USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Chelsea > Documentary history of Chelsea : including the Boston precincts of Winnisimmet, Rumney Marsh, and Pullen Point, 1624-1824, vol 1 > Part 15
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" Willyam Brenton, 64 aers of Upland and Marsh together : bounded towards the North by said great Creeke, towards the East by the said Allottment of John Olyver, towards the South by the Allotment of William Stidson, and towards the West by the Common shore.130
" Elias Mavericke, 12 Aers of upland: bounded towards the North by the Common shore, towards the East by an highway 2 rodd in breadth, running betweene the Lotts over the Neck, towards the south by the Allottment of Valentine Hill, and towards the West by the Common shore.131
" Valentyne Hill, 60 Aers of Upland: bounded towards the north by the said Allottment of Elias Mavericke, towards the East by the said high way, towards the South by the Allott- ment of Raph Hudson, and towards the West and southwest by the Common shore."
Valentine Hill, Boston, 1636, a mercer from London, was of the Artillery Company, 1639, and freeman in 1640. He lived some time at Dover, and died in 1660. He sold land, apparently a part of his allotment, to Samuel Cole, May 20, 1645; 132 perhaps included in Cole's deed to William Halsey, March 24, 1653/4.
" Raph Hudson, 50 Aers: bounded towards the north by the said Allottment of Valentyne Hill, towards the East by the said highway, and towards the south and southwest by the common shoare."
January 29, 1637/8, "our brother MT. Raph Hudson is to his son, in 1647, a farm estimated to contain 200 acres -no bounds being given - while in the Book of Possessions Deane Winthrop is accredited with a farm of but 120 acres, the boundaries showing that it did not include this parcel of land.]
12 [Sold to James Bill in 1666. (Infra, Appendix 10.) ]
130 [This allotment, with that of William Stidson, may have consti- tuted the farm of Wentworth Day. Note the bounds of the farm as given in Appendix 10.]
131 [The notes on Elias Maverick will be found in chapter iii.]
132 Suff. Deeds, L. 1, f. 59. [This land was on the Boston peninsula. ]
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granted his great Lott there [Pullen Point Neck] for six heads." 133
Ralph Hudson was a woollen draper, who came from Lon- don in 1635.134
" Thomas Fayreweather, 30 Acrs of Upland and Marsh together ; bounded towards the North and Northwest by the Allottments of the Governor, Mr. John Winthrop, sen"., and John Oliver, towards the East and north East by the afforc- said Allottment of Thomas Buttalph, towards the south and southeast by the Allottment of William Peirce, towards the south west by the afforesaid Allottment of William Stidson.
" Thomas Fayreweather, 4 Acrs of upland at the Easter- most corner of Raph Hudsons: bounded by his said Allott- ment towards the North and West, towards the East by the said high way, and by the Common shore towards the South."
Thomas Fayreweather came to Boston early, perhaps with Winthrop.135
133 Town Records.
134 [Ralph Hudson, by will dated September 24, 1638, gave to his wife Mary, with other property, "my great lott Contayning 46 Acres lying at Pullen Point " for life, and after her death, to his daughter Hannah and her heirs, if she had children. Hannah married John Leverett, and had two children, Hudson and Hannah. The will was probated November 20, 1651, - the same day as that of the widow, Mary Hudson. The latter was dated September 26, 1651. (Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 1, ff. 59, 60; also N. E. Hist. and Gen. Reg., iv. 53, 54, 125-133.) The Court in approving the will of Mary Hudson excepted a house and garden in Boston, and " a great lott of forty Sixe acres at pullen Pointe wch is given by the will of the said Mary Hudson Contrary to Ralfe Hudsons will hir husband wch the Court Resolved was more then Shee had power to Doe." (Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 2, f. 36.) Apparently this became a part of Edward Hutchinson's farm. See Appendix 10.]
135 [Mary, widow of Thomas Fayreweather, married John Evered alias Webb of Boston, also known as Ensign John Webb. (Suff. Deeds, L. 6, f. 47.) See Lechford's Note Book, 60, 65, for two drafts of a conveyance, under date June 21, 1639, dividing these lands between herself and pro- posed husband, and her son John Fayreweather (Commander at the Castle in 1689). December 15, 1639, John Webb (otherwise Everett) was ad- monished by the Boston church because he feasted with the ungodly on a fast day; but on the 26th of. the following month he was "Reconciled to the Church." He became the owner of a large tract of land on the northern side of the Merrimack River, and in 1663-5 represented Chelmsford in the General Court. October 17, 1668, "John Web, alias, Everit, pursuing a Whale, was caught in ye rope, twisted about his middle, & being drawn into ye sea, was drowned." Boston Rec. Com. Rep., vi, 207. His estate was
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" Willyam Peirce, 100 Aers of Upland and Marsh together : bounded towards the north and northwest by the said Allott- ments of Thomas Fayreweather and Thomas Buttalph, to- wards the East and south East by the sea shore, and towards the southwest by the said Allottinent of the Governor."
William Peirce came in 1633 with Cotton, Hooker, and Gov- ernor Haynes; was freeman, selectman; and died in 1641.136
" All the Remainder of the land, both upland and marsh, to the southward of the northermost Creeke running up out of Fishers Creeke or Cove, and from the southwest End of Peirces Lott to Pulling Point Gutt, being Compassed on all the sides with the Sea, save onely where it Joyneth to Mr. Peirce, be- longeth to the said John Winthrop, Governor."
The following entry of February 22, 1640/1, is in the Town Records: - " The graunt of the towne of Boston, to Mr. John Winthropp, Esquire, of the twoe hills, with some barren marsh adioyning there unto, be it more or lesse, liing next to pulling poynt, is thus bounded: towards the north with the Land of Mr. William Pirce, and with the salt water on all other partes."
Governor Winthrop sold his estate at Pullen Point to his son, Deane Winthrop.137
The first entry in the Book of Possessions is this: -
" The possession of MY. Deane Winthropp within the Limits of Boston.
" One Farme at Pullen poynt, conteineing about one hundred and twenty Acres, be it more or lesse, bounded with Mr. Pierce's
settled in Middlesex County. The allotment of Thomas Fayreweather may · liave beeome the farm of William Burnell; see Appendix 10.] 136 [For further information about William Pierce see G. E. Littlefield, Early Boston Booksellers, 32-64; Savage, Winthrop, i. 25, Appendix A, 51, ii. 33, ete.]
137 " John Winthrop of Boston Esq: granted vnto Deane Winthrop his sonne all that his fferme or lott at Pullen point granted him by the towne of Boston, eonteineing two hundred Acres more or lesse, now or late in the possession of the said Deane, wth the Messuag there vppon built, & all the priviledges & appurtenances & this was by an absolute deed of sale sealed & delivered in presenee of Wm Aspinwall Not: publ. Dated the 13. (9) 1647." (Suff. Deeds, L. 1, f. 86.) [Samuel Sewall, who went to Pullen Point to attend the wedding of Atherton Haugh and Merey Winthrop, wrote: "Mr. Dean Winthrop liv'd there in his fathers days, and was wont to set up a Bush when he saw a ship eoming in; He is now 77 years old. In his Fathers time, his house stood more toward Dear Island." Diary, July 11, 1699.]
- -
THE DEANE WINTHROP HOUSE.
HELIOTYPE CO., BOSTON.
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lott on the north, the Bay and Fisher's Cove on the west: Pullen point on the south : and the Sea on the east.
" 6 (10) 1649. Bridget Pieree and William Pieree, of Boston, granted unto Mr. Deane Winthrop, of Boston, all that theire Messuage and Farme at Pullen point (adjoining unto the Farme of the sd Deane Winthrop), containeing one hundred Aeres, be the same more or lesse, with all the outhouseing, fences, wood, and all other appurtenanees; and this was by an absolute deed of sale, dated 14 (11) 1647.
Witnes WM. ASPINWALL, JOHN EVERED,
BRIDGET PIERCE and a seale. WILLIAM PIERCE and a seale."
After more than two hundred years, the city of Boston has again become the owner of a portion, at least, of the old Win- throp estate.138
Deane Winthrop, the sixth son of Governor Winthrop, was born in England. Being at school when his father came over in 1630, he was left behind, but came with his brother John in 1635, at the age of twelve years. He was of the Artillery Company. He married Sarah, daughter of José Glover, and had a large family. He was early engaged with his uncle Emanuel Downing in a project of a new settlement at a place afterwards named Groton in compliment to his birthplace ; but his residence was always at Pullen Point, where his house now stands, a view of which is given opposite. Its age, though doubtless very great, is not certainly known. Deane Winthrop lies buried in the old churchyard at Revere, where is his gravestone. The inscription on it will, with others, be given hereafter.139
With two exceptions, I have now given all the allotments, grants, or possessions of land within these old precincts of Boston, so far as I have been able to locate them.
The first was that rectangular strip of land of over six hun- dred acres, which was called the " Chelsea Pan Handle," 140 until February 22, 1841, when it was in part set off to Saugus.141 Its history, so far as I can follow it, is this: September 30,
138 See infra, Appendix 14.]
139 [This note has been placed as an appendix to this chapter, - No. 14.]
140 It is probable that [a part of] allotment number eleven to Jolin Coggeshall was in the Pan Handle. [See supra, note 97.]
141 Special Laws, viii. 193.
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1639, " Mr. Thomas Foule is allowed to be an Inhabitant." 142 January 27, 1639/40, " there is granted to Mr. Thomas Foule a great Lott of 600 Aers Att -" 143 June 24, 1650, “ It is ordered that whereas there was 600 Akers of Land grainted to M'. Thomas Foule, which Land is accepted at Rumley March by Samuell Bennett of Line, be it more or lesse as is expressed in a deed to him made by Captaine Leveritt and Mr. Hill: The Towne is freed from the said Granit, or otherwise the said Land is to returne to the Towne againe." 144
The other pareel was the possession of Richard Bellingham, which comprised nearly all of the present city of Chelsea. It has a singular and interesting history of one hundred and fifteen years, 1672-1787, of legal controversy, which will appear in the following chapters.
142 Boston Town Rec.
143 Ibid.
144 Ibid. Valentine Hill and John Leverett sold to Samuel Bennett of Lynn 600 acres (bounds not certain ) purchased of Thomas Fowle, bounded south with Keayne's farm (a creek dividing the farm and it) ; west with Charlestown; east with Lynn; and "northward to the vttermost bounds of Boston." October 1, 1649. Suff. Deeds, L. 1, f. 110. Bennett sold the same with the house called " Rumly Hall " to George Wallis, for £355. Defines " Brides brook," December 3, 1656. Ibid., L. 2, f. 310. Vide mortgage and release, ibid., L. 3, ff. 13, 14. Bennett settles on his son Samuel, in consideration of his marriage, a house and 50 acres, [also 500 acres, ] October 16, 1666. Ibid., L. 7, f. 76. Vide Bennett to Bennett, 700 acres at Rumney Marsh, 1671. (Suff. Deeds, L. 8, f. 294.) But see Cog- geshall and Cogan allotments, p. 106, and the Keayne estate, chap. xix. [For the further history of this farm, see infra, Appendix 15.]
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APPENDIX 1
[" THE great Allottments at Rumley Marsh and Pullen Point " were recorded on January 8, 1637/8; but Judge Chamberlain apparently was in error in assuming that they were made on that date, and that the allotments in January, June, October, and No- vember, 1637, preceded them. The general allotment of lands began, as stated in the text, at the creek between Chelsea and Revere, and the allotments at Pullen Point were the last made; two, - those of Thomas Buttolph (Buttall) and Ralph Hudson, - not being voted by the selectmen until January 29, 1637/8, though placed on record under date of January 8. The method of allotment adopted by the town seems clear. The General Court which met September 25, 1634, granted to Doston enlargement at Mount Wollaston and Rumney Marsh. December 18, Boston chose a committee of leading men to divide the lands of the town among the inhabitants.1 A year later, December 14, 1635, a com- mittee of five 2 was chosen to lay out by metes and bounds the farms assigned by the allotters at Rumney Marsh. Previously, on the same day, it had been voted that the poorer inhabitants and such as had no cattle were to have their allotments assigned to them from the nearer lands at Muddy River, and a committee had been appointed to lay them out. Thus it was in general the wealthy, who had servants to till their lands, and who were on that account entitled to larger allotments, to whom were assigned the more distant lands across the bay at Rumney Marsh.
On March 23, 1634/5, it was "agreed that noe Wood shalbe felled at any of the Islands, nor elsewhere, untill they bce lotted out, but att Muddy Ryver, Dorchester necke, or Noddles Island," and January 4, 1635/6, it was "agreed that hereafter from this day none shall fell any Wood or timber at Muddy Ryver, or any other place of private allottments, but upon their owne allott- ments," and that timber already felled " in any the appointed place for private allotments," should be carted away within six months or belong to the owners of the ground on which it lay. It was
1 Supra, p. 86. 2 Supra, p. 90.
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also agreed that every one should have " a sufficient way unto his allotment of ground, wherever it be."
March 14, 1635/6, it was voted that the selectmen should " from this day oversee, looke unto and sett order for all the Allottments within us, and for all Comers in unto us." Presumably they at once superseded the committee appointed in December, 1634, - later denominated the " Allotters." On June 20 an allotment at Mount Wollaston by the seleetmen appears in the record of their proceedings ; but no land was allotted by them at Rumney Marsh or Pullen Point until January, 1636/7, when allotments were made as given in the text. Then, it should be noted, William Brenton had twenty acres added to an allotment previously made, while to Mr. Gibbons' allotment was added the proviso "if it be there to be had "; at the confirmation in June, 1637, it is stated that it had been laid out. Thus the allotments at Rumney Marsh and Pullen Point were laid out by metes and bounds by the Com- mittee of December, 1635, - the Committee of December, 1634, having designated the number of acres to which each man was entitled. The laying out of the allotments was begun after May 25, 1636, as the first was assigned to Sir Henry Vane, - chosen governor on that date, - and the second, to John Winthrop, Deputy Governor. By January, 1636/7, all the lands in what is now Revere had been allotted, and some of the land in what is now Winthrop, as the selectmen's first grant was at Pullen Point Neck. Judging from the wording of the grant to Gibbons, the work of the second committee had not been completed, and all the land assigned had not been bounded.
As Rumney Marsh and Pullen Point were divided among the dwellers in Boston for farmlands, good water communication with that town was essential. The plan of allotment involved a public landing on Mill River, whence farm produce could be sent by boat through the present Mill and Chelsea Rivers, and across the har- bor. From this landing a road was laid out northward between the farms toward the Pines River. It was the eastern boundary of allotments aggregating 1101 acres lying between it and Malden (then Charlestown) bounds; it was the western boundary of some 964 acres lying between it and the seashore. The Aspinwall allotment, now known as Beachmont, a triangular piece of land surrounded on two sides by salt water creeks, did not touch the highway. The Coggeshall allotment stood at the head of the two tiers of farms, next the Pines River, and the road is not mentioned in bounding it. The road was soon deflected into School, Beach, and Mill streets, in order to avoid hill and marsh, and thus the landing place on Mill River used by the people of Rumney Marsh
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CHAP. VI]
was not on the common land, but on a private allotment, which later became the Newgate farm. This change in the trend of the road was approved in 1666 by a committee of the town of Boston appointed to settle the highways at Rumney Marsh, and the unused part of the road, as originally laid out, was assigned to the farms through which the highway then in use passed.3 At some points the original line between the two tiers of allotments, that is, the line of this road as first laid out, can apparently be traced on the atlas of 1874 in the parting line of estates, but the obtrusion of the Tuttle farm westward and the growth of a village about the church at Rumney Marsh tended to obliterate it. At Pullen Point there was a common shore beginning east of the lot of William Brenton, - near the present Main Street Bridge to Breed's Island apparently ; thence extending south and east to Fisher's Creek. From this common shore a highway ran between the lots which lay along the shore, and those which abutted on Fisher's Creek, where the town had reserved the right to erect a wier and where, therefore, free shipment of goods might be interfered with.
According to recent surveys of the town of Revere, some 3750 acres are included within its limits, while in 1637/8, the allotment of less than 2500 acres was recorded; and yet the bounds then given are so dovetailed as to make it appear that the whole region as far north as the Pines River passed into private hands. If this was true, - and no other allotments by the town appear on record, - there was an allowance of over one thousand acres for swamp and waste. Although it was customary to make some allowance, this seems excessive even for a place so permeated by streams and marshes as Rumney Marsh. Apparently dissatisfaction was ex- pressed later, as it was recorded in the town book under date of February 22, 1640/41: "That whatsoever allowance for Rockes or swampes our brother Mr. John Oliver hath formerly made, or hereafter shall make, in the allotments of the inhabitants of this towne, shall of right belong unto them, unlesse the towne shall see cause to alter any thing before they be recorded by their bounds and limits in the town's booke." John Oliver, a surveyor before he studied for the ministry, was of the committee to lay out the allot- ments at Rumney Marsh and Pullen Point by metes and bounds, and the entry immediately preceding that just quoted, had repeated the bounds of the town's grant to John Winthrop of what was later known as Point Shirley, describing it as " twoe hills, with some barren marsh adioyning there unto ... liing next to pulling poynt." In connection with a statement made by Judge Chamber-
3 Infra, Appendix 7.
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lain 4 it is, possibly, worthy of note that John Winthrop was given the land just mentioned in November, 1637, the month in which the Antinomians were disarmed.
In the same connection, it is of interest to observe that the allot- ment of land at Rumney Marsh was nearly completed before the Antinomian controversy reached its elimax. Among the committee of seven appointed by Boston in 1634 for the allotment of its lands, Coddington, Oliver, and Balstone were sympathisers with the Hutchinson party. Of the committee of 1635 to lay out the allotments at Rumney Marsh by metes and bounds, three of the five, William Hutchinson, Samuel Wilbore and John Oliver, were disarmed by order of the General Court in November, 1637, and the first named was the husband of Ann Hutchinson. Among the first landholders at Rumney Marsh were many of Mrs. Hutchinson's party; one third of the allottees were disarmed in November, 1637. It is noticeable that the leading men among the Antinomians received allotments where the allowance for waste and swamp must necessarily have been the greatest. Thus John Coggeshall was allotted land on the Pines River, from Mal- den bounds to the mouth of the river; William Brenton and Wil- liam Aspinwall, on the Mill River. A possible explanation for the growth of the farms of Robert Keayne and John Cogan is that they purchased the allotments of John Sanford, son-in-law of William and Ann Hutchinson, and of John Coggeshall, and divided them to suit their convenience. James Penn secured the Aspinwall allotment, and eventually John Newgate at least a portion of William Brenton's. Robert Keayne gave over half his estate to charitable purposes by a will signed in 1653; John Cogan gave seventy acres of marsh to Harvard College in 1652; James Penn bound his farm for the payment of ten pounds a year in perpetuity for the support of poor scholars at the College; and John Newgate, in 1640 or 1650, entailed on his farm a payment of five pounds a year to the college. No other bequests of this character were made by owners of farm land at Rumney Marsh. Many of Mrs. Hutchinson's followers left the colony; almost without exception they disposed of their holdings at Rumney Marsh. As early land transfers were seldom recorded, this in- creases the difficulty of tracing with accuracy in detail successive ownership in the farmlands there. A farm may have been in- creased by purchase; it may simply have been surveyed anew and no allowance made for waste.
The Keayne farms may be taken as an example. As recorded in
* Note 94 to chap. vi.
-
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January, 1637/8, the allotment to Robert Keayne contained 314 acres. Between it and the Newgate allotment, were the Sanford, Marshall, Matson, Gillam and Gallopp allotments, aggregating 275 aeres; that is between the Newgate lot and the Pines River 589 aeres were allotted. Later there are found north of the Newgate farm, the Keayne small farm, the Cogan small farm, and the Keayne great farm, aggregating nearly one thou- sand aeres, - an inerease of about four hundred aeres. In 1678 the Keayne great farm is described in a deed as bounded south west on the " Lands formerly mr. Coggans eomonly ealled Sanfords Lot," and, in 1730, Hugh Floyd, then owner of the Cogan small farm, gave twenty aeres thereof by deed of gift to his son Hugh deseribing it as "being a part of the Lot of Land known by the Name of Sanfords Lott." 5 Unless John New- gate sold land to Captain Keayne, the Sanford allotment of one hundred aeres beeame, apparently, the Keayne and the Cogan small farms aggregating slightly over two hundred aeres. New- gate possessed later at Rumney Marsh, a large farm of which 260 acres lay in the western tier of allotments, while the Cheever and Way-Ireland farms to the south aggregated some two hun- dred ninety aeres. Yet the Newgate land and the allotments to the south aggregated in the original grant only 512 aeres, - an inerease of nearly forty aeres. Furthermore the Tuttle farm protruded, apparently, into the western tier of allotments, absorb- ing a part of the Newgate farm. In the original allotments the Coggeshall lot of two hundred aeres lay north of the Keayne and Cogan lots and was bounded west by Charlestown (later, Malden), east by the seashore and north by Lynn ; it was purchased by John Cogan, who sold land north of the southern branch of the Pines River, and henee without the limits of the Keayne great farm, stating that it was a part of the Coggeshall grant.6 Cogan's great farm, within the eastern tier of allotments, shows almost as great an inerease in area as the Keayne farm with less possibility of inerease by purchase. Possibly Keayne and Cogan divided the Sanford and Coggeshall allotments, - Keayne giving Cogan a hundred aeres of the Sanford lot to offset any claims the latter might have within the western tier of allotments south of the Pines River, by virtue of his purchase from Coggeshall. As these early transfers were not recorded, it is impossible to reach a final con- elusion in the matter.
The evolution of the Vane allotment into the Way-Ireland and
" Suff. Deeds, L. 11, f. 203; L. 45, f. 21.
" Ibid., L. 1, f. 294.
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Cheever farms is also perplexing. In the original grant it was two hundred acres. According to the Book of Possessions, Nicho- las Parker, then its owner, possessed "a Farme of two hundred and sixty Acres at Rumney Marsh bounded with John Newgate on the north and on the east: Mr. Bellingham and the Creeke on the south: and Charlestowne bounds on the west," and also " twenty Acres of land at Rumney Marsh bounded with Samuel Cole on the east and on the north: and John Newgate on the west and on the south." Parker bought the fifty acre allotment of James Penn early in 1640; and John Newgate purchased in De- cember, 1639, the Winthrop allotment of 150 acres, which lay between the Vane and Penn allotments, as that of Penn lay between the Winthrop and Newgate allotments. Presumably Newgate and Parker made, for convenience of tillage, an exchange of lands. Parker sold George Burden 160 acres, yet when Parker's heirs sold, in 1674, the remainder of the farm, it contained 130 acres, - a total of 290 aeres, while the Vane and Penn allotments aggregated only 250 acres.
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