USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 8
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 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88
The Golden Ball Tavern, on Elisha Jones' place, on Central avenue, was built in 1751 by Col- onel Jones. It was a tavern for eighty years, and was the head- quarters of the Tories of the local- ity during the Revolutionary War. The old sign of the golden ball is still in existence. The Deacon Uriah Gregory house on Merriam street is said to be one of the oldest houses in Weston. The estate was in the Gregory family for over two hundred years. The old Jones Tavern on Central ave- nue was formerly owned by Eph- raim Bigelow. Later it was the WESTON SQUARE. THEODORE JONES HOUSE. property of William Smith and his descendants. Before the Revolution his grandson kept the tavern, and "it was here that Howe, the spy, was traced by the 'Liberty Men' of Weston."
Authority: Miss M. M. Pennock.
LEXINGTON
Lexington was at the head of the eight-mile line from old Cambridge meeting-house, and for about seventy-five years was a part of Cambridge territory. Her early clearings were known by the name of "Cambridge Farms", and Lexington, like Weston and a few other towns within a short radius of Boston, retains a very strong agricultural character, in spite of a very recent manufactural and residential change common to a large number of its inhabitants. In 1691 the inhabitants were incorporated as a precinct of Cambridge, and in 1713 the precinct was incorporated as a town by the name of Lexington. The name was derived from that of an
xliv
MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
English nobleman of some prominence at that time. The population did not exceed 450, and there were few if any persons of wealth in the little community. In 1711, before becoming a town, the people had purchased an acre and a half in rear of their meeting-house for a common. The amount was raised by subscription. Later, in 1722, an additional acre was bought to en- large its area. This is the forever memorable Lexington Common, so intimately connected with the events of April 19, 1775.
The first blood of the American Revolution was shed in Lexington, and this fact has given the name of the town a world-wide influence in behalf of patriotism and human freedom. It is not our design to tell the well-known story of the action here. No other hostile invasion of an armed enemy was ever made within its limits. Between 1712 and 1775 the town pursued the even tenor of its way, though its records contain many interesting and curious instances of the customs of the times. It furnished its quota of men for the colonial wars in creditable numbers. The firmness and heroism with which the Lexington company faced the British regulars on the common on the morning of April 19, 1775, was due to the previous experience of many of its members in the previous wars. After 1775 its growth was no more remarkable than it had been before. Its population in 1790 was 940; in 1800, 1,006; and the increase from that period has not been large, until about 1900 the number of inhabitants and new buildings has increased, and the centre village has lost its former rather rural, and assumed a more met- ropolitan, aspect.
Authorities: Hudson, Charles, "History of the Town of Lexington", 1868. Lexington Historical Society, "Proceedings", etc., etc. Williams, Avery, "Century Discourse", 1813.
1
xlv:
HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES.
ANCIENT HOUSES IN LEXINGTON
BY MARGARET L. SEARS
The Hancock-Clarke house is situated on Hancock street, and the original part of the house, which is the gambrel-roofed L, was built in 1698 or 1699 by the Rev. John Hancock. . In it his five children, three sons and two daughters, were born. His eldest son, John Hancock, was educated at Harvard, and afterwards became minister at Braintree, now Quincy, where- his son John Hancock, of Revolutionary fame, was born. Another son, Thomas Hancock, was apprenticed to a bookbinder, and afterwards became the wealthiest merchant in New Eng- land. In 1734 he purchased the whole of Beacon Hill, including the present site of the State- House, and built the celebrated "Hancock Mansion." Thomas built the two-storied addition to the Hancock- Clarke house, so that his parents might live in comfort and peace during their latter days. The third son Eb- enezer was graduated at Harvard, and became his father's colleague; he died in 1740.
The Rev. Jonas Clarke succeeded Rev John Han- cock and married the latter's granddaughter. Mr. Clarke bought the estate and his thirteen children were born there. On the night of the eighteenth of April, 1775, John Hancock and Samuel Adams were sleeping in the west room of the lower story, and eight men were on guard about the house as the British were seeking the two noted men. It was thought advisable for them to go to a safer place, and they were conducted to the house of Madam Jones, four miles away, in Burling- ton. From here they were obliged to go two miles far- ther to the home of Amos Wyman in Billerica. Jonas Clarke was a very patriotic man, and his house was the meeting place of patriots and statesmen during the Revolution. Ministers, professors, college presidents and governors have all been entertained here, and it is, consequently, a house of great interest historically.
The Harrington house, on Elm street, was occupied by Jonathan Harrington and his family. He was one of Captain Parker's company. He was mortally wounded, and dragged himself to the door of his home STATUE OF CAPT. PARKER, LEXINGTON. and died at his wife's feet. The house was built by Dr. David Fiske, and during the middle of the nineteenth century Mr. John Augustus, a prominent worker among children at the Munici- pal Court, lived here.
The Merriam house was occupied by the Merriam family on April 19, 1775. It was pillaged and set on fire, but was not destroyed. It is probably one hundred and seventy-six years old.
In the Jonathan Harrington house, on Main street, lived Jonathan Harrington, fifer of Captain Parker's company. At the time of the battle, Mr. Harrington was only sixteen years of age, but he lived to be ninety-six years old, and was the last survivor of the battle.
The Marrett Munroe house was built in 1729, and was occupied by Marrett Munroe on April 19, 1775. Caleb Harrington was running towards this house with some powder which he had obtained in the church, when he was killed. A British bullet passed through a window over
xlvi
MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
the door and was imbedded in a bureau, where it still remains. The bureau is owned by a de- scendant of. Marrett Munroe.
The British left a wounded soldier at the Sanderson house, and Mrs. Sanderson cared for him, but he was so afraid she would poison him that he refused to eat or drink until some mem- ber of the family had tasted of whatever food was offered him. Lewis Downing, the famous coach builder, was born here.
The Fiske house was occupied by Dr. Joseph Fiske at the time of the battle. He dressed. the wounded after the encounter on the common, and cared for them during the day. Three generations of Fiskes have lived in Lexington since then on this estate.
The Lawrence house was the home of the Lawrence family, who located here in the early settlement of the town, and later removed from here to Groton. The well-known merchants . Abbott and Amos Lawrence were descended from this family.
The Wellington homestead has been the home of the Wellingtons for six or seven genera- tions. Benjamin Wellington was the first prisoner taken by the British on the morning of April 19, 1775. Others: Pierce homestead, and Muzzey homestead.
The Buckman Tavern, on Bedford street, is now called the Merriam House, and was the meeting-place of the minute-men the night before the battle and on the morning of the following day. It has many bullet holes caused by the shots of the British. In the small L the first post-office in Lexington was kept.
The Munroe Tavern was the headquarters of Hugh, Earl Percy. As the British, hard pressed by the minute-men, retreated from Concord, they were met in the vicinity of this tavern by rein forcements under Lord Percy. They attended to their wounded Old Harrington House, Lexington. Here Jonathan Harrington lived, and here he died on the doorstep after being shot on Lexington Common. at this place, and ate and drank whatever they could find, and ended by killing the man who had served them, then, setting fire to the building, they contin- ued on their retreat. The fire was fortunately- extinguished. In 1789 Washington dined here in the southeast room of the second story. The wounded British were cared for in the room underneath. On the right hand of the front door of the bar-room is a bullet hole in the ceiling made by the discharge of a British musket. The fire above mentioned was set in this room.
The Simonds Tavern is a large building with two great chimneys, two front doors, and two kitchens. In the north parlor are seen a fine panelling and cornice, and a tall narrow mantel with blue and white Dutch tiling. Joseph Simonds was landlord of this tavern from 1802 to 1828.
On the Concord turnpike, not far from the Parker homestead, is the tavern kept by William Simonds from 1810 to 1828. It has brick ends. At one time a dancing school was kept here and many parties were given.
The Bowman Tavern was made of two houses, one of which was taken down in 1843. There were five landlords before 1840. Their names were Bowman, Brown, Spear, Wyman, and Lem- uel Lakin. The last named kept the house from 1833 to 1840, and it was then called "Lakin Tavern." Afterwards the landlords were Messrs. Flint, Fields, and, finally, James W. Colburn.
xlvii
HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES.
It has been a private dwelling house since 1843. It was a popular house and in the busy sea- son put up sometimes as many as forty horses.
The Hoar Tavern is just within the precincts of Lincoln. Here some of the Americans who harrassed the British on April 19th took food and refreshment. It was kept first by John Hoar, and then by Leonard Hoar, and finally by Joseph Hoar. It was not a regular tavern, but a place where one could get board and lodging.
LITTLETON
Littleton, from 1654 until its incorporation as an English town in 1714, was the place of one of several Indian plantations, or towns, incorporated through the influence of Rev. John Eliot, the apostle to the Indians. Its name was originally Nashobah. In order of its founding it was the sixth praying Indian town; its inhabitants numbered about ten families, or about fifty souls. The dimensions of the village territory were estimated at four miles square. The prejudice which arose against all Indians at the time of Philip's War, 1675-76, proved very fatal to the interests of the inhabitants of this Indian village. In 1675-76 there were several English families living in the territory, which was afterwards Littleton, and in February of the latter year two brothers, Abraham and Isaac Shepard, were killed by hostile Indians. The treatment these friendly Indians received at the hands of the English was not creditable, and as time advanced the white people moved into the deserted plantation and settled there with no real right save that of possession. These first settlers had no town government, and for civic and religious purposes associated themselves, as was customary, with the neigh- boring towns. The report of a committee to view the plantation in 1711, after viewing the boundaries, recommended that, on account of its remoteness from other towns, a township be made of it; that, at that time, there were about fifteen families already settled there. In 1713, the Council finding that the Indian native proprietors were all removed by death except two or three families there remaining, directed that the said lands of Nashobah be preserved for a township. The act of incorporation followed in 1714, reserving five hundred acres for the ben- efit of any of the descendants of the former Indian proprietors that might be surviving. The name of Littleton was given to the town by the court in 1715. The name was given, it is supposed, as a compliment to Hon. George Lyttleton, a prominent Englishman who sent a bell from England as a present. But on account of the error in spelling the name Littleton, and not Lyttleton, the present was withheld on the ground that no such town as "Lyttleton" could be found, and the party who had charge of the bell sold it.
In 1776 the population of Littleton was 918. A part of Boxborough was set off from Lit- tleton as a district in 1783. Up to 1822 there was but one church in the town, and the town to-day has a population of not much more than 1,179.
Authorities: Foster, Edmund, "Century Sermon", 1815. Harwood, H. J., reprint of sketch of this town in Hurd's "Middlesex County", 1890. Littleton Historical Society, "Pro- ceedings".
HOPKINTON
Hopkinton was incorporated as a town December 13, 1715, and the first town-meeting was held in 1724. The town seems to have been hitherto under the direction of a committee of trustees, and there were no selectmen or other town officers between these two dates. At that meeting they chose five selectmen, and one of the selectmen was elected town clerk. Pre- viously, the Ashland part of Hopkinton had been from 1669 the seventh town where the pray- ing Indians, converted by Rev. John Eliot, had inhabited. Here they had been taught to make cedar shingles and clapboards, in which work they displayed more skill than the English
1
xlviii
MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
did. In 1674, according to the report of the Indian commissioner of that time, their settle- ment was partly within the bounds of Natick, and partly upon lands granted by the county. The inhabitants numbered about eleven families, or about fifty-five persons. When Philip's Indian War ended the number left of this tribe joined the Indians of Natick, and their lands were then voted in 1715 to be sold to the trustees of "Edward Hopkins' legacy." Permission was given in the same year by the General Court to the said trustees to make the said purchase, and a deed conveying eight thousand acres was accordingly executed by the Indians. After- ward the General Court gave to the trustees the province land, and thus increased their pos- sessions to twenty-five thousand acres, which, on petition of the trustees, was incorporated into a township by the name of Hopkinton.
The name was derived from Edward Hopkins, who came from England in 1637 and later became governor of Connecticut. He died in England in 1657, and bequeathed £500 out of his estate in this country to trustees, to be invested, after the death of his wife, in houses and lands in New England; the income to be devoted to the support of students in the grammar and divinity schools of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and to the purchase of books to be given to. meritorious students of Harvard College. His wife did not die until the year 1698, and after a suit in chancery the trustees obtained a verdict in satisfaction of the legacy of five hundred pounds, amounting with interest to eight hundred pounds, and six hundred pounds of this was wasted in the purchase of the Indian lands in Hopkinton. About one-half of these acres was leased for ninety-nine years, and the remainder was held as common land. The province land was granted on condition that the fee should remain in the province. After considerable le- gal action it was determined first by a special act that the trustees had power to execute leases for a term not exceeding ninety-nine years, and second; from 1723, that the rate be one penny sterl- ing an acre, until a certain time in 1823, when a considerable in- Tavern at Hopkinton, where Washington and Webster dined. crease was demanded during the remaining time. Therefore, in 1823 trouble arose on this subject, and both parties resorted to the courts and legislature. The matter was settled in 1832 by the legislature agreeing to pay eight thousand dollars to the trustees, and to the tenants two thousand dollars. In 1735 a part of the town was set off to the town of Upton. In 1846 another part was set off to Ashland.
HOLLISTON
Holliston was a part of Sherborn until its incorporation as a town in 1724. Its terri- tory had been previously the site of several large land grants, and few families had settled upon them before 1700. No new settlers had been admitted before 1682, when a division of the com- mon lands was effected. The distance from the church in Sherborn was a serious obstacle, and in 1723 the number of subscribers to be set off as a separate town was only thirteen. The location of a new meeting-house in Sherborn, which proved adverse to the interests of this section of that town, greatly advanced the project of a separation of the inhabitants of this part of Sherborn from the older part. An attempt was made to make of them a parish, rather
-
xlix
HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES.
than a town, but the motion to make a town prevailed, and the new town called Holliston was accordingly incorporated December 3, 1724. It was named in honor of Thomas Hollis, of London, a benefactor of Harvard College. He accepted the compliment and presented the town with a large Bible. He is. also said to have given a bell for the meeting-house, but the stories told regarding this bell are of doubtful authority. The further history of the Bible was not especially creditable to the receivers. When worn out it was given to the poor-house, where after much difficulty a descendant of the donor, living in Boston, secured its possession. Latterly, the church again secured it and made a shrine for it resembling a great book, and it was safe from harm in the keeping of the church officers.
It is a well understood fact that what is given to people, and for which they make no sac- fice, is not always appreciated, and soon cast aside. An example of this occurred in this very town in the case of a pewter flagon inscribed, "The gift of Mrs. Dorothy Ware, late of Sher- borne, to the church in Holliston, 1745", which was found in the village tinshop, destined to be melted for solder, as it was better metal than usual for that purpose. This was saved, and given to an historical society. Another pewter flagon inscribed "The gift of the town of Sher- bourn to the church in Holliston - - - 1728", was found in a distant town, having been purchased of a tin-peddler many years before. This was recovered and saved.
In 1826 the town sustained a small reduction in its territory by an exchange of land with the town of Medway, and a larger loss of its territory in 1846 by the incorporation of the town of Ashland.
"At the end of the first century", says one of the historians of the town, "the population of Holliston had grown from one hundred to thirteen hundred." In 1753-54 a grievous sick- ness and mortality prevailed in the town and fifty-three persons died, being more than one- eighth of the population at that time, and aid was given the distressed town by the General Court. Many families were broken up entirely, and the population was almost decimated. "The people were engaged as a whole in reclaiming and tilling the lands. The shoemaker, black- smith, carpenter, and storekeeper were regarded only as adjuncts to society. It was conven- ient to have just enough mechanics and tradesmen to meet the wants of the people, and they desired no more. Even these did not pretend to live by their trades, but in addition cultivated their lands. Under these conditions the population continued to increase slowly from year to year", with the exception of the fatal sickness mentioned above. Such was the condition of Holliston during the first one hundred years of its history.
Authority: Morse, Abner, "Genealogical Register of the Inhabitants, and History of the Towns of Sherborn and Holliston", 1856.
STONEHAM
Stoneham was a part,-the northerly part,-of Charlestown, before its inhabitants, be- cause of "their remoteness from the place of public worship", petitioned the General Court to be set off as a distant and separate town, which was accordingly enacted, and the name of Stoneham given to the township, December 17, 1725. The lands granted appeared to have been laid out as early as 1657-58 by the town of Charlestown in a corporate capacity, and divided among the inhabitants in severalty. Range lines were run a quarter of a mile apart, and rules were laid down for the division of the land into smaller parcels. There appeared to have been at first no general settlement of the territory as in other places. But the solitary pioneer was the first to break the silence of the wilderness, and thus little clearings were begun, and the first farms started. In 1678 there were six heads of families occupying this territory. When the town was organized, a meeting-house was built, and measures were taken to se- cure a settled minister and a schoolmaster, as the court had ordered in the act of incorpor -..
1 -- 4h
hen
.
1
MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
ation. Several ministers were heard on trial before one was chosen. The one selected re- mained from 1729 to the time of his death in 1746.
The growth of the town was slow during the first seventy-five years of its history, and it was long subsequent to 1800 when Stoneham became a manufacturing town. In 1803 the sec- ond meeting-house built by the town was dedicated. In 1819 occurred in the town the brutal murder of one of its citizens, named Jacob Gould, for robbery, which created an immense sensa- tion at the time, and the memory of which, in those comparatively quiet times, lasted for many years afterwards. In 1837, during the anti-slavery agitation, the town refused to allow lec- tures and discussions on that subject to be held in the town-house, and the excitement eventually culminated in mob violence and the homicide of Timothy Wheeler. The population in 1837 was a little over 900. As one of the town's historians remarked, in"115 years Stoneham had made but little material progress. In fact, during the first century the growth had been hardly perceptible and the changes slight." Outside of agriculture, the principal occupation was shoe manufacture, carried on in a small way in comparison with the expensive plants of a later period in the history of the town. During the twenty-five years succeeding 1840, great changes took place, great factories sprang up, and a few scattered houses grew into a compact and thrifty town.
Authorities: Dean, Silas, "Brief History of the Town of Stoneham", 1843. Stevens, W. B., "History of Stoneham", 1891.
In Stoneham are a number of ancient dwellings, of which the following is a partial list. The old Parsonage house on Central street was built in 1747. Its occupants have been Rev. John Carnes; Rev. John Searle; Rev. John Cleaveland, and Rev. John H. Stevens. The house has been remodeled and is no longer used as a parsonage. The house of Jesse Dike is said to have been built by a man named Hadley. The house owned and occupied by Captain Rufus Rich- ardson was formerly owned by a man named Wiley. It was afterwards owned by the father of Benjamin Gerry. The building owned by Elias P. Bryant and occupied by Phineas Green was formerly owned by Nathan Simonds. The house of Nathaniel Stevens was built many years since by a man from Charlestown, by name John Wright. The house of the late Ebenezer Buckman is one of the oldest dwellings standing. It was a place of rendezvous during the time of the Revolution. The house on Summer street occupied by Deacon Jabez Lynde and James H. Gould is very old. The house of Thomas Gould was standing in 1714. This is where the well-known Stoneham murder happened. The old Sprague house is the last building on the old road to Medford. Here lived Captain Samuel Sprague, who commanded the town com- pany at the time of the Revolution. Others: House of Oliver Richardson; house of Caleb Wiley, remodeled; house of James Hadley; house of John Buckman; the Sweetzer house, called the old Hill house.
BEDFORD
Bedford and Westford were incorporated as towns on the same date, September 23, 1729. Bedford was a part of the towns of Concord and Billerica. It was an outlying district of both towns. Efforts to form a new town were made in 1728, the reasons given being the usual ones of distance from the place of worship in the older towns. "In the extreme difficult seasons of heat and cold we were ready to say of the Sabbath: 'Behold what a weariness is it!' The extraordinary expenses we are at in transporting and refreshing ourselves and families on the Sabbath has added to our burdens. This we have endured from year to year with as much patience as the nature of the case would bear, but our increasing numbers now seem to plead an exemption." The application to the General Court for a separate town was successful, and the town was incorporated in 1729. Among the early purchases made by the town was the law book ordered to be passed about according to the judgment of the selectmen, and the town book of records. The meeting-house was nearly completed before the act of incorporation was
li
HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES.
passed and the first town-meeting was held in it. The house then offered but few attractions save as a shelter from the storms. In seating the meeting-house the committee had respect to them that were fifty years of age or upward. Those under fifty were to be seated according to "their pay." "The man and his wife" were to sit in the pew, excepting deacons, and the church was organized on the day the first minister was ordained. While garrison-houses were provided at the time of Philip's War, the homes of the scattered settlers of the section now represented by the town of Bedford did not suffer from any general invasion on the part of the Indian enemy.
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.