USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Chelsea > Documentary history of Chelsea : including the Boston precincts of Winnisimmet, Rumney Marsh, and Pullen Point, 1624-1824, vol 2 > Part 34
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1665, 1. 27. Sam'l Bennitt and John Tuttle with Capt. Hutch- inson, to goe the Rounds betwixt Boston, and Line, and Maulding.12
August 26, 1667. In respect of the death of Rumney Marsh con- stable, being unwilling to trouble the whole Towne to come to- gether, wee desire for this present remaining part of the yeare that the Inhabitants of the said place choose some fitt person, and send himc to take the oath of A Constable.13
1667, 2. 11. A raite for Rumney Marsh for £34 - 10s.
1668. A proposeall made whether the Constables of Muddy Ryver [Brookline] and Rumney Marsh shall be hereafter chosen by lifting up of handes, or puting in of papers [ballots] ; left to future consideration, as in the order fol. 15.
1668, 3. 25. Agreed with John Grover, of Rumney-Marsh, to pay for the dyet and lodginge of Eliachim Marshall, 5s., p. weeke, one half to be paid by the Towne Treasurer of Boston, beginninge, the 30th of March, last.14 1668. Rumney Marsh tax £34. 1669, March 15. Ordered, that the Constables of Muddy river & Rumny Marsh shall be chosen by liftinge up of hands, and by the next yeare before the day of publique election the selectmen appoynt the inhabitants of Muddy river & Rumny marsh, to meete to- gather and nominate Constables, & other officers proper for each place, and the present Constables bringe in theire names to the next publique meeting, on ye day of election, there to be put to vote.15
In 1669, the bounds between Boston and Charlestown, as the towns then were, and Boston and Lynn, were run on original descriptions, found in the town records.16
1669, 28. 12. . Muddy River and Rumney Marsh to be notified to meet for the nomination of officers.17
0 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., vii. 5.
10 Ibid., 12.
13 Ibid., 38.
11 Ibid., 21.
14 Ibid., 39, 43.
12 Ibid., 25.
15 Ibid., 46.
16 Ibid., 47. And see 60, 86, 91, 117, 144, 167, 192, 201, 235.
17 Ibid., 51.
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345
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS
CHAP. XXXI]
1670-1. Rates Muddy River, £14-12; Rumney Marsh, £23-12. 1671. Rmnney Marsh taxed £31-12.
1672, 6. 3. The question being, who are the proprietors of the waste land of Rumney Marsh and Muddy River, according to the order of the town, 4, 1 mno., 16-11-2, in ye old book of records, folio 59, resolved that all inhabitants that were in the town the 4th of the 3 mo., 1642, their heirs and successors, have the right, and are the sole proprietors of such lands according to the said town order.18
1673, 1. 10. Ordered, that they, Muddy River and Rumney Marsh, have libertie before ye day of Election annually, for the time to come, to meet together and make choyse of officers fit for their severall precinets, & return theire names to the publique town meeting for election, accordinge to an Ordr. 15 March, 1668-9.19
April 24, 1676. James Bill, senr., John Grover, senr., Elias Maverick, senr., and William Ireland, were appointed special sur- veyors, under order of General Court, 1674, to inspect their part of the town, to prevent excessive drinking and disorder in private houses.2º
1678, Feb. 25. At the request of James Bill, senr., in the be- half of himself and his neighbors at Pulling Point and Rumney Marsh, libertie is granted to them to erect two pounds, one at Pulling Point, and the other at Rumney Marsh, upon their own cost, where they shall judge to be most for the accommodation of both places.21
December 10. Warrant to the constable of Rumney Marsh to collect £40-14, for the countrie, and £13-11-4, for a town rate.
1679, Dec. 15. Rates of Rumney Marsh : 4 single Countrie rates and ye Towne rate, £91. 9. 4; one Rate to be paid in graine, with- out abatement, £11. 1. 4; one-half Rate to be paid in mony £5. 9.2.22
1680, Dec. 17. Rumney Marsh rate for ye countrie in money and countrie pay, £40. 6. Also a half single Countrie rate, £5. 0. 9, for the countie: Also four single countrie rates for the use of the town.23
1681. Rates for Rumney Marsh, £14. 18. 9.
1682. George Darling, of Salem, plt., contra John Darling, late of Rumney Marsh, deft., in an action of the case, for not satisfying and paying for the nurseing of a young child of the aforesaid John
18 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., vii. 68. 21 Ibid., 115. 22 Ibid., 136.
10 Ibid., 74.
20 Ibid., 101.
23 Ibid., 142.
346
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XXXI
Darling, in the years 1682, & 1683-4. Verdict for the Deft. Similar Action, 29 April, 1684.24
1683, April 24. Benjamin Muzzey, Senr., of Rumney Marsh, contra Joseph Webb, marshall of Suffolk, and Timothy Brookes, Senr., of Swanzey, in an action of the case, for that the said Brookes and Webb, the 11th of April, under color of said Webb's office, illegally and unjustly took a negro woman out of said Muzzey's house. The jury found for the defendant, costs of court allowed, nine shillings and ten pence.25
1684. Aphra, wife of John Bennett, of Rumney Marsh, on the road to Lynn, [the Bennetts owned a part of the Pan-Handle, now in Saugus, ] summoned to answer a presentment for selling strong drink, and entertaining men's servants and children, contrary to law: Said Aphra, appearing, acknowledged that within twelve months, she hath sold cider at two pence per quart, and at three pence per quart with sugar. Sentenced to pay five pounds in money, to the county, according to law.26
1685-6, February 26. Jeremiah Belchard, of Rumney Marsh, desires abatement of his last town rate, being 12s, upon considera- tion that he hath maintained Eliza Warren, daughter of his wife, and her child, some considerable time, and he promising that ye mother and child should not be any charge to ye towne, which was granted and agreed on.27
1686, April 27. James Bill, senr., of Pullen Point, sued for rent of Hutchinson's Island.28
1686, July 7. Job Chamberlain brought an action of detinue for boat against William Comer, of Rumney Marsh; and Thomas Newhall, against John Wiswall, for defamation by Hannah, his wife, Oct. 26, 1686.29
1689-90, March 21. Att the General Court, by adjournment in Charlestown, March 12, 1689/0.
The train soldiers inhabiting the lands belonging to the town of Boston, lying to the Eastward of Winnesimet Ferry, together with Noddles Island & Hog Island, are henceforth to be a distinct foot company, and are forthwith to nominate meet persons for their commission officers, and present them to this Court for their
24 County Court Records, 1680-1692, pp. 164, 177.
25 County Court Rec. At this time in Massachusetts Bay slaves were
regarded as property, subject to attachment.
26 County Court Rec.
Boston Rec. Com. Rep., vii. 182.
28 County Court Rec., 271.
29 Ibid., 300, 317.
317
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS
CHAP. XXXI]
allowance and confirmation. And the three County Troop is hereby dismissed.
In pursuance of the above order of the General Court, yon are required in their Majesties names to warn all male persons, above the age of sixteen years (inlabiting, as in said order expressed), to . appear on Monday next, the second day of June, at nine of the clock in the morning, at Left. Smith's at Winnisimet, completely armed, and there to nominate officers, as the law directs, and not to fail at their peril, for which this shall be your warrant.
Dated Boston, May 26, 1690. Elisha Hutchinson, Major .. To Mr. William Ireland, Clerk.30
Benjamin Mussey, Senr., and William Hassey, for Rumney Marsh, recite alterations in the Three County Troop, under Dud- ley, and ask for their old privileges of choosing their officers. No date.31 .
Benjamin Mussey, Sen., and Joseph Hassey,32 and others were opposed to William Green as captain. No date.33
Those not willing to serve in the Troop, commanded by William Green, to go with the foot companies in their town.34
1690. Ordered, that sixty of the four hundred soldiers, ap- pointed to be raised by order of this Court, be put under the com- mand of Capt. John Floyd, and forthwith posted at Portsmouth, in East Hampshire, for the further enforcement and strengthening of that post. To be improved against the common enemy, as they shall be ordered. Boston, June 10, 1690.35
1690, Oct. 27. A rate for the poor, and other occasions, com- mitted to the several constables of Boston, Rumney Marsh, and
30 Gen. Court Ree., vi. 128; and, Mass. Archives, xxxv. 348, and xxxVi. 80. We see the formation and disbandment of the Three County Troop, in which Suffolk, Essex, and Middlesex were interested. The Company there- after formed at Winnisimmet, was undoubtedly commanded by Capt. Jolin Smith, tenant of Gov. Bellingham's Ferry Farm.
Sewall's Diary, i. 348, probably relates to this Company: "14 Sept. 1691. Nine Companys Train, Capt. Smith of Winnesimet making one."
Capt. Smith lost one or two sons by the Indians: " 11 April, 1677. We heard of the slaughter of some persons at York by the Indians, among whom was lsaae Smith, who went thither, about boards. This is Isaae Smith, of Winnesimet." Ibid., 41.
31 Mass. Archives, xxxv. 9. .
32 Lt. Joseph llasey [a younger brother, or son ?] of Lient. William. was born May 29, 1657, and died June 28, 1707. HIe had a large family. and was a proprietor at Rumney Marsh. llis first wife. Hannah, died August 18, 1693. He married for his second, Hannah Buekman, January 12, 1694. His widow married Jolin Baneroft, of Lynn, November 18, 1708. 33 Mass. Arehives, xxxv. 10.
34 Ibid., 48.
35 Ibid., 36, 114.
348
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XXXI
Muddy River by the selectmen, for £412.4.2, Countrie pay, order- inge, if any pay inony, in lieu thereof, they shall be abated 1/3 pte. of their rates.30
Feb. 11, 1690/1. Whereas, sinee the abatement of the Small- Pox in Boston, many Persons are returned to town, out of the Country, whither they had withdrawn themselves for fear of the Contagion, and, whereas, complaint is made that the Bodies of persons dying of the Small-Pox at Rumney Marsh, are carried through the town to the South Burying Place, to the offence and hazard of many of the Inhabitants, who have not had the distemper.
Ordered, that all persons dying at Rumney Marsh, and parts adjacent, of the Small Pox, their Bodies shall be buried in some convenient plaèe, on that side of the Water, And none of them shall be brought over to Boston, under the penalty of five pounds in money, to the use of the poor of Boston, to be recovered by one or more of the Seleetmen of the Heirs, Executors, Administrators, Parents, or Masters of the deceased, any usage to the contrary notwithstanding.37
1691, June 20, rate for Bostone, Rumny Marsh, and Muddy River, £3037. 18, to be paid, either in mony, Bills of publieke eredit,38 or in graine, or provisions, at mony price, one halfe by the first of Septem. next, the other halfe by the first day of May, 1692.
Rumny Marsh rate for ye poore and other occasions of this towne, £16. 15.39
1693. Perambulators to run the bounds between Lin and Bos- ton [now Revere], Malden and Boston [now Revere and Chelsea], Reading and Boston, were Captn. James Hill, Mr. Timothy Thorn- ton, Mr. James Taylor, Capt. Bozoon Allen, Mr. William Hassy. To meet 2d Tuesday in April, at eight, A.M., with those sent from Malden, at William Ireland's house; and, at the same hour, with those from Lin, at Goodman Edmond's house, near Bride Brook; and at twelve, with Reading men, at the beginning of the line, or
36 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., vii. 204.
37 Mass. Archives, xxxvi. 388.
38 The first paper money of Massachusetts, December 10, 1690, was issued to pay the cost of the unsuccessful expedition against Canada. Its basis was the expectation of booty, which failed. There was still the vote of the Deputies to redeem these notes, when matured; but then the people were in no better condition to pay, and their representatives voted to issue more paper. The depreciation of the bills is manifest, when they are classed with grain and provisions, in the payment of taxes, whereas, money was accepted at three to one.
39 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., vii. 208, 209.
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349
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS
CHAP. XXXI]
the Three County heap [which must have been in the Panhandle, where Suffolk, Essex, and Middlesex counties then met.] That day, being stormy, and the other towns not meeting, the next Tues- day was appointed. William Ireland was added.49
1698, March 14. Rumney Marsh and Muddy River, Each to chuse an Assessor, to set with the Selectinen, for the making of their own rates. Each to make their choice on their first Train- ing Day, and when chosen, to bring them on ye Day of a Publick Town-meeting, to be confirmed by the Town.41
November 14. Inhabitants of Rumney Marsh, exempted from certain personal or poll taxes for the Watch.42
1700, May 14. Mr. Nath'l Oliver Refused to serve in the place of a Representative, upon which the town chose Capt. Bozoon Allen. 13
1701, July 18. Muddy River and Rumney Marsh notified to bring in their lists of their Polls and Estates, the first Monday of August next.44
1711, July 9. His Excely's order for Bringing in Provisions for Supply of ye Camp at Noddle's Island to be posted up at Winisimet.45
1713, Oct. 14. On motion of Constable Joseph Belcher, Voted, that upon his collecting the rates within the District of Rumney Marsh, at his completing his accounts in due season, he is to be allowed three pence on the pound for so much as he shall collect and pay in, as ye other collectors are allowed.40
1733, Oct. 16. Voted, to chuse the collector for Rumney Marsh by hand vote. Mr. Jacob Chamberlain, now constable, was chosen Collector for the District of Rumney Marsh, and to have the same allowance for collecting, as the other collectors, he giving the like security.47
1734. Scheme for [an Open Public Market] in Boston being proposed it was voted: Provided, always, Nothing herein con- tained be intended, incant, or construed, to abridge the inhabitants
40 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., vii. 214. For perambulating of town and dis- triet lines, see ibid., 19, 22, 44.
41 Ibid., vii. 229.
43 Ibid., 232.
43 Ibid., 242.
Ibid., xi. 7.
45 Ibid., 141. The British fleet under Sir Hovenden Walker, and the British troops under Hill, were then in Boston, on their disastrous ex- pedition against Canada.
40 Ibid., 194.
47 Ibid., xii. 53.
350
ILISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XXXI
of the Distriet of Rumney Marsh from buying or selling any provisions, as usual in said district.48
1735, March 10. Upon the Petition of Mrs. Abigail Chamber- lain, Widow of Jacob Chamberlain, the late Constable for Rumney Marsh, Deceased, which was read again. Voted to allow her six months from this time for the said Mrs. Abigail Chamberlain to Aeeompt with the Town Treasurer, and that the Assessors shall be allowed to make such abatements, as they shall judge proper, agreeable to the Prayer of the Petitioner.49
IN KING PHILIP'S WAR
After the repulse of the Indians in their assault on Samuel Maveriek's Palisade House, perhaps in 1628, the people at Winnisimmet, in common with those in the vicinity of Boston, were unmolested. Doubtless, however, for the common defenee, they were enrolled and trained in the military companies of Boston, to which they belonged. But geographically their military relations were with Essex and Middlesex counties, rather than with Suffolk.
Accordingly, May 26, 1658, " In answer to the petition of some of the inhabitants of Lynn & Reading, & Rumney Marsh, the Court judgeth it meet to grant them liberty to raise a troop of horse, and choose their officers, provided they be not ferry-free, nor have five shillings yearly allowed them from the country, as other troopers have." 50
Among military officers at Rumney Marsh was Elias Mav- erick, " chosen by the North Company in Boston to be their
48 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., xii. 71, 82.
49 Ibid., 98. It was a serious matter to be collector of taxes. He gave bonds, and was charged with the taxes, good, bad, or indifferent, assessed on persons and estates. He could seize property, and even the person, of the party taxed; but, if the property could not be found, or if the person did not, or could not, pay, when thrown into jail, still the collector, and his bondsmen, were liable for the taxes. The only remedy was by abatement, not in the interest of the debtor but to relieve the collector.
Jacob Chamberlain was collector in 1733, and died in 1734, when some taxes were not collected. His liability passed to his widow: not to her person, but to her and her children's interest in her deceased husband's estate. Hence the order of March 10.
50 Col. Rec., iv. pt. 1, 341. Free ferriage of military companies to and from the place of exercise, had, "on a motion, from, and with, the consent of the several troopers," been repealed a week before. Hence the exception above. Ibid., 323.
351
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS
CHAP. XXXI]
ensign," and approved by the Court, May 18, 1664; and on his petition dismissed Juno 8, 1671; but whether father or son I cannot say.51
In the Three County Troop (so named October 8, 1662, but recognized May 28, 1659, and finally dismissed, March 21, 1690), on the petition of Jonathan Poole and William Greene John Tuttle as lieutenant and William Hascy as cornet, were approved, "if circumstanced as the law provides "; and, again, May 3, 1665, when their commissions were ordered.52 May 7, 1673, Lieutenant Tuttle was dismissed from the service at his own request, and Eliakim Hutchinson appointed in his place; entry repeated October 15, 1673.53 May 27, 1674, William Hasey was appointed lieutenant, and Jonathan Poole, cornet, of the Troop.54 Edward IIntchinson was commander to October, 1674, when he resigned, and Lieutenant Hasey was in command June, 1675.55
Bodge gives the names credited under Lieutenant Hasey, October 5, 1675, of whom several were of Rumney Marsh.56.
In February, 1676, during the progress of the war ten troopers were impressed from the Three County Troop, be- sides ten Suffolk soldiers, which, with those already raised, amounted to six hundred. By order of May 5 they were to repair to Concord, by the boats, completely armed. Baggage horses were to be impressed, sustenance provided, and seventy Indians.57
August 22, 1676, was this order :
To the Constable of Winnesimmet :
These require you in his Majestys name forthwith to impress an able man and horse to post away this letter sent to you as di- rected to Major Daniel Dennisson, Esq., for the service of the Country, making your return, and not to fail.
Dated in Boston, the 22 of August, 1676. By the Council, Edward Rawson, Secy.
51 Col. Reo., iv. pt, 2, 105, 505.
Ibid., 66, 149.
03 Ibid., 558, 567.
14 Col. Rec .. v. 6.
65 Ante, vol. i. p. 231, and Bodge's Soldiers in King Philip's War, Ist ed., 37.
50 For an account of Nicholas Paige in King Philip's War, see ante., vol. i. p. 657,
07 In this war even the friendly Indians, and those with whose train- ing, religions and secular, most pains had been taken, were not wholly trusted. Palfrey's Hist. N. E., iii, 199.
352
IHISTORY OF CHELSEA
ICHAP. XXXI
June 1, 1677, Jonathan Wade was appointed captain, Cor- poral William Green, cornet, and Isaac Brooks, quartermaster, of the Three County Troop.
In the expedition to Mt. Hope, June 24, 1675, Captain Prentice took with him as guides three Chelsea Indians, two of whom were James Quanapohit, and Thomas, alias Rumney Marsh, his brother. The Naticks were divided into four com- panies. The first lived at Medfield, with James Rumney Marsh and his kindred, and numbered twenty-five, including five men. Among the dangerously wounded in this war was the daughter of that friend of the English, " Sagamore John," who died at Winnisimmet.58
A CORN MILL
In the flat country in and about Rumney Marsh, remote from waterfalls, the generating power for driving a corn mill was of first-class importance. From the carliest days Boston and Noddle's Island were supplied with windmills, and later with tide mill-ponds, the most famous of which, on the Back Bay, has been filled only in recent years, and now constitutes the most elegant part of the city. As late as 1733 the inhab- itants of Medford, Malden, Rumney Marslı, Woburn, Charles- town, and part of Lynn, depended upon "Timothy Sprague's Grist Mill, in Malden." Such is the inference from the fol- lowing petition, signed by two hundred and thirty-eight of the inhabitants of those places :
"' We the Subscribers, Inhabitants of Malden, and other Towns, adjacent, have for two summers last past been greatly damnified by reason of a certain breach, lying open in Spot pond Dam, in Stoneham and also by Stoppages in the Streams that used to supply Timothy Sprague's Gristmill, in Malden, with water in Malden, by reason of which breach and Interruptions, as aforesd : we, the Subscribers, have been great Sufferers, and do still suffer, for want of the Improvement of the benefits of the said mill, as formerly used to grind meal.
January 16th, 1732/33."
58 Bodge, Ist ed., 346, 352, 357.
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CHAP. XXXI]
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS
353
| Signed by the inhabitants of the several towns, those of Rumney Marsh being as follows : ]
John Moore,
John Tuksbury,
Stephen Kent,
John Floyd,
Thos. Pratt,
Nathan Cheever,
Win. Tuttle,
Benja. Floyd,
Robert Waitt,
Jacob Bredeen,
Nathan Sargeant,
John Leathe
Fran. Leathe,
James Hanvel ( ?)
Captn. Nathl. Oliver,
Jacob Chamberlain,
Jonathan Tuttle,
Thos. Campbell,
Isaac Lewis,
Jacob Hasy,
Isaac Lewis, Junr.
Jno. Chamberlain,
¿ Elisha Tuttle,
Edward Tuttle,
Jona. Hnse,
Nathl. Tuttle,
Saml. Breddeen,
Daniel Tuttle,
Saml. Floyd,
Samuel Pratt,
HIngh Floyd,
Wm. Sampson,
Jona. Eustis,
James Wilson,
Robert Wodburn,
Robert Livingston,
Thos. Eustis,
Samuel Tuttle,
Benja. Whittemore,
John Brintnal.
Joseph Whittemore,
Eleven years before the Rumney-Marsh people, then be- longing to Boston, appear to have sought permission to have a tide-mill of their own; for, March 12, 1721, the town ordered : " The Selectmen be Desired to goe to Rumney Marsh, and View the place proposed to Set a Corn mill upon, and report thereof, at the next meeting." 59
" 1722, May 15. On Petition of the Inhabitants of Rum- ney Marslı, for a Corn Mill; The Selectmen, by their Com- mittee, having Viewed the place petitioned for, Are of opinion, that the Petitioners have liberty to Erect a corn mill there, Provided, they, or the Undertakers of Said Mill, Indemnify the Town of Boston from any Damage Don, by Setting up damins, or any other works belonging to the mill, to any pro- priety or lands, either below, [or] at abone the place asigned for the Mill. Voted, that the Report of the Committe be accepted, and that the inhabitants haue Liberty, accord-
Boston Rec. Com. Rep., viii. 160.
VOL. II .- 23
354
HISTORY OF CHELSEA [CHAP. XXXI
ingly." 60 These proceedings, apparently fruitless until about 1735, led to the establishment of what became known as " The Mills," and later, as " Slade's Mills "; and as the mills were destroyed by fire only a few years ago,61 after having been serviccable for about one hundred and fifty years, I shall anti- cipate their later history in this connection.
It is probable from the following agreement that the mills near the Town Landing were erected by Lieutenant Thomas Pratt before 1735: " Memdm: Agreed with Saml: Watts, this 2d Day of May, 1735, to Let him have my Quarter Part of the two Griss mills, at Rumney Marsh, I abeteing twenty- two Pounds of what I have Expended on them, as P. my Acct., Given to said Watts, he paying me fourty-two Pounds, & In Six months hence, fifty-Eight Pounds more, & then to Give Bond for the Remainder, Payable in twelve months from ye then Date. As Witness my hand, the Date above written. Thomas Pratt." 62
An account of the Estate of Hon. Samuel Watts with the " Mills of Chelsea," beginning April 26, 1739, and . ending with July 15, 1762, contains items of labor on the dam and repairs of the " Mill Boat." On his death, in 1770, his half
co Boston Rec. Com. Rep., viii. 165.
61 July 18, 1885.
62 The following account found among the Watts papers, seems to refer to the above transaction.
1735, Apr. 12. S. Pratt, For assist. for the Mills, £1: 00 00
May 1, To Cash
25 00 00
Octr 30 To Ditto 15: 00 00
Decr. 12, £13: 24th. £12 - 10 25: 10 00
1737, Dec. 16, S. Pratt, in full 29: 12:08
95 :
2 8
1735, May 12. Mr. Thos. Pratt, Dr to S. Watts. To Cash for use Mills
50: 0 0
1736, Sept. To Ditto
25 :
0 0
To Ditto
50:
0 0
125
Cr., disbursed on the Mills, £221: 17: 8.
54 2 8
of which he abated, 22: 00: 00
180 2 8
199: 17: 8
Recd. of Watts, at three
payments, 125
74: 17: 8
355
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS
CHAP. XXXI]
of the " Grist Mill " was set off to William Watts, who, for £40, conveyed the same to Thomas Pratt, June 9, 1772, who thus became sole owner. 63
The following entry in Samuel Watts's Memorandmn Book indicates that the mills were in court at one time. "1766, Oct. 9. Cash to S. Floyd & S. Watts, Evidences about the mills, at Chelsea, Tending the Court, 2: 10." 61
March 9, 1780, Thomas Pratt sold one half of the Grist Mill to Samuel Clark, for £600, L.M., and 50 Spanish Milled Dollars.65 May 27, 1780, Clark sold the same to James Stowers for the same consideration.66 August 21, 1781, for £26. 13. 4, in specie, Jonathan Williams, of Chelsea, sold to Samuel Sprague, " all my right, that is, one fourth in the Grist Mill." 67 October 23, 1782, James Stowers, et al., sold part of the same, to John Buckman.68 1790, April 5, The town voted not to exempt the Grist mills in this Town from Taxes.69 1792, Dee. 20, The town voted not to purchase the mills in Chelsea for the use of the town.7º 1793, June 27, James Stowers sold to Samuel Cary, one half part of the same,71 and on the same day James Stowers sold to Joshua Cheever one quarter part of the same.72
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