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 17
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
139
APPENDIX 3
CHAP. VI]
Way (Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 13, f. 674). Moses was the son designated to live on the farm with the widow. He owned the covenant at the North Church in Boston, April 28, 1695, and his son Samuel was baptized there on July 19. The estate of Aaron Way, inventoried September 20, 1695, by Joseph Hasey and Wil- liam Ireland, was valued at £359 12s. 6d.]
140
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VI
APPENDIX 4
[LIEUTENANT THOMAS PRATT died June 25, 1732, aged sixty- three years.1 By will 2 he gave to his son, Thomas Pratt, the house in which the son was then living with the barn belonging to the same, and the northernmost and southernmost portions of the farın, the northern boundary of the southern parcel erossing the road to Lynn a little northeast of the house. He gave to his son Samuel the remainder of the farm, that is, the eentral portion on both sides of the road. The minute provision for the widow, Mary, shows what was considered a comfortable maintenance for a farmer's wife at that day. If the widow married, she was to leave the farm and receive an annuity of twelve pounds; but dur- ing her widowhood the house in which she and her husband had dwelt 3 was to be hers, with the household stuff therein. Two eows, two geese, two turkeys, six hens, and a pig were to be kept for her on the farm both summer and winter, and there was to be delivered at the house each year one hundred pounds of beef, one hundred twenty pounds of pork, ten bushels of Indian eorn, two of rye, two of malt, six of apples, two barrels of cider, and firewood cut ready for burning. She was to receive an annuity of ten pounds in money, and was to be transported to meeting and home again as often as she desired. A similar provision was made for his widowed daughter, Elizabeth George, who might live with her mother on the farm during her widowhood. A daughter, Sarah Blanchard, and grandchildren, - Anna, Samuel, and Thomas Sargeant, - were mentioned in the will, also a sister, Abigail.
The children of Thomas (1) and Mary Pratt, as recorded at Boston, were: Elizabeth, born January 24, 1692/3; Ann, February
1 Vital Records of Malden. The will of Thomas Pratt of Rumney Marsh was dated June 9 and probated July 10, 1732. The record of his death is from his gravestone in Malden. Apparently he attended the Malden ehureh, as he contributed to the rebuilding of the meeting-house there in 1704. He signed the protest presented in February, 1709/10, to the town- meeting in Boston against the building of one at Rumney Marsh. Corey, Malden, 215; infra, ehap. xxvi.
2 Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 31, f. 41.
3 See supra, p. 134.
141
APPENDIX 4
CHAP. VI]
11, 1694/5; Sarah, August 10, 1697; Thomas, May 6, 1699; Samuel, January 27, 1703/4 (according to the Chelsea records, born January 5, 1704). The intention of marriage of " Samll. Sargent of Maulding Eliza. Prat of Boston " was filed September 21, 1714. They were married December 2, 1714. He was the brother of William Sargeant, who married her half sister, Mary Lewis, December 30, 1702. He died December 7, 1721, and his father-in-law, Thomas Pratt, served as his executor. His widow married John Tufts in 1723, and Nicholas George in 1727.5 November 9, 1714, the marriage intention of "Jonathan Howard of Maulding & Anna Pratt of R. Marsh " was filed at Boston. She died March 19, 1715/6.6 May 23, 1717, " Samll. Blanehard & Sarah Prat " were married by Rev. Thomas Cheever.7 He was of Malden. April 27, 1721, " Thomas Pratt & Mary Floyd " were married by Rev. Thomas Cheever.8 Presumably she was. the daughter of Daniel and Mary Floyd of Malden (born March 25, 1699), and hence granddaughter of Captain John Floyd of the Cogan farm. She died October 14, 1775, in the seventy-seventh year of her age. Lieutenant Thomas Pratt died March 24, 1780, in the eightieth year of his age.9 October 19, 1725, the marriage intention of "Samuel Pratt of Boston & Rebeeea Brooks of Medford " was filed in Boston.10 He died May 14, 1754, aged fifty 11; his widow Rebeeea in May, 1775, aged seventy.12
The inventory of the estate of Samuel (2) Pratt, the younger son of Thomas Pratt who died in 1732, taken by Edmund Dix, Sam- uel Sprague, and Ezra Green June 28, 1754, shows evidence of prosperity. In it are mentioned a wateh, a wig, silver shoe and knee buekles, a eloek, a desk, oval tables, ehairs with earved baeks, a carriage (" Chair"), three negroes and two pews in the Chelsea meeting-house. He possessed one hundred and six, or, as it appears at the division, one hundred and four acres of land in Chelsea and Malden. There was standing on this farm the " old Mansion House " valued at £66 : 13 : 4 in hard money, the house in which his eldest son Samuel lived, valued at £100, a barn, a tan house and yard, and a shoe maker's shop. The land lay on both sides
4 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., xxviii. 94.
5 Wyman, 846.
6 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., xxviii. 94; Malden Vital Records.
7 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., xxviii. 69.
8 Ibid., 102.
9 Gravestones at Rovere.
10 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., xxviii. 162.
11 Gravestone in Revere.
12 Chelsea Church Records.
142
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VI
of the road to Lynn. The " mansion house " and the barn were divided between the widow, Rebecca, and the second son, Ebenezer ; Samuel, the eldest son, received the other house and the tan yard ; Ebenezer the shoe shop. The youngest son, Caleb, was given six aeres in Malden. The residue of the land was divided between the widow, Samuel and Ebenezer.13 At the division of the widow's thirds, in 1779, two daughters are mentioned, Rebecca (according to the Boston records, born March 2, 1732) and Abigail (ac- cording to the Chelsea records, born in 1747). Caleb Pratt received his mother's share of the dwelling-house.14
.
Samuel (3), son of Samuel and Rebekah Pratt, was born Septem- ber 22, 1726.15 He married Elizabeth Wayte of Malden, January 1, 1752.16 Their children were Samuel, born 1753, the 25th day of the 11th month [sic]; died 1753-10-3; Samuel, born 1754-13-2; Elizabeth, 1756-22-3; Abigail, 1759-18-5; Rebecca, 1762-10-1; Thomas Wait, 1764-19-5; Isaae, 1766-22-8; Ebenezer, 1769; Rachel, 1771.17 According to the gravestones at Revere, Lieuten- ant Samuel Pratt died March 1, 1773, aged forty-six, and his wife Elizabeth, Nov. 13, 1784, aged fifty-six. The widow Elizabeth Pratt was administratrix of her husband's estate until her death.18 She sold two acres, the " Bog meadow," to the widow Mary Pratt, and 61/2 acres in the upper field to Daniel Pratt.19 April 12, 1785, Samuel (4) Pratt, of Chelsea, Tanner, was appointed ad- ministrator of the estate of his father, Samuel (3) ; and Joshua Cheever of Chelsea was appointed guardian of Ebenezer (4), Isaac (4), and Rachel (4). March 11, 1788, an inventory of the estate was presented. There was then a dwelling-house, a barn, a " Leather house " near the dwelling-house, a "Tan house, beam house, tan yard, tan vatts, pitts & Mill "; two acres sixty-one poles adjoining the dwelling and barn; seven and one half acres in the tan yard pasture, so ealled, adjoining the tan house; five acres sixty-nine poles of salt marsh and black grass land adjoining the aforesaid tan yard to the east; fourteen and one half aeres behind the hill, adjoining to land of Mr. Daniel Pratt; eleven acres of what had been originally the Tuttle farm; and four acres of wood- land in Malden. In the family settlement, this land became the property of the eldest son, Samuel, the administrator above men-
13 Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 49, ff. 438, 523; L. 50, ff. 646, 693.
14 Ibid., L. 78, f. 111.
15 Boston Records.
16 Vital Records of Malden.
17 Chelsea Rec .; Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 82, ff. 115-123.
18 Suff. Probate Rec., L. 73, f. 488; L. 82, ff. 115-123.
19 Suff. Deeds, L. 140, ff. 98, 99.
143
APPENDIX 4
CHAP. VI]
tioned.2º In the direet tax of 1798, the house is described as very old, two stories high, with 17 windows; it eovered 1080 feet. The shop eovered 144 feet, was one story, had one window; the barn was 36 × 30; the tan house, 20 X 161; the " Beam House," 12 × 18. The house lot with the land adjoining was 14 acres; the land on the west side of the road 16 aeres.
June 24, 1781, Samuel Pratt, (4) third of the name, married Mary Field, a widow. Their children, as recorded at Chelsea, were : Samuel, born 1782, the 16th day of the 5th month; Polly, born 1784-24-4 (married May 19, 1803, Benjamin Watts) ; Betsey, born 1786-2-4 (married September 28, 1806, Joseph Ridler of Boston) ; Henry, born 1788-24-5; Edward, 1791-23-1; Barna- bas Turner, 1793-17-9; Isaac, 1796-25-3; Samuel, 1799-7-9.
The division of the estate of Samuel (4) Pratt among his heirs, in 1852, is in the Suffolk Probate Records.21 The plan which aceompanied this division, aeeording to a survey by Jaeob Puring- ton, is in the Suffolk Probate Files. The house is marked on the plan; also infra, on the map of Chelsea, showing the location of the Bellingham estates. It was on Washington Avenue, a little southeast of Cook Avenue.
" Ebenezer (3) son of Samuel (2) and Rebekah Pratt," was born Mareh 13, 1729; 22 and died in April, 1767, aged 37.23 Among the papers on file in the basement of the Boston City Hall is a petition for relief, dated June 22, 1767, from Mary, widow of Ebenezer Pratt; also a Committee's report thereon, of March 10, 1768; also a lease. It there appears that Ebenezer Pratt moved to Deer Island in 1758 as an undertenant of Thomas Goldthwait, Esq .; that on April 16, 1766, he, with his brother, "Samuel Pratt of Chelsea Gentleman," took a lease of the island from Boston for seven years at £40 a year; but that he died in the spring of 1767, leaving a widow and "five small children." Ae- cording to her aeeount they had not prospered on the island. The return of the family to Chelsea is thus chronieled: "The widow Mary Pratt & 5 Children Vizt Thos Eben" John Sam1 & Mary Came into this Town Sometime in the month of Novembr 1767 they Came Last from Deer Island wch belongs to boston." 24 July 7, 1768, the " widow Mary Pratt" was approved as a " Retailer." Four children to Mary and Ebenezer (3) Pratt appear on the town records of Chelsea: Thomas (4) born, 1753 3d day 10th
20 Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 87, f. 143; Files, No. 23470.
21 L. 151, f. 70.
22 Boston Records.
23 Chelsea Church Records.
24 Records of Chelsea Selectmen, i. 191.
144
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VI
month; died in October, 1769, aged 17 [sic] 25; Ebenezer, born 1755-21-[ ]; died 1768-10-[5]; John, born 1756-15-9; Saml. Ilutton, born 1759-13-[1]; baptized January 14, 1759; also on the Boston records Mary, born September 12, 1761; bap- tized at Chelsea, September 20, 1761. Presumably she married, May 31, 1781, John Butman (later called Captain John Butman) and, as the widow Mary Butman, was living in 1798 on the farm in Chelsea, in a one-story house that covered 400 square feet and had seven windows. She owned twenty perches of land, which bounded cast on the town road (now Washington Avenue), and south, west, and north on Samuel Hutton Pratt, her brother. Land and house were valued at $165.26
March 20, 1770, the widow Mary Pratt sold some fifteen aeres of the farm in Chelsea to Daniel and Caleb Pratt, seven and one fourth aeres to cach, - the land lying between Thomas Pratt on the north and, Samuel Pratt on the south, and between the "Country road " on the east and the widow Rebeckah Pratt on the west.27 Samuel Hutton Pratt, as administrator of his father's estate, presented, January 8, 1792, an inventory of the real estate as apprized by Daniel Pratt and John Sale, April 23, 1788.28 It included the west half of a dwelling-house, the north half of the barn, and a fourth of an acre about them; about fifteen acres, in several parcels, east of the road ; four and one half acres west of the road; also "one Small Tenement House," obviously the house occupied by Mary Butman when the direct tax of 1798 was assessed. Samuel Hutton Pratt owned, according to that tax list, all his father's estate except this small house, and some addi- tional land west of the road. The lands were under improve- ment by Caleb Pratt, Jr. April 17, 1827, Hannah Hunt, widow (formerly widow of Samuel H. Pratt), Mary Butman, widow, and John Pratt, mariner, all of Charleston, South Carolina, conveyed five acres west of the road with buildings thereon, fifteen acres east of the road, also one fourth of an acre east of the road " with half an Old dwelling house thereon " to Christopher Arnold Brown of Boston.29 The half of the old house was purchased by Thomas B. (4) Pratt, son of Caleb (3) Pratt, in 1835; 30 the other lands were bought by Patrick Carberry.31
25 Chelsea Church Records.
26 Direct Tax of 1798.
27 Suff. Deeds, L. 116, f. 267.
28 Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 92, f. 13.
29 Suff. Deeds, L. 318, f. 21.
30 Ibid., L. 405, f. 235; seealso L. 380, f. 98.
31 Ibid., L. 373, f. 213; L. 381, f. 18.
145
APPENDIX 4
CHAP. VI]
Caleb (3) Pratt, son of Samuel (2) and Rebeckah Pratt, was born, according to the Chelsea town records, in 1738, the 16th day of the 7th [?] month; died April 14, 1804, aged sixty-six. In 1729, when his mother's third of his father's estate was divided, he received half of his father's house and barn; five and one fourth acres, on which the buildings stood; three acres on Pigeon Hill; and three acres thirteen poles of salt marsh.32 He was taxed for these lands in 1798. They appear, with certain lands in Malden and Lynn, in the inventory of his estate. By will, dated July 22, 1801, and probated, April 30, 1804, he gave his wife the use thereof for life. After her death they were to be divided among his children.33 May 26, 1762, Caleb (3) Pratt married Mary Sprague.34 She died 1829-1st day-11th month.35 Their children, as recorded on the town records, were: Caleb born [March 1] 1763; William, 1764, 12th day 1st month; Nathan, 1768 ; Samuel, 1772; Thomas Brooks, 1774; Mary, 1777 (died 1793 20th day [11]th month; Lois born 1779 10th day 8th month (married February 6, 1803, Joseph Stowers ) ; 36 also Becca, who died in April, 1788, aged six.36 Thomas B. (4) Pratt purchased the rights of Samuel (4) Pratt, Joseph and Rebecca Stowers, and the children of William (4) Pratt, and thus became the owner in 1830 of four fifths of his father's estate.37 He and his brother, Caleb (4) Pratt, divided the property, - the latter receiving as his one fifth the east half of the dwelling-house, - and a small lot of land adjoining. Thomas Brooks Pratt, as has been shown, had purchased the half formerly owned by Samuel Hutton Pratt. Caleb (4) Pratt, Jr., married Mary Ingraham Dec. 25, 1794, and was living in this house as tenant of Samuel Hutton Pratt, when the direct tax of 1798 was assessed. Five children are accredited to him on the Chelsea records : Polly, born 1797-3d day-7th month; Elizabeth, 1799-3-7; both bap- tized Aug. 11, 1799; Nehemiah, born 1802-2-7, baptized Aug. 22, 1802; Josiah, born 1804-29-5, baptized Aug. 19, 1804; Caleb Ingraham, born 1808-5-4, baptized June 5, 1808.
In 1850, the heirs of Caleb (4) Pratt, second of the name, quit- claimed to Josiah (5) Pratt, the east half of the house and three fourths of an acre adjoining thereto, stating that it was one fifth of the estate of his grandfather, Caleb (3) Pratt, as agreed upon by
32 Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 78, f. 111.
33 Ibid., L. 102, ff. 200, 222.
34 Church Records.
35 Town Records.
36 Church Records.
37 Suff. Deeds, L. 366, ff. 296-298.
VOL. I .- 10
146
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VI
his father, Caleb Pratt, and Thomas B. Pratt.38 Thus when Jacob Purington surveyed the estate of Samuel (4) Pratt, third of the name, the mansion house of Samuel (2) Pratt, first of the name, was owned by Thomas B. (4) Pratt and Josiah (5) Pratt, and by means of this plan can be unquestionably identified as the ancient "Pratt House" still standing (1906) nearly opposite Kimball Road on Washington Avenue.
The will of Lieutenant Thomas (2) Pratt, son of the Thomas Pratt who died in 1732, was dated March 14, and proven April 7, 1780. Three sons were mentioned, - Daniel, "the eldest "; John, " the second," and Joseph, " the youngest." Daniel was the residuary legatee. Of the real estate Joseph received the house in which he was then living, with the land adjoining, a sheep pasture, etc .; and John Pratt a wood-lot in Malden and half a pew in the Chelsea meeting-house. A granddaughter, Mary Oliver, was mentioned.39 The children of Thomas (2) and Mary Pratt as recorded at Chelsea werc: Thomas, born in 1722, the 9th day of the 3d month; Daniel, 1724-17-2; Benjamin, 1725-20-5; John, 1727-26-3; Edward, 1728-22-10; all the foregoing were bap- tizd by Rev. Thomas Cheever, June 9, 1734; Mary, born 1736- 30-3, baptized April 11, 1736 (married July 25, 1771, William Oliver, brother of Joseph Oliver who married Abigail Brintnall) ; Joseph, born 1737-26-8, baptized Aug. 28, 1737. Lieutenant Thomas (2) Pratt was one of the leading citizens of Chelsea. With the exception of the years 1744, 1749, and 1750, he served as selectman from the incorporation of the town in 1739 until 1754, when on May 20 Samuel Floyd was elected in the place of Lieutenant Thomas Pratt, removed out of town. In 1762 the name of Lieutenant Thomas Pratt again appears among the select- men ; he lies buried in the graveyard at Revere. He represented the town in the General Court 1745-1748, 1766, 1771, 1772. He was also chosen " Committee-man " to the Convention which met at Faneuil Hall, September 22, 1768, was a member of commit- tees in 1768 and 1770 to ask of the General Court relief from over-taxation, and of the Committee of Correspondence in 1775.
April 28, 1785, Joseph and Elizabeth Pratt conveyed to Daniel Pratt 15 acres west of the road to Lynn with a dwelling-house and barn thereon; 131/2 acres E. and N.E. of that road, with the road to Chelsea mecting-house to the S.E. and S., Joshua Cheever E. and Yeamans' heirs N. ; also five acres of salt marsh in what was formerly the great Cogan farm. He reserved to his son Joseph
38 Suff. Deeds, L. 611, f. 254.
8º Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 79, ff. 154, 155.
-
147
APPENDIX 4
CHAP. VI]
Pratt, Jr., " his Blacksmith's shop that is now standing " on the said second parcel of land. Daniel Pratt must give twenty days notice when he wished it removed.40 The witnesses were Ben- jamin and Edward Pratt. According to the Chelsea records, Joseph and Elizabeth Pratt had but one child, Joseph, born in 1757 -the 20th day-9th month. Presumably this was the Joseph Pratt who married Betheny Payne, Feb. 27, 1783, and had five children recorded at Chelsea between 1784 and 1791. There are recorded at Chelsea six children of John Pratt by wife Susanna between 1754 and 1764 and a daughter Mary of Benjamin Pratt by wife Mary in 1752. Presumably they were sons of Thomas (2) Pratt who died in 1780.
According to the direct tax of 1798, Daniel '(3) Pratt, son of Lieutenant Thomas (2) Pratt, owned the northernmost and the southernmost portions of the old Way-Ireland Farm. Thirty- eight acres were bounded south by Samuel Pratt, west by Malden line, north by Nailer Hatch and land occupied by William Eustace (the Newgate-Shrimpton farm), east by Joshua Cheever, "the Road Running through sd Farm." The house covered 612 feet, was of two stories, had thirteen windows, and was described as " Pretty Old," an unusual circumstance, as most of the houses in Chelsea were described as " verry old." The barn was 45 by 18. This land and house with a lot of salt marsh on Ware Creek, in what is now Revere, was occupied by his son, Daniel (4) Pratt, Jr. By his will, dated April 7, 1790, and probated February 21, 1803, Daniel Pratt gave this land to his son Daniel, stating that it was the estate which he bought of his brother Joseph. Daniel Pratt, Jr., married Abigail Wilcott, Nov. 21, 1782, and had ten children born in Chelsea between 1784 and 1801.
According to the direct tax of 1798 forty acres of the estate of Daniel Pratt, Sr. lay in the southern portion of the Way-Ireland farm; and were bounded on the south by Samuel Danforth and Moses Collins (the Center Farm of the Bellingham estate), on the west by Malden, on the north by Samuel Pratt; "the town Road Running through sd Farm." He also owned twenty-six acres of upland and dyke marsh bounded south and west by the creek and Samuel H. Pratt; north by the town road and William Cheever ; also five acres of salt marsh near Cherry Island in what is now Revere. This land was in the improvement of two sons of Daniel Pratt, Edward, and Caleb. The house on the farm covered 1178 feet, was of two stories, had 17 windows, and was described as " Verry old." The shed covered 408 ft., the barn was 50 X 30 ft.
40 Suff. Deeds, L. 149, f. 66.
148
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
ICHAP. VI
and the cyder mill 34 X 20 ft. Daniel Pratt himself lived in this house. By his will, probated February 21, 1803, he gave his wife the use of the west end of his dwelling-house with proper inainte- nance, and mentioned his daughters Mary Hall and Sally Pratt, granddaughter Sally Stuart, grandson Aaron Hall. All his real estate which was not bequeathed to his son Daniel, as mentioned above, was left to his sons Edward (4) and Caleb (4). This land, as appears in the inventory, was ninety-two aeres of the old Way- Ireland farm, with the marsh near Cherry Island and some wood- lots in Malden.41
The children of Daniel (3) and Mary Pratt as recorded at Chel- sea were: Anne born 1753-26th day-1st month; married Samuel Stuart, March 12, 1771; Mary, born 1755-20-9, married Aaron Hall, May 11, 1780; Sarah, born 1758-25-[ ], died Aug. 20, 1799, aged 41; 42 Daniel, born 1760-28-8; Edward, 1762-12-7, Caleb, 1764-16-7. Daniel (3) Pratt died January 26, 1803, aged seventy-nine, and the widow Mary Pratt, Mareh 9, 1818, aged eighty-seven.43 She was the daughter of Captain Caleb Brooks.44
In 1806, Edward (4) and Caleb (4) Pratt divided the estate which they inherited from their father, Daniel (3). The division line of the homestead lands was a straight line passing from a little below "Sargeant's Spring" to the upper end of the old barn. Caleb's land lay north, and Edward's south of this line. Edward received the half of the house to the east of the middle of the chimneys. From the chimneys the line passed through the middle of the shed door to the hill formerly of Samuel Pratt. The land of Caleb Pratt was deseribed in 1806 as bounding east on Samuel H. Pratt; north on Samuel Pratt; west on the heirs of Captain David Sargeant; Caleb also received thirteen aeres "lying in the meadow " bounding south, west, and south on Samuel H. Pratt to the town road, on the road to the bridge, " takeing in the Iron Spring Pasture," then on the willow fence, etc., to the creek; also the Peaen Orchard, bounding south on Powder Horn Hill owned by William Hall; west on the town road and east on the " old orchard." 45 The site of the house is given on a plan 46 of this estate in 1839, by John Sargent. Undoubtedly this was formerly the home of Lieutenant Thomas (2) Pratt (1699- 1780). The deed from Caleb (4) to Edward (4) Pratt was lost,
41 Suff. Prob. Rec. L. 101, ff. 106, 247.
42 Gravestone at Revere.
43 Church Records; according to the town records she died March 8.
4 Walter K. Watkins in Chelsea Gazette, July 24, 1897.
45 Suff. Deeds, L. 259, f. 269.
46 Ibid., L. 451, f. 143.
.
149
APPENDIX 4
CHAP. VI]
and a new conveyance was exccuted by Caleb to Edward's children after his death. According to this Edward possessed twenty-two acres south of Caleb, including the old barn and the east half of the house. This land was bounded east on the town road (Wash- ington Avenue), south on Thomas Furber (the Center Farm of the Bellingham estate), and west on William Whittcmore and Ebenezer Nickols. He also possessed the " old orchard " of four acres east of Caleb's peach orchard, with Thomas Furber south, and the town road north; also about three fourths of an acre on the upper side of the road, lying between the road and the widow Mary Butman's hill; also fourteen acres in the dyked marsh, bounded south and west by Mill Creek to a cross ditch, thence by the " willow fence" to the " sheep pasture bridge on the town road " (evidently the same bridge mentioned in bounding Caleb's meadow) ; north by the town road, and east by Thomas Pratt.47 As these lands adjoined those of Caleb Pratt, they can be located by comparing the plan of Caleb Pratt's estate in 1839 with the maps in Hopkins' Atlas. The house stood west of Washington Avenue, ncar Fremont Avenue. 48 The Way-Ireland farm, which had within its limits in Chelsea one house in 1691 and, if the tax list of 1798 may be trusted, but five houses in 1798, has become the modern Prattville.]
47 Suff. Deeds, L. 259, f. 70; see also Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 115, f. 334, etc.
48 Infra, plan of Chelsea showing the location of the Bellingham farms.
150
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VI
APPENDIX 5
JONATHAN PARKER et als. to " To all People to whome this
THOMAS SAVAGE.1 present writcing shall come Jona- than Parker of the sitty of London in the kingdomc of England Gent: Arther Mason of Boston in New England Biscake baker & Joannah his wife: William Dauice of the Island of Barbados merchant & Mary his wife send greeting Whereas Nicholas Parker Gent by his last Will and Testament did giue & bequeath his farme or messuage lyeing & being in Rumly marsh in New England being then in the tenure & occupacon of Samuell Dauice : 2 unto his sone Capt. Nicholas Parker: & Whereas the sd Capt. Nicholas Vide NICHTº PARKERS Will in the 244th page of ye 2ª Booke of Wills. Parker in & by his last Will & Testament. bearing Date the seauenth day of August one thousand six hundred sixty & Eight did giue the aboue så ffarme or messuage with an house orchard & all other appurtenances thercunto belonging unto his Brother the sd Jonathan Parker if the sd Jonathan should dye
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.