquith Hemlock, oldest living thing in New England.
The other first settler was an Englishinan, Richard Harnden. He built a home, in or about, 1665, at what is now 67 High Street, in North Wilmington. His home remained standing until about the time of the Civil War. Harnden owned all the land from the Land of Nod to Jenkin's Bridge, at the Ipswich River, and he was the only English Puritan, of the first settlers. Where his home was built was then Reading.
TRADITIONS
Traditionally, there is folk-lore that there were earlier settlers, in what is now Wilmington. Two families are named. but neither of these, in the writers opinion has been proven.
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On Boutwell Street, in the westerly part of Wilmington, about opposite to the present McSheffrey home, stood, until about 30 years ago, the Boutwell House, a long and low-ceilinged dwelling. This was the ancestral home of Governor Boutwell, of Massachu- setts Civil War fame. Some of Wilmington's people have tried to establish a date of 1658 for this house. Although the house was very old, when it was demolished, this date was quite probably wrong, and the house was probably built at a later date.
The other building is certainly the oldest now standing in Wilmington, but the claim that it dates to 1635 is just as certainly in error. This assumption was made by earlier researchers, who lacked an intimate knowledge of the geography of the Massachu- setts Bay Colony.
William Buck, and Roger Buck, his son, emigrated from Eng- land in 1635, on the ship Increase, and settled in Cambridge. Roger Buck was born in 1617, presumably in England, but the Wilmington Buck family states that their forbears were Scot. He was, in Cam- bridge, for a time, the "Public Executioner", and in 1668 was ordered to inflict twenty lashes upon a culprit. It is not known whether or not the order was carried out. He died, in Woburn, on November 10, 1693.
The Buck home, known in Wilmington as the Benjamin Buck House, was built probably about 1672, by Roger Buck and his son, Ephraim Buck. The portion of the Benjamin Buck house, which they built, is now in the back part of the building, and may still be distinguised from the rest of the house, which was built around or befort Revolutionary War times.
The Buck home has been carefully inspected by Dr. Warren Stearns, distinguished historian of Billerica, and he ascribes a date of "a latter part of the Seventeenth Century" to the older part of the dwelling. The street that goes by the house (Woburn Street) was laid out, by the Town of Woburn in 1672, and in that same year Ephraim Buck was taxed, in the Meeting House Rates (Church Pew Rent), in Woburn. Ephraim had married Sarah Brooks, of Woburn, on January 1, 1671.
The first portion of the house was long, but only one room wide, with a central fire place dividing the house into two parts. It was a two family home, right from the beginning, and remained a two family home for about 150 years. Each side was duplicated, on the other side, and it so remains to this day, a very curious bit of early New England architecture. The division was carried out still further, for the barn, which formerly stood in back of the house, was similarly divided, and the division line was carried right over Buck's Hill, and down to the Maple Meadow Brook.
The belief that the house may date from 1635 comes from a misunderstanding of facts.
In 1652 Roger Buck, and his father, William Buck, were given land in what is now part of Billerica, but was, at that time, part of Cambridge. They never occupied the land, and it was given to others, soon afterwards. Because part of Billerica became, at a much later date, a part of Wilmington, the assumption was made by some that William and Roger Buck had occupied the land, and that this land was the ancestral home of the family. Actually it was some miles away from the ancestral home. How the date
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1635 came to be used cannot be explained, except that the two Bucks arrived in that year, from overseas.
For about 250 years this home was the home of one or another Buck. It is now owned by a different family. Among those that were born in the building was Col. Jonathan Buck, founder of Bucksport, Maine. He grew to manhood in Haverhill, to which place his father had moved, after the death of Jonathan's mother, Lydia Eames, sometime before 1723. Colonel Buck was an officer (not the Commanding Officer) in an expedition to reduce à British fort, Fort George, in Maine, during the Revolution, an expedition which ended in disgrace, and is rarely mentioned, in American histories. No disgrace, however seems to have been attached to the Colonel. His gravestone, in Bucksport, has a curious discolora- tion, part of the stone, which has' been likened to a witches boot, and has been the source of several superstitious tales, some of which have within the past few years been on radio programs.
Others born in this house include Ephraim Buck, who, as an old man, killed the last bear in Wilmington, a story that has been extensively told in other places, and his son, Ephraim Jr., who, as Constable of Wilmington, in 1774, paid the taxes to the Town Treasurer, instead of His Majesty George III.
Another man, born here, was Benjamin Buck, he who gave the parsonage to the Congregational Church. His nephew, John Henry Buck, was the last of that name to dwell in this home.
CADWALLADER FORD
Yankees are supposed to have a tendency to "settle it in court", in other words to be very fond of litigation. One of the more promi- nent men, of the 18th century, in Wilmington, was such a man, for he figured in several prominent court trials of his day and age- Cadwallader Ford, he who built the home lately owned by Caleb Harriman, in North Wilmington.
Cadwallader Ford was born in Ireland, probably Northern Ireland, and emigrated to the Colony, as a young boy. He under- went many hardships, and first enters history when he conducted a suit, in the Middlesex Court, against the "E. Stone heirs". He apparently won the suit, for the land on which he lived, in the Land of Nod, was the basis of the contention, and he built his home there.
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