USA > Massachusetts > Gazetteer of the state of Massachusetts, pt 1 > Part 26
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A number of soldiers went from Dedham into the "Spanish War" in 1740, not one of whom returned. The town was also well repre- sented at the siege of Louisburg in 1745; and at the news of the battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775, the whole military force of the
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DEERFIELD.
town repaired to the scene of action. For the war which followed Dedham furnished more than 100 men. The whole number of men raised and mustered into the military and naval service during the war of the Rebellion was 672. Forty-seven of these were lost. They have, as their memorials here, the town-hall and a handsome monument in the cemetery.
Some of the eminent men this town has given to the world are the following: General Joseph Dwight (1703-1765), a distinguished soldier and judge; Joshua Fisher, M.D. (1749-1833), an able physi- cian and naturalist; Fisher Ames, LL.D. (1758-1808), one of the most eloquent orators and profound statesmen of his age; Warren Colburn (1793-1833), a distinguished mathematician ; Samuel Foster Haven (1806), archæologist and author.
Deerfield is the oldest and one of the most fertile and beautiful towns of Franklin County. It lies on the west bank of the Connecticut River, and has Greenfield on the north, Montague and Sunderland on the east, Whately on the south, and Conway and Shelburne on the west. The assessed area is 20,183 acres; which includes 3,247 acres of woodland.
The surface of the town is beautifully varied, here spreading out into broad and verdant intervales, there rising into picturesque and rocky eminences,-as Arthur's Seat in the northwest, the Deerfield Hills in the northeast, and in the southeast the conical mass of red sandstone named "Sugar Loaf," rising grandly from the Connecticut River to the height of 500 feet. The summit of this mountain affords a splendid view of the valley of the Connecticut River and bordering villages. It is highly probable that this eminence, and Mount Toby on the opposite side, onee formed a barrier to the waters of the river, and that a large lake then spread over the allu- vial lands of Montague and Deerfield. Pocomtuck Rock, near the centre of the town, overlooking the village and the valley, is another picturesque object. The geological formation of this vicinity is the lower sandstone; and specimens of amethyst, carnelian, chalcedony, agate, stilbite and heulandite are found. In the easterly part of the town there is a trap-rock ledge of great extent.
While the broad and beautiful Connecticut River flows along the eastern border of the town, presenting scenes of remarkable richness and variety, the Deerfield River, entering the northwest corner, winds in graceful curves through the centre, and then, sweeping northward, receives the waters of Green River, and enters the Con- necticut near the northeast angle of the town. Mill River passes through the southwest section, and receives from the base of Sugar- Loaf Hill the celebrated " Bloody Brook," which, with Sugar-Loaf Brook, drains the southern slope of the town. The base line of the Trigonometrical Survey of the State, 73,882 feet in length, commences at the former brook, extending on level ground southward nearly to the great swamp in Hatfield. The Connecticut River Railroad, running parallel with the river, divides the town into nearly equal sections, and crosses the Deerfield River by a bridge 750 feet in
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GAZETTEER OF MASSACHUSETTS.
lengthi, and 90 feet above the water. There are also three other long bridges, where the Fitchburg road and a branch cross this river and the Connecticut; two carriage bridges across the same river, and several across the Deerfield River,-most of them of iron, and handsome structures. The Fitchburg Railroad follows the north bank of the Deerfield River through the town.
The principal manufactures of the town are cutlery and pocket- books; of the first of which, in 1885, the product had the value of about $125,000; and of the latter and similar goods about $85,000. There are also three mills making various lumber and boxes, one or more grain mills, and several small manufactures; the aggregate vale of all for the year named being $278,347. Farming is the leading business of the town, and in this many have become wealthy. The farms number 313; and hay, dairy products, wool, hides and meats, and tobacco are the leading products. The last, in the year mentioned, reached the value of $61,233; and cereals, $35,595. The aggregate of farm prodnets was $428,381. The valuation in 1888 was $1,235,204, with a tax-rate of $15.40 on $1,000. The population was 3,042 - voters 749, - sheltered in 637 dwelling-houses. There are fourteen public school-houses, having a value of about $10,000. The Deerfield Academy (which is also the Dickinson High School) has buildings valued at $25,000. The Dickinson Public Library has some 3,000 volumes; and the' Pocomtuek Valley Memorial Asso- ciation has upwards of 5,000, with a museum of aboriginal antiquities, in a suitable building. The churches here are a Trinitarian and a Unitarian Congregational, a Methodist Episcopal and a Roman Catholic.
The post-offices are Deerfield, and East, West and South Deer- field. Other villages bear the names of Cheapside, Great River, Green River, Hoosac, Mill and Bar Village, Mill River, Pine Nook, Sugar Loaf and Wapping. There are the usual social and civic asso- ciations.
Deerfield furnished for the grand army of the Republic in the late war 320 soldiers; and to perpetuate the memory of those who were lost, it has erected a beautiful monument of Portland sand- stone.
The Indian name of this place was Pocomtuck; and it was deeded by the Indians to John Pynchon, Esq., on the 24th of February, 1665. Four years later, the grant of the land was made by the Gen- eral Court; and the town was incorporated May 24, 1682. It was a favorite resort of the Indians; and articles of their domestic and military life are frequently discovered. "I have on my own land," says Mr. George Sheldon, "the site of an Indian village; and I can locate some of the wigwams, and also a burial-place from which I have taken up many skeletons."
The Pocomtuck tribe and the early white settlers dwelt together in peace until the opening of Philip's War in 1675, when, the fidel- ity of the Indians being suspected, they were ordered to deliver up their arms. This they promised to do; but, on the night prior to the day appointed for the delivery, they secretly fled. Captains
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DEERFIELD - DEERFIELD RIVER.
Beers and Lothrop, pursuing, made an attack August 26th, and killed 26 of them near the base of Sugar-Loaf Hill; the remainder Hled to Philip. On the first of September following, the Indians came suddenly upon Deerfield, killed one person, and burned most of the buildings. Soon afterwards, Captain Lothrop, with 84 sol- diers, called the "Flower of Essex County," guarding men and teams, went from Hadley to Deerfield to secure the grain left by the settlers in their flight. On returning, September 18th, his party was suddenly surrounded by 700 or 800 savages just as it was cross- ing Bloody Brook, at the south point of Sugar-Loaf Hill; and only seven or eight escaped to relate the story of the massacre. Captain Mosely, hearing the roar of the conflict, hurried on from Deerfield with his men as fast as possible; but the slaughter had been effected ere he reached the spot, and the Indians were engaged in mangling the bodies of the dead. He attacked them gallantly, and, after sev- eral hours of desperate fighting, caused them to retreat. The num- ber of the enemy killed was 96. A marble monument was erected over the remains of Captain Lothrop and his men in 1838.
Long a frontier settlement, this place suffered more, perhaps, than any other town from Indian outrage and ferocity. In the night of February 29, 1704, Major Hertel de Rouville, with a force of 342 French and Indians, entered the fort - which was a large enclosure, embracing the church and several dwelling-houses, and which had been left unguarded -and massacred or took captive all whom they found. The number taken prisoners was 112; and 47 persons, old and young, were slain. A flag-ship sent from Boston to Quebec, in 1706, returned with the Rev. John Williams and 56 redeemed cap- tives, among whom were four of his children. His other child, Eunice, grew up among the Indians, accepted one of them as her husband, and, with him, visited once or twice her early home in Massachusetts. From her was descended the Rev. Eleazer Wil- liams, the pretended son of Louis XVI. of France.
Deerfield has given these distinguished men to the country : Gen- eral Epaphras Hoyt (1765-1850), historian and antiquary; Edward Hitchcock, LL.D. (1793-1864), an eminent clergyman and geologist; Richard Hildreth (1807-1865), journalist and author; John Wil- liams, D.D. (1817), P. E. bishop of Connecticut; Rufus Saxton (1824), brevet brigadier-general U. S. army, 1865.
Deerfield River, a beautiful and important stream which enters the Connecticut River between Greenfield and Deerfield. It rises in the high grounds of Windham County, near Stratton, Dover and Somerset, Vermont; and, proceeding in a southeast course, it passes into Massachusetts between Monroe and Rowe, and the latter and Florida; then flows more eastward through Charlemont and Buckland, and between Conway and Greenfield, and lastly through Deerfield. Its whole length is about 50 miles. In some places it is rapid, and its banks very precipitous. Its passage through the mountains is very curi- ous and romantic. This stream affords valuable motive power,
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which is made use of at several points in the towns mentioned. Its most important tributaries are Pelham Brook and North and Green rivers, from the north, and Cold, Chickley's, Clesson's, Bear and South rivers'on the southern side.
Deer Island, in the north part of Boston Harbor, con- tains the House of Industry and the House of Reformation, institutions of the city of Boston.
Dennis is a somewhat crescent-shaped town in the midst of Barnstable County, extending from one shore to the other of Cape Cod. Its east side is a straight line to near Cape Cod Bay, on whose margin the township has an eastward projection. Brewster and Harwich bound it on that side, and Yarmouth on the west. The assessed area is 6,864 acres. This includes 870 aeres of oak and pine woods ; the latter having been extensively planted here on tracts which would otherwise have been sandy wastes.
The Old Colony Railroad has a station near the middle of the town, and one at the eastern line. The post-offices are Dennis, Dennis Port, and East, South and West Dennis. Other villages are Searsville and South Village. The scenery is diversified by several beautiful ponds, which, in all, cover an area of about 450 acres. Swan Pond, of 179 acres, is the largest, and sends a little river of the same name southward into the sea. Bass River is the largest stream on Cape Cod, and furnishes some power for manufactures. It forms the dividing line between Dennis and Yarmouth for two thirds of their territory ; while Chase-garden River, on the north, forms the line for nearly the remaining space. Scargo Hill, in the northerly part of the town, is the highest eminence in Barnstable County. It affords a magnificent prospect, extending from Minot's Ledge light to Martha's Vineyard.
The geological formation of the town is drift and alluvium; and many bowlders are strewn irregularly over the surface. The whortleberry, sweet fern (Comptonia asplenifolia), azaleas, and asclepias, with asters and golden-rod in the autumn, cover the fields. There is some very good land, especially in the northern part of the town, and fair erops of the common kinds are produced. About 400 acres are now devoted to cranberries, producing, in 1885, 6,030 barrels, worth $35,013. The number of farms is 73; and the entire farm product in that year was valued at $54,767.
In manufactures, wooden goods were made to the value of $6,535; the stone and other building materials, $30,838; metallie goods, $4,971; food products (chiefly salt), $32,979; the aggregate of manufactures being 881,809. The manufacture of salt, commeneed by Captain John Sears as early as 1776, has been extensively carried on. The water is raised by windmills from the sea, and evaporated in large vats, leaving the salt in pure white crystals. The fisheries are not pursued to their former extent, and a loss of some 400 in population, since the previous census, has been experienced from
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DEPOT VILLAGE- DIGHTON.
this cause. The town had in use, in this business, in 1885, 7 schooners, 1 sloop, 18 sail-boats, 43 dories, 16 seine boats, and 2 oyster boats. The value of the entire fish product was but $47,395. The valuation of the town in 1888 was $1,244,352, with a tax- rate of $10.99 on $1,000. The population was 2,923, of whom 855 were voters ; and the number of dwelling-houses was 694. The town is the home of 215 mariners; and of these 98 are master mariners.
Dennis has a good hall for meetings, five association libraries at the several villages, having altogether, with three Sunday-school libraries, nearly 5,000 volumes. The schools have a complete grad- ing, and are provided for in five school buildings, having an aggregate value of about $25,000. There are in the town a Con- gregationalist, a union, and two Methodist churches; also one of the Latter Day Saints. The town has 51 residents who are over 80 years, and seven who are over 90 years of age. It furnished 220 men for the army, and 150 for the navy, during the late war.
The Indian name of this place was Nobscusset. The territory was taken from Yarmouth, and was incorporated JJune 19, 1793. Its naming was in honor of its first minister, the Rev. Josiah Dennis, who was ordained pastor in 1727. He was succeeded, in 1764, by the Rev. Nathan Stone. General Nathaniel Freeman, an able speaker, jurist, physician and military commander. was born here, April 8, 1741, and died at Sandwich, September 20, 1827. He was twice married, and had 20 children.
Depot Village, in West Boylston.
Devereaux, a village in Marblehead.
Dighton lies in the central part of Bristol County, 40 miles south of Boston by the Old Colony Railroad, which runs along the Taunton River (forming the divisional line on the east) through the entire length of the town. Taunton bounds it on the north, Berkeley on the east, Somerset and Swansey on the south, and Rehoboth on the west. The assessed area is 13,023, which includes 3,797 acres of woodland. The post-offices are Dighton, North and West Dighton, and Segreganset.
Though generally level, the town has several delightful elevations, as Richmond Hill and Hunter's Hill, in the southeast. An irregular line of elevations extends from these to the centre, where is another group; and still another extends along the northern half of the western line. From the summit of one of the hills named, it is said, more than forty churches can be seen.
Three-mile River forms the line separating Dighton from Taunton at the northeast corner, where it furnishes power for the manu- factories of North Dighton village. The Sweganset River, an affluent of the Taunton River, rises in the western part of the town, flows southeasterly, and affords valuable water-power. From the Taunton River, shad, salmon and alewives are annually taken to the
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GAZETTEER OF MASSACHUSETTS.
value of several thousand dollars. The farms number 189; and their aggregate product, in the census year of 1885, was $179,182. The largest item in this amount was that of fruit and berries, the town having 13,383 fruit trees, while a large area is devoted to the cultivation of strawberries. The manufactures consist chiefly of stoves and the associated articles, paper, paints and colors, carriages, building material, food preparations, brooms, etc., -in all, twelve establishments. The aggregate value of the manufactures was $173,080. The valuation in 1888 was $745,670, with a tax-rate of $13.50 on 81,000. The population was 1,782, sheltered in 412 dwelling-houses ; and there were 452 voters.
Dighton has primary and grammar schools, occupying ten build- ings valued at about $10,000. The Smith Memorial Hall is a fine edifice, and was a gift to the Unitarians by the heirs of Alfred Smith, of Newport, R. I. There are a small association library and five Sunday-school libraries, having collectively upwards of 2,500 volumes. The town journal is "Dighton Rock," with a weekly issue and a small circulation. There are here a Baptist church, a Pedobaptist Congregational church (Unitarian), a Trinitarian Con- gregational, a Methodist Episcopal, and a Roman Catholic.
Dighton was originally a part of Taunton, and was incorporated May 30, 1812. " It was named," says William H. Whitmore, in his able essay on "The Origin of the Names of Towns in Massachusetts," "most probably in honor of Frances Digliton, wife of Richard Williams, one of the first settlers, and sister of the second wife of Governor Thomas Dudley." There is said to be no other town in the State that derives its name from a lady. The first church was organized in 1710, and reorganized in 1826. Assonet Neck, on which is situated the famous "Dighton Rock," whose inscriptions have puzzled the antiquaries of Europe and America, lies on the eastern bank of the Taunton River, in the town of Berkley, under which head a further account of the rock is given.
William Baylies, M.D., born in Uxbridge, Mass., December 5, 1743, came early to Dighton, and was a successful practitioner here. A man of rare mental endowments, he was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and a founder of the Massachusetts Medical Society. He was a member of Congress from 1805 to 1809; and died in Dighton, June 17, 1826.
Dodgeville, in Attleborough,
Dogtown, a village in Wellfleet.
Donkeyville, in Foxborough,
Dorchester, the Indian name of which was Mattapan, Was named in honor of the Rev. John White, of Dorchester, the capital of Dorset County, England. It was incor-
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DORCHESTER BAY - DOUGLAS.
porated as a town September 7, 1630 ; annexed to Boston June 4, 1869.
Dorchester Bay, a part of Boston Harbor lying be- tween South Boston and the Dor- chester District of Boston.
Dorchester Point is an old name for the southeast-
ern extremity of South Boston - the locality now called City Point.
Douglas is a large agricultural and manufacturing town, adjoining the Connecticut line about midway of Worcester County. It is 48 miles southwest of Boston by the New York and New England Railroad, which has a station at Doug- las (centre) and at East Douglas. These are also post-offices ; other villages being South and West Douglas, and Tasseltop in the southern part of the town. Oxford and Sutton are on the north, Ux- bridge on the east, Burrillville, R. I., on the south, Thompson, Conn., and Webster, Mass., on the west. There are 12,043 acres of wood- land, and 21,286 acres of assessed area.
The geological formation is felspathic gneiss ; and bowlders of almost every shape and size are liberally scattered over the surface, which is beautifully diversified by hill and valley, lake and streamlet. Good stone for building purposes is quarried quite extensively from the gneissie ledges. The most prominent elevations are Wallum Pond Hill, 778 feet high, Mount Daniel, 735 feet, and Bald Hill, 714 feet. Whitin Reservoir Pond, discharging its waters into Mumford River, covers an area of 470 acres, Bad-luck Pond 106 acres, and Wallum Pond, on the southern border, 150 acres. There are several small ponds, and another large one lies on the northern line, and is another reservoir for Mumford River. This stream takes its rise west of Douglas centre, flows through the northeastern section, af- fording fine mill-sites at East Douglas village. Rocky Brook, a lively stream, drains the southwest section of the town.
The land, especially on Mumford River, is excellent. The usual crops are cultivated, and farm products maintain their relative pro- portion. The aggregate value of the products of the 261 farms, in the last census year of 1885, was $78,451. The manufacture of axes and other edge-tools is carried on extensively at East Douglas, employing at present about 300 men. The goods of the Douglas Axe Factory are widely known and esteemed. There is also a wool- len mill here, where about 100, including both sexes, find employment. There is also some manufacture of furniture, leather goods, wooden boxes, building stone, carriages, food preparations, -in all 20 estab- lishments, whose product reaches the sum of $519,880 in the aggre- gate. The tools alone make up $381,500 of this amount. The valua- tion of the town in 1888 was $1,020,043, with a tax-rate of $13.30 on $1,000. The population was 2,205, including 497 voters, sheltered by 430 dwelling-houses.
This town has a marked character of its own, but a pleasant one.
-
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The houses are neat, and along the village streets numerous elins and maples relieve the summer heat and beautify the town. The lawn of a Congregational church here is greatly admired. Douglas has a complete system of graded schools, provided for in eleven buildings valued at about $7,000. The Douglas Free Public Library has upwards of 1,000 volumes, and is increasing.
The Congregationalists have a church at Douglas and East Doug- las, where also are one of the Methodists and one of the Roman Cath- olics. A church was organized here on November 11, 1747, and had the Rev. William Phipps for its first minister.
The number of men furnished by this town for the late war was 250, of whom 30 were lost.
Douglas was originally settled about the year 1722, by people from Sherburne (now Sherborn), and for that reason was for some time called New Sherburne. It was incorporated as a district in 1746 ; and as a town March 23, 1786. It received its present name at that time, and in honor of Dr. William Douglas, author of a History of New England, and a benefactor of the place. The centre of the town is very pleasantly situated on rising ground, near which, in olden times, the Indians built their wigwams, where also was a fort, the remains of which are visible.
An ancient tavern in this town, known as "Dudley's Hotel," once entertained General Washington.
Dover is a pleasant rural town lying in the northwest part of Norfolk County, about 14 miles southwest of Boston by the Woonsocket Division of the New York and New England Rail- road, which passes through the midst of the town. It has Needham on the north, Dedham on the east, Walpole and Medfield on the south, and Sherborn and Natick on the west. Charles River divides this town from Needham and also from Sherborn. The assessed area is 8,986 acres, including 3,016 acres of woodland, mostly oak.
The surface of the town is somewhat rocky and uneven. Snow's Hill, a little southwest of the centre, has an altitude of 449 feet. The rock is sienite and sandstone; and iron pyrites have been found. A curiosity of the town is Nimrod Rock ; another is a beautiful boiling spring near the centre of the town, which flows into Trout Brook, an affluent of Charles River; and a third is the Great Spring, near the southwest angle of the town, the source of Mill Brook, which enters the Neponset at Walpole. Reserve Pond, of 25 acres, is near the source of Noanet's Brook, which drains the eastern section of the town.
The farms are 91 in number, with the usual products ; which, in 1885, were valued at $108,672. The manufactories consist of a mill for small lumber and a paper mill. The product of these, with a few small items of other goods, was valued, for the last census year, at $40,759. The valuation of the town in 1888 was $641,985, with a tax-rate of $10 on $1,000. There were 165 voters in a population of 664 ; and the houses numbered 150.
The villages are Dover (centre) and Charles River Village. An-
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DOWNER'S LANDING - DRACUT.
other local centre is Springdale. There are four school-houses, val- ued at about $5,000. There is one church library of nearly 1,000 volumes, and three Sunday-school libraries. The churches are a Trinitarian Congregational, a Unitarian, and a Baptist.
The territory of this town was taken from Dedham, and estab- lished as the district of Dover, July 7, 1784 ; and on March 31, 1836, it was incorporated as a town. The first minister was the Rev. Ben- jamin Caryl, who was settled in 1762. He was born in Hopkinton in 1732, and died in the fiftieth year of his ministry. His library, it was said by a witty lawyer, " consisted of a Bible, a concordance, and an old jack-knife." But he was an excellent minister, and highly esteemed by his people.
Dover sent as many as 65 soldiers into the war of the Rebellion, of whom four were lost.
Downer's Landing, a village and a landing place for harbor steamers in Hingham.
Dracut is a pleasant farming and manufacturing town, form- ing the northeast corner of Middlesex County, 27 miles northwest of Boston. It has Lowell adjoining it on the south, from part of which it is separated by the Merrimack, across which at this place are several fine bridges. Metlinen bounds it on the east, Tyngsborough on the west, and Pelham, in New Hampshire, on the north. The area is about 25 square miles ; and there are 3,133 acres of woods, mostly of pine, oak and birch. The assessed area is 12,500 acres.
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