USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 12
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The Farlow house (1831) near the Marion Tavern at the Centre, was the old house of Simon Thompson about 1730; the Gleason house, the N. Cutler, Jr., the Jonathan Bell, and the sev- eral Simonds houses of seventy years ago, all represented estates of a former day. Any one who has lived in Burlington-beautiful for its situation-can recall perhaps many more of these old relics, silent in the atmosphere of a quiet, conservative, non-mercantile community, where, as one descendant of the town has expressed it, "It is like Sunday all the time." Houses such as these have witnessed the birth, life, and death of many human individuals, and such structures in the time of their old age offer suggestive reflections on their past history. "As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more." Job vii, 9-10.
BRIGHTON
Brighton, which was incorporated as a town on February 24, 1807, was merged into the city of Boston, by an act of annexation, May 21, 1873, and on January 5, 1874, its connection with Middlesex county was severed, and its union with Boston was consummated. The town
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was originally a part of Cambridge, and bore unofficially the name of "Little Cambridge." Older names employed to designate the place were "South Cambridge", "South Side", "Third Parish", "Third Precinct", "Southerly Part of First Parish", and the "Inhabitants on the South Side of the River." The church established was called "The Third Church of Christ in Cambridge", the others being the First at Old Cambridge; and the Second at West Cam- bridge, now Arlington.
To give an idea of its origin a few facts are stated. Permission was first given to the in- habitants to worship by themselves during the inclement season of the year, and this they did in a deserted private house. The first meeting-house was erected at their own expense in 1744.
In 1774 the people gave this history of themselves in a petition to the General Court. They had for a long time labored under many disadvantages regarding religious privileges, and for about forty years past had maintained preaching. "It being impracticable when the tides were high, and the snow and ice lodged in the causeway leading to the town of Cambridge, to pass and repass." They bought the house they met in, and ten years afterward built a meeting- house. In 1779 they were incorporated as a separate precinct. It was not until 1784 that they were able to afford a settled minister. The famous cattle-market of this town began with the Revolutionary War, with the demand for supplying the army with beef. With the an- nexation of this town to Boston, its existence in this county ended.
Authorities: J. P. C. Winship has issued two volumes (a third being in press) entitled: " Historical Brighton, an Illustrated History of Brighton and Its Citizens", 1899-1902.
ARLINGTON
Arlington was formerly the westerly or Second Parish of the town of Cambridge. In an- cient times the tract of territory was called Menotomy; this name, supposed to be of Indian origin, was also that of a river, now a stream called the Alewife Brook. This stream formed the boundary between the old First and Second Parishes in Cambridge. This part of Cam- bridge was opened to settlement as early as 1635. Dwelling-houses in this part were erected to a considerable extent from 1642 to the year 1700. In the lot reserved for a burying-place there are supposed to be no interments before 1732, and few if any until 1736, the date of the earliest gravestones. The people of this part of Cambridge as early as 1703 found it necessary for their proper accommodation on Sabbath days to erect a shed, or "conveniency," near the meeting-house and against the college fence, "for the standing of their horses" on those days; and, therefore, in 1725, the people on the Arlington or westerly side of Menotomy river, desiring better accommodation for public worship, petitioned the town to consent that they and their estates might become a separate precinct. The first attempt meeting with refusal, the request was renewed in 1728, and granted in 1732, when the General Court ordered that the section be set off as a distinct precinct. The precinct has already a school-house, erected as early as 1693. In 1733 several inhabitants of the adjacent part of Charlestown entered into an agree- ment to assist in building the precinct meeting-house and for supporting preaching. In 1734 the meeting-house was built. It stood as a house of worship just seventy years. It was open- ed and consecrated in 1735. A church was formed in 1739, and the first minister ordained. In 1762 the precinct with certain inhabitants of Charlestown was incorporated as a district by the name of Menotomy.
During the action known as the battle of the 19th of April, 1775, more men fell in this district, then generally known as Menotomy, than were slain in any other part of the engage- ment on that day. Everybody knows the part played by Concord and Lexington and Cam- bridge, but fewer persons are probably so familiar with the subject as to know that the Brit- ish passed three times through this village on their way to and from their retreat from Concord.
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It was on the retreat that the most mischief was done. The time was about five o'clock in the afternoon. There was a sharp engagement at Jason Russell's house; another on Menotomy Plain below the spot towards Boston, on which then stood the village meeting-house. All through the town the firing on both sides was brisk, and the British, galled by their losses, killed 'all they could find in houses on the line of march, whence they had been fired upon. The de- struction of property also was considerable. The meeting-house and school-house were dam- aged. Houses were plundered and set on fire. Bullets were shot into them, with no consid- eration for the safety of the inmates. Quarters were so close on both sides that much execu- tion was done with the bayonet.
After the Revolution the parish was feeble, but a factory built about 1799 for making cotton and woolen cards originating with the invention of a machine by one of the citizens, created more prosperity for the precinct. A new meeting-house was built in 1804 and dedi- cated in 1805, and the parish was incorporated as a town by the name of West Cambridge, February 27, 1807. The name was changed to that of Arlington by act of legislature, April 13, 1867.
The part of Charlestown which had been hitherto a portion of the district of Menotomy was annexed to West Cambridge, or Arlington, in 1842. Market-gardening and fruit-farming became general in this town after 1820, and holds its own even now. The town after 1840 also became famous for ice-cutting, a product even more valuable than that of the best lands adjacent. For many years much of the land continued in the ownership of the same families, the generations succeeding each other being agriculturists, but in recent years, from the near- ness of the town to Boston, the farms have been for the most part cut up into house lots, and the community has become residential.
In 1848 a granite monument nineteen feet in height was erected by citizens over the grave of the Revolutionary victims of April 19, 1775. It is a conspicuous object in the old burying- ground. It was placed over the common grave of twelve men, three of them inhabitants of the precinct, who were killed by the British troops in the limits of this town, on that never-to- be-forgotten day.
Authorities: Cutter, B., and W. R., "History of the Town of Arlington", 1880. W. R. Cutter wrote the "Sketch of Arlington" in Drake, 1880, and J. P. Parmenter, in Hurd, 1890, the latter being a sketch of considerable length. Parker, Charles S., "Arlington, Past and Present", 1907.
For a town which has experienced so many modern changes, Arlington has still left a num- ber of structures of the ancient days, but the number has been greatly lessened during the past . fifty years.
Jonathan Whittemore, who owned the Jonathan Whittemore house, was a son of Samuel (2) Whittemore, and married Rebecca Munroe of Lexington, in 1795. He was selectman of Cambridge in 1806 and 1807, precinct committeeman in 1806 and '07, and precinct assessor in 1802. The owner of the Josiah Whittemore house was also a son of Samuel (2) Whittemore, and married Olive Winship of Lexington. Major Josiah died in 1836. The house of Solomon Bowman, on Massachusetts avenue, built as early as 1756, was plundered and set on fire by the British, April 19, 1775. Solomon Bowman was lieutenant of Captain Benjamin Locke's com- pany of Menotomy minute-men. Here the family of Amos Whittemore, the inventor, lived for a long time. The house of Stephen Blake was formerly that of Mrs. Fidelity Blackman, and was sold to Lemuel Blanchard in 1778. The owner of the Edward Russell house was a son of Seth Russell, who was made prisoner by the British, April 19, 1775. He was exchanged with his fellow townsman Samuel Frost, June 6, 1775. The house of David Hill, on corner of Walnut street, was built in 1800. David Hill married Betsey Adams in 1799.
The house where the public library was first started in 1837, stands on Massachusetts ave-
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nue, near the Boston and Maine railroad. It was also the home of the first librarian, Jonathan Marsh Dexter. The old John Fowle house is now on the John P. Squire estate. The house on Massachusetts avenue, owned by the Rebecca Whittemore and Fowle estates, was built by John Davis in 1806. The house of Deacon Ephraim Cutter, at corner of Massachusetts avenue and Water streets, was built in 1804 or '05. The house of Stephen Cutter was formerly that of a John Cutter, whose death occurred in 1797. The barn of Rev. Samuel Cooke, now on Schouler Court. The L of the Locke house on Massachusetts avenue was formerly a part of Deacon Joseph Adams' house, of Revolutionary experience. The Isaac Warren house, now standing on Chestnut street, was removed from another site. It was the house of an Isaac Cutter family, before 1793. The house formerly known as the Charles O. Gage homestead, on Pleasant street, was the original frame of the old parish meeting-house. It was removed to its present site in 1840. The house of Jason Russell, where a severe conflict occurred on April 19, 1775, be- tween the British troops and the New England militia, is still standing near its original site. Here more men were killed on that day than were killed in any other part of the battle of Lex- ington and Concord.
The Francis Locke house, at the corner of Massachusetts avenue and Forest street, was erected about 1720, by the first of the family name here. Samuel Locke, son of Francis, and father of Captain Benjamin Locke and Lieutenant Samuel Locke, Jr., was living in this house when the British marched by on the early morning of April 19, 1775. Six generations of the Locke family resided in this house, which passed out of the family name about 1890. The Cap- tain Benjamin Locke house was built about 1760, on land adjoining his father's estate. Cap- tain Locke was the eldest son of Samuel Locke. A store was kept in the western part of this house, which has since had a story added. William and Benjamin, sons of Captain Benjamin, later occupied the same premises and kept a store together. Captain Benjamin Locke was captain of the Menotomy minute-men on the 19th of April, 1775. The house and store are now Nos. 1193 and 1195 Massachusetts avenue, and remained in the family ownership until 1892. The Nathaniel Hill house was built by Nathaniel Hill about 1725. Lydia Locke, the second child of Samuel Locke, married Daniel Hill, son of Nathaniel Hill. They lived on Forest street. A second Benjamin Locke house, now numbered 21' Appleton street, was built by Captain Benjamin Locke previous to 1775. In 1781 he sold this house to the Baptist Society for a "hundred dollars silver." In 1790 the society purchased land on the east corner of Brattle street, and erected a house of worship, now occupied as a dwelling-house. This change made it possible for Benjamin Locke Jr. to buy back the house built by his father, and it has remained in the family since that time. The Benjamin Locke store, so called, de- rives its origin from the fact that in 1810 a new road to Lexington was opened and the Middle- sex turnpike was built to Lowell. At the junction of these two roads Benjamin Locke Jr. built, about 1816, the new store, which has since been made into a double house now standing on Low- ell street. The store was carried on by the Locke brothers, Benjamin and William, and was patronized by teamsters, drovers, and by the patrons of the stage-coach which daily ran through the town to Boston, connecting at Bedford for the journey to New Hampshire. This store was made into the present dwelling-house by the heirs of Benjamin Locke, Jr., about 1854, and it remained in the family until 1901. In this neighborhood was a unique building called . the "North West District School-House." It was situated on land now owned by Theodore Schwamb, on Massachusetts avenue, between the land of Kimball Farmer and that of Charles Cutter. The first building on this spot was a wooden structure, erected in 1801. In 1822 a committee was appointed to build a new school-house here, and make a sale of the old one. The purchaser moved the wooden building to land situated between Appleton street and Paul Revere road, where it was made into a dwelling, and later burnt. The second building was of brick, built in 1822, and torn down 1894. The first Sunday school in West Cambridge was
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held in this building. Its first teacher was Miss Patty Frost, daughter of Seth Frost and Sarah (Hill) Frost. The Locke school-house, a modern structure, is situated on land formerly be- longing to William Locke.
Authorities: Mrs. James A. Bailey, Mrs. Margaret L. Sears.
WAKEFIELD
Waekfield is the modern name of South Reading, which was incorporated as a town Feb- ruary 25, 1812, and which was the original town of Reading, the curious circumstances being that the original part of an older town seceded for political reasons from its younger branches, which by a singular arrangement retain the old name. In Wakefield is the old burying-ground of Reading, and here in 1639 was made the first settlement of the town, which is described under the name of Reading in another place.
"In 1812 the old town was divided, and the First or South Parish, then commonly known as the Old Parish, including the present territory of Wakefield, was incorporated as a new town, with the name of South Reading. This separation, by which the Old Parish lost the birth- right of its original name, was due to political causes. The North and West Parishes were strongly Federalists, and opposed to the impending war with Great Britain, while the people of the Old Parish were nearly all Republicans and enthusiastic for the war. The Old Parish was the largest of the three in population and voters, but not equal to the two others. Party feeling ran high, and as a consequence the citizens of the South Parish found themselves with- out offices or influence in the administration of town affairs. Taking advantage of an opportunity when the Republicans were in power in the General Court, the Old Parish ob- tained a charter for a distinct town, and South Reading was born. The new town began with 125 dwelling-houses, a population of 800, and a valuation of $100,000."-Chester W. Eaton, Hurd's " Hist. Midd. County," ii. 718.
From the time of its incorporation, South Reading or Wakefield was prosperous, and in 1844-the time of the two hundredth anniversary of the original settlement of Reading -- it had about doubled the number of its inhabitants and its valuation.
In 1844 also was opened the Boston and Maine railroad through the west centre of the town, following which the town rapidly advanced in material prosperity, with large additions of business, wealth, and citizens. Notable industries were those of the boot and shoe manu- facture, the iron foundry, and the rattan works.
The years succeeding the Civil War, in which the town amply did its part, showed still greater progress. The industries flourished, people flocked to the town, real estate advanced in price, and "graceful dwellings and business structures rose on every hand." The population in 1865 was 3245, and in 1875, 5349. In 1868 the town changed its name. An unsuccessful attempt was made in that direction in 1846, when the name of "Winthrop" was sent in a petition to the legislature with the concurrent consent of a large part of the citizens, but leave was given to withdraw.
In 1868 Cyrus Wakefield, Senior, unconditionally offered. the town a new and costly town hall. The voters accepted this princely gift and changed the name of the town to Wakefield. This name was assented to by the General Court, and the new name went into effect on July 1, 1868. A celebration was held on July 4, following.
Authorities: Eaton, Lilley, "History of Reading", 1874. Eaton, W. E., "Hand-book of Wakefield", 1885; same, "Proceedings of the 250th Anniversary of the Ancient Town of Redding", 1896. Wakefield, "Inaugural Exercises", on change to a new name (1868) 1872; same, "Wakefield Souvenir", 250th anniversary celebration at Wakefield, 1894. " Wakefield Almanac for 1876".
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LOWELL
The territory of the city of Lowell embraces that part of the old town of Chelmsford which was known as East Chelmsford. The inhabitants of the older municipality were from the earliest days devoted mainly to the pursuit of agriculture. At the beginning of the nineteenth century East Chelmsford; the name by which the site of Lowell was then called, was a village containing forty-five or fifty houses. Its natural advantages were its waterfalls and fertile meadows, attracting not only the farmer but the artisan.
In 1822 the great manufacturing company, The Merrimack, began its operations in the village of East Chelmsford. It was here that the Middlesex canal had its termi- nus as early as 1793. The canal was opened for navigation in 1803. Its width was thirty feet, and its depth four. There were twenty locks between Chelmsford and Boston, seven aqueducts, and it was crossed by fifty bridges. It was supplied with water by the Concord river at Billerica, and its cost was about $500,000. Vast quan- tities of lumber and wood were transported upon it. Passengers were accommodated by a neat boat, which occupied almost one entire day in reaching Boston from the terminus at Chelmsford, or Lowell. From 1819 to 1836 were the palmy days of the enterprise. The beginning of the Boston and Lowell railroad in 1835 reduced its usefulness. The open- ing of the Nashua and Lowell rail- road in 1840 still further impaired its prosperity, and in a few years the canal was given up. In 1859 the supreme court issued a decree cancelling all its privileges.
Pawtucket canal was built around the falls of that name and opened in 1796. Its object when built was the transporta- tion of produce, but in 1821 it began to be relied upon to furnish water-power for Toll House of Old Middlesex Canal, Middlesex Village. the manufacturing enterprises of the city, which were then becoming important, and to the present time it has been thus employed. Boston capitalists soon controlled the situation, and a very general advance was made in the increase of capital and prosperity.
Bridges, next to canals, were the second element in the early success of Lowell. The Paw- tucket bridge, or one on its site, called the Middlesex-Merrimack river bridge, was the first one built. It was opened for travel in 1792. It was a comparatively cheap and short-lived affair, and was in a few years succeeded by a better one. A bridge over the Concord river was built very early in the history of Chelmsford, and the first bridge at the mouth of Concord river was erected in 1774. The first structure was blown down by a gale before it was finished, and a second was erected in its place. A third bridge was built in 1819.
The rise of Lowell as a great manufacturing centre was due in general to the American spirit of independence. Dependence upon England for clothing was the source of dissatisfaction on the part of the American farmer, and this dependence weighed heavily upon the minds of patriotic American citizens. The argument used was, that if a country such as the United States was to be really free, it must have within itself all the means of supplying the people with every necessity and comfort of life. It was therefore a sequence that when the advantages
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of the site were seen, that the present Lowell was selected as a place where cotton cloth could be manufactured on a large scale for the American trade. Hence several men, great in their way, planned and executed the projects which brought the manufacturers of Lowell into being. One of them was Francis Cabot Lowell, (1775-1817) after whom the city was named. Others were Patrick Tracy Jackson, Nathan Appleton, Kirk Boott, Paul Moody, Ezra Worthen, and John Amory Lowell. Six hundred shares was the number in the company first organized. It was the original design to start at Waltham. The insufficiency of the water-power in Wal- tham demanded a better place, and the Pawtucket Falls at Lowell was the spot selected. Boarding-houses for the operatives were built and placed under the care of matrons, and every means was used to maintain for the girls of American birth, who worked in the mills, the simplicity and purity of their country homes.
Improvements from the first went on rapidly. The names of the great corporations from the earliest were as follows: Merrimack Manufacturing Company, incorporated 1822; this was the first of the great manufacturing companies. The Print Works of the Merrimack Com- pany, begun 1824. Locks and Canals Company, 1792; purchased by the Merrimack Manu- facturing Company in 1822. The Hamilton Manufacturing Company, incorporated in 1825. The Appleton Company, incorporated in 1828. The Lowell Manufacturing Company, incor- porated in 1828. The Middlesex Company, incorporated in 1830. The Suffolk Manufacturing Company, incorporated in 1831. The Tremont Mills, incorporated in 1831. The Lawrence Manufacturing Company, incorporated in 1831. The Lowell Bleachery, incorporated in 1833. The Massachusetts Cotton-Mills, incorporated in 1839. The Lowell Machine-Shop, incorpor- ated in 1845.
The town of Lowell was incorporated March 1, 1826. The number of inhabitants in East Chelmsford had increased from 200 in 1820, to 2300 in 1826. The centre of the old town of Chelmsford was four miles distant, and the two villages had no common business relations. The population continued to rapidly increase after the incorporation. A steam railroad be- tween Lowell and Boston was opened in 1835. In the winter ice had closed the Middlesex canal, and transportation over bad roads by wagons was slow and costly to the inhabitants, and six stages passed daily from Boston to Low- ell and back. To remedy the dif- ficulties imposed upon the com- munity by these circumstances, a macadamized road between the two places was suggested. But it was soon ascertained that the tram- ways of England, formerly moved by horse-power, could be pro- pelled by steam, and the railroad. was the result.
In 1836 the town of Lowell was chartered as a city. The act was dated April 1. This was the third city charter granted in Mas- Old Bowers House, Middlesex Village. Said to be first house built in Lowell. sachusetts, Boston and Salem be- ing the others. The population was over 16,000 at that time. Lowell held its first political election under a city charter. The people have been always remarkably energetic, and the
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city's fame is world-wide. Before its day there was nothing like it in America. It has been visited by Presidents of the United States from the days of Jackson onwards, and by the dis- tinguished of all lands. Eminent writers have sounded its praises in all modern languages.
Authorities: Bayles, James, "Lowell: Past, Present and Prospective", 1891; enlarged edition, 1893. Chase, G. C., reprint of history in Hurd's "Middlesex County", 1890. Cowley, Charles, "A History of Lowell", 1868. Hill, F. P., "Lowell Illustrated", 1884. "Illustrated History of Lowell and Vicinity", 1897. "The Lowell Book", 1899. Miles, H. A., "Lowell, as it was, and as it is", 1845-46. Old Residents' Historical Association of Lowell. "Contribu- tions", 1873-1904, etc., etc.
SOMERVILLE
Somerville was separated from Charlestown and incorporated in 1842. In the previous year the people living in the westerly part of Charlestown becoming dissatisfied with the bur- dens of taxation, for which they had no corresponding benefit, held a meeting on the subject of dividing the town. It was determined later to secure an act of incorporation. A previous attempt of that kind had been made by the citizens in 1828, but it failed. The name then se- lected was Warren, and in 1841 Walford, after the first white settler of Charlestown, but this name was abandoned, and Somerville, having no special significance, was substituted. The area of the territory embraced about four square miles, and a population exceeding fifteen hundred. The act passed the legislature March 3, 1842. At the time of the incorporation there was no religious society or meeting-house within the borders of Somerville, and there never was any distinct parish, as in other towns. Neither was there any factory on any stream within its limits to form the nucleus of a new population about which to organize a new munic- ipality. But Somerville, as one writer has said, was a mere extension of the people of Charles- town out into the surrounding country, without any well-marked or natural line of division. In 1868 a local census gave the town a population of 12,535. A city charter was granted to Somerville on April 14, 1871. Its present population is 61,643.
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