USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Watertown > Historical sketch of Watertown, in Massachusetts, from the first settlement of the town to the close of its second century > Part 4
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
In the year 1647 there occurs, in the town records, the first notice of some complaint and difficulty about what was called " the remote meadow." Some al- leged that their portion of it was not laid out, and others that what was assigned to them was bad. The remote meadow was probably some tract of land in the distant western part of the town, of which a di- vision had been made among the first settlers on some principle deemed equitable. It is likely that the in- terfering claims and jealousies, which are common in such cases, caused much dissatisfaction. From the transactions at the town meetings, it appears that the
39
meadow land was a source of uneasiness, and a sub- ject of votes, for several years.
At a meeting of " the seven men," or Selectmen, on the 28th of December, 1647, " Mr. Biscoe and Isaac Stearnes were chosen to consider how the bridge over the river shall be built, and to agree with the work- men for the doing of it according to their best discre- tion." This is the earliest mention of a bridge over Charles river at Watertown. Till this time, we may presume, the stream had been crossed only by ferries. It has already been mentioned, that- Richard Brown was empowered by the court to keep a ferry opposite his house. The first bridge was doubtless a rude and temporary structure. Twenty years after the above date, the land " upon the meeting-house common " was ordered to be sold to defray the expense of a bridge at the mill, which was "to be built with baskets ; " and the selectmen were directed " to order the number of baskets, and the plan and manner of placing them."
The term here used in relation to the architecture of the bridge, I have been informed, was employed to designate certain frames of wood, like boxes, placed at regular distances, filled with stones, and connected by timbers. Perhaps the term was borrowed from mil- itary affairs. At sieges, use has sometimes been made of baskets filled with earth, and ranged on the top of the parapet. These are about a foot and a half in height, about the same in diameter at the top, and eight or ten inches at bottom ; so that, when set to- gether, they leave a sort of embrasures at the bottom. It would seem from subsequent notices, that the bridge spoken of in the above extract was not designed for the passage of carriages of any kind, but was merely a foot or horse bridge. At that early period, commodities were transported almost entirely in panniers on horse- back. Wheel-carriages were very rarely, if ever, used ; and when they did pass the river, they doubt- less forded it, as may now be done at low tide. With
-
- 40
this foot or horse bridge the people were satisfied for more than fifty years after this date. It was placed a few rods further down the stream, than the present bridge.
It is recorded in 1647, that the town disposed of their right " in the palisado that inclosed the woulfe pen." I know not what we are to understand by " the wolf pen," unless it were an enclosure surround- ed by a high and strong defence, into which the sheep and cattle were driven for security from the wolves in the night, and which was owned and used by all the town in common.
At a meeting of the seven men in 1648, it was " ordered that Mr. Biscoe and John Sherman* shall mark certaine trees in the highway with a W, that shall continue for shade ; and that whosoever shall fall any trees so marked shall forfeit 18 shillings to the town for every tree so fallen.". It is somewhat remarkable, that such a provision should have been made only eighteen years after the first settlement of the place. The example is worthy of imitation. There are few things, which contribute more to the beauty and comfort of a village, than rows of trees by the road side ; and it is a matter of surprise and re- gret, that a mode of improvement so agreeable to good taste, and attended with so little expense or trouble, should be so much neglected at the present day.
In 1649 a vote was passed to build a school-house. Whether this was the first school-house erected in the town, cannot be ascertained. Schools had been kept, and teachers employed, several years before this time. At the same meeting, it was agreed to build a gallery in the meeting-house. Before and about this time,
* The name of this individual appears frequently in the transactions of the town from the beginning, and he seems to have been in high repute. Whether there was a family relation between him and the Rev. John Sherman, I know not. There probably was, however; for they both came from the same place, Dedham in England. He held at different times the offices of captain, town clerk, and representative.
41
votes were likewise passed about the mill; and in 1653 it was ordered that " the mill shall be rated to the ministry for this year, at a hundred and forty pounds."
At a public town meeting held in October, 1654, a movement was made, though it seems to have proved ineffectual, towards erecting a new house of worship. It was " ordered by the inhabitants that there should be a new meeting-house builded." They fixed upon the place where it should stand, and voted to raise 150 pounds "to begin the work withal." It was likewise ordered, " that Cambridge meeting-house shall be our pattern in all points." Soon after this an agree- ment was made by the Selectmen with John Sherman to build a meeting-house for the town, "like unto Cambridge in all points." It was to be finished by the last of September, 1656, and Mr. Sherman was to receive for it four hundred pounds, together with some parts of the old house. From notices of votes at subsequent meetings in 1654, it appears there was difficulty or disagreement about the place, where the new house should stand ; and at last this point was left " to the determination of three of the honoured Magistrates," whose decision was to be final. But, notwithstanding these preparatory measures, the meet- ing-house was not built. The purpose was abandon- ed for the present ; but was resumed at different pe- riods afterward, till it was accomplished .*
* As Johnson's Wonder-Working Providence was published in 1654, the following extract seems to belong to this place. He describes Watertown as " scituate upon one of the branches of Charles River, a fruitfull plat, and of large extent, watered with many pleasant springs and small rivulets, running like veines throughout her body, which hath caused her inhabitants to scatter in such manner, that their Sabbath- Assemblies prove very thin, if the season favour not, and hath made this great towne (consisting of 160 families) to shew nothing delight- full to the eye in any place." B. I. ch. 23. If the latter part of this description be correct, perhaps it may furnish an explanation of the abovementioned attempt to have a new meeting-house ; for if the pop- ulation were thus scattered, a great part of them must have found it very inconvenient to attend worship in a house situated at the eastern 6
42
In 1662, " the proprietors of the farm lands " are mentioned as holding separate meetings for the regu- lation of certain affairs of their own. By this desig- nation is doubtless meant the same part of the town, the inhabitants of which, as will be seen, were after- wards called The Farmers, and which is now Weston.
It would seem that, at this early period, the meet- ing-house was not divided into pews, held by individ- uals as their property. It was probably filled with long and undivided seats, which were considered as the common property of the whole town, and in which places were assigned to individuals and families ac- cording to some authorized arrangement. That such was the case would appear, at least, from the record of a town-meeting in 1663, when a committee " made their return of what they had jointly agreed upon about the seating of the inhabitants in the meeting- house ; which being twice read, it was accepted by the town." At the same time, it was ordered, " that the next Sabbath day every person shall take his or her seat appointed to them, and not go into any other seat where others are placed ; and if one of the inhabitants shall act contrary, he or she shall for the first offence be reproved by the deacons; and for the second offence to pay a fine of two shillings, and the like fine for every offence after." The provision on this subject was extended still further, by ordering that for the future Nathaniel Treadaway and Joseph Tayn- ter, with the deacons, are chosen and empowered to act in all emergent occasions, to place people in the meeting-house, as need do require."*
extremity of so large a settlement. What Johnson means by placing Watertown on one of the branches of Charles River, I cannot tell ; he blundered in this statement, and it is to be hoped that he blundered in saying the town presented "nothing delightful to the eye in any place." * The watchful care of our ancestors to secure the quiet and good order of the Sabbath services from all annoyances, is manifest from the following amusing notice, at the same meeting with the above : " Thom- as Whitney was chosen to take care that no dogs come into the meet- ing-house upon the Sabbath days, or other times of publick worship, by
43
Minute and careful regulations as to the duties of the Sabbath were enforced from high authority, as will appear from the following record at a meeting of the Selectmen in 1665: " The pastor being pres- ent, the two Constables were chosen to take care of the youth upon the Sabbath days and other times of public worship in reference to the order of Court." And that a vigilant guardianship was exercised over manners and morals is evident from a notice, that " James Hollen appearing before the Selectmen to answer for his living from under family government, and mispending his time by idleness, the Selectmen gave him a fortnight's time to provide himself a mas- ter ; and in case he did it not in that time, that then they would provide one for him."
In October, 1674, an attempt was made to pro- cure assistance in the ministry for the Rev. Mr. Sher- man. " The town declared by vote, that they do de- sire Mr. Thomas Clark to be helpful to Mr. Sherman in preaching of the word amongst us; and this in or- der to a further proceeding with him in reference to settling amongst us by way of office, if God make way for it." We learn nothing more concerning this Mr. Clark, and nothing is said of the result of this vote. It is probable, that Mr. Clark did not comply with the request of the town, and that in consequence of his refusal, the proposal to obtain an assistant for Mr. Sherman was for the present dropped.
In the summer of 1676* a very remarkable mortality
. whipping them out of the house, or any that be near to the house at such times ; and to have for his pains and care thirty shillings the yeare." A severe vote of a similar kind was passed against the dogs so late as the year 1746.
* According to Hubbard, p. 648. But the Rev. John Eliot of Rox- bury, in a letter to the Hon. Robert Boyle, places it in 1670. The let- ter is dated September 30th of that year, and gives the following curi- ous particulars : "There hath been a rare work of God this summer in a great pond at Watertown, where all the fish died, and were not willing to die in the waters, but as many as could, thrust themselves on shore, and there died ; not less than twenty cart load, by estimation, lying dead all at once round about the pond. An eel was found alive in the
44
happened among the fish " in a great pond in Water- town," (by which is meant what is now called Fresh Pond.) It is stated that they died in immense num- bers and were floated to the shore, or swam to the shore and died there. Some, in the spirit of the times, regarded this singular phenomenon as an extraordinary and inexplicable interposition of Providence ; while those, who were disposed to speculate about it, con- ceived it 'to be " the effect of some mineral vapour, which at that time had made an irruption into the wa- ter." Whether this be a satisfactory account of the matter may be questioned ; but of the occurrence of the fact, as related, there seems no reason to' doubt.
After the Restoration in England, many from what- ever cause had neglected to take the oath of allegiance. At a town-meeting a committee was appointed to see that every one, who had not taken the oath of fidelity and allegiance, as the law required, should do so. There was probably a general feeling in the colony, that it was politic or necessary to remove from themselves all suspicion of being unfriendly to the king and govern- ment in the mother country.
What kind of oversight was taken of the young people, at this time, may be learned from the record of some meetings in 1679. The Selectmen agreed, that " they would go two and two through the towne to see that all the chilldren be taught to read the Eng- lish tongue, and some orthodox catechism, and to take the names of all youths from ten years old unto twenty years old, that they may be publickly catechized by the pastor in the meeting-house." Soon after this, a vote was passed to do " something for placing of the
sandy border of the pond, and being cast into the water, she wriggled out again as fast as she could, and died on the shore. An inhabitant of the town living by the pond, his cattle used daily to drink there ; but then, for three days together, they refused there to drink, but after three days they drank of the pond as they were wont to do. When the fish began to come ashore, before they died, many were taken and eaten, both by English and Indians, without any hurt; and the fish were very good." Hist. Coll. Ist Series, III. 177.
45
youth, that so they may be the better inspected in time of public worship." A committee was chosen for this purpose, and also to enlarge the meeting-house, that it might accommodate as many as possible " both of the youth and grown persons." This was to be done by building galleries in the meeting-house, and twenty- five pounds were added to the town rate for that ob- ject. It would seem from this arrangement, that the children and the younger portion of the congregation had distinct seats assigned to them on the Sabbath, in order to place them more effectually under the watch · and care of the older people. The time, when such regulations were thought useful and judicious, has pass- ed away ; but they deserve to be mentioned here as proofs of the solicitude, with which our fathers attend- ed to the interests of the rising generation.
In the record of a meeting of the Selectmen, April 5, 1680, the following notice is found : " In reference to a late order from Honoured General Court, in which the Selectmen of several towns were ordered to make a return concerning what was done, or further to be done, referring to the subscription to the New College, Deacon Henry Bright and William Bond were by the Selectmen appointed to go down to Boston to make said return." The sum contributed by Watertown was £41. 16s. 3d. "The New College " must have been the edifice called Harvard, which stood on the spot where the building now bearing that name stands, and was built in 1672 by contribution from the differ- ent towns in the colony. If the record refers to this contribution, however, it is strange that it should be so late as eight years after the erection of the college.
The growing infirmities of the Rev. Mr. Sherman again turned the attention of the town to the subject of procuring assistance for him. In November, 1680, it was voted, "in regard of the bodily weakness that is upon pastor Sherman, that he stands in need of a'helper to car- ry on the work of the ministry." It is not mentioned
46
that any measures were taken to obtain the proposed help till November, 1684, when the town agreed to em- ploy for this purpose one of three, whose names were specified ; Mr. Cotton, Mr. Leavitt, and Mr. Brattle .* The first application was to be made to Mr. Cotton, and " the utmost endeavours were to be used to gain him." Whether the application was actually made to him, or to either of the three, or, if made, was successful, we are not told. It appears however, that assistance was obtained for the pastor, since money was appropriated to defray the expenses for that purpose.
But all further provision of this kind was soon ren- dered unnecessary by the death of the Rev. Mr. Sher- man. He was seized with a severe illness at Sudbury, where he preached his last sermon from Ephesians ii. 8. He recovered from the first attack sufficiently to be able to reach home. But his disease, which was an intermitting fever, returned with violence, and he ex- pired on the 8th of August, 1685, aged nearly seventy- two years.
It is but justice to say, that a tribute of high praise is due to the memory of Mr. Sherman. Few divines, in the early history of New England, were so eminent- ly distinguished by intellectual gifts and Christian graces. He was born December 26, 1613, in Dedham, in the county of Essex, England. The parental influence under which his first years were passed, implanted and strengthened the principle of piety in his breast ; and he received deep religious impressions, at an early pe- riod, from the ministry of the celebrated John Rogers, whose friendship he, as well as his two predecessors, in the ministry at Watertown, possessed and prized highly. It is related, that he was never chastised at
* This Mr. Brattle, I suppose to be the same, who was graduated at Harvard College in 1680, and was ordained in 1696 pastor of the Cam- bridge church, (See Hist. of Cambridge, in Hist. Coll. Ist Series, VII. 55.) Two persons of the name of John Cotton appear in the College Cata- logue, in 1678 and in 1681, both clergymen ; and one of these was prob- ably the person abovementioned. Of Mr. Leavitt I have met with no notice.
47
school but once, and then it was " for giving the heads of sermons to his idle school-mates, when an account thereof was demanded from them." He was educated at Emanuel College, Cambridge, but received no de- gree, because conscientious scruples compelled him to refuse compliance with the required subscription. This refusal appears to have been the result of a faithful and anxious consideration of the subject. The consequence was, that he retired from the University "under the persecuted character of a College Puritan." He soon left England, and sought an asylum in the western world. When he came to New England (1634), he was but twenty-one years of age ; but, young as he was, his eloquent preaching and powerful mind gave him a very high reputation, insomuch that when he was at New Haven, Mr. Hooker and Mr. Stone, the clergymen of Hartford, said in an assembly of minis- ters, before whom Sherman had preached, "Brethren, we must look to ourselves and our ministry, for this young divine will outdo us all."
After his settlement at Watertown, he maintained fully the distinguished rank which he had before ac- quired, and was considered a great blessing to his peo- ple and to the neighbouring churches. He was chosen fellow of the corporation of Harvard College, and ren- dered various and important services to that institution. Once a fortnight he gave lectures, which were attend- ed by the students of the College, who walked from Cambridge to Watertown to hear him, and by many other persons from the vicinity. These lectures he continued for thirty years, and they were regarded as peculiarly able and valuable. Mr. Sherman improved the powers of his mind, naturally strong and penetrat- ing, by profound and indefatigable study. His philo- logical learning is reported to have been much beyond the usual attainments even of such as were considered good scholars. But his favorite studies, out of his pro- fessional course, were the mathematical and astronomi-
4.8
cal sciences. In these pursuits he was the first man in the country, at that time .* He left many astronom- ical calculations in manuscript, which were never pub- lished. So desirous was he of being useful, that he sometimes undertook the humble task of preparing almanacs for the community. In these he inserted pious and pertinent reflections, instead of that frivolous and useless matter with which these publications are so often filled.t The study of the exact sciences, on which he bestowed so much attention, while it sharp- ened his powers of reasoning and discrimination, did not impair the energy or eloquence of his preaching. His sermons are said to have been so distinguished by the beauties of a rich and fervid imagination, and by an unaffected and impressive loftiness of style, that he was commonly called " the golden-mouthed preacher." Though his discourses were frequently extemporaneous, they were always well arranged and full of thought. Being a devout and unwearied student of the Scriptures, his public instructions enlightened the minds as well as warmed the hearts of his hearers. In conversation it was his habit to say but little. But what he said was pointed, and likely to be remembered ; and when he was told by his more loquacious companions, that he had learned the art of silence, he sometimes advised them to attend more to that art themselves. So strong was his memory, that his own mind, it was said,
1
* We are not informed what were the subjects of Mr. Sherman's lec- tures to the students of the College ; but it is probable, they were con- nected with the studies, to which he was so partial, and in which he became so distinguished.
+ The following is a specimen of these reflections :- " Let me entreat one thing of thee, and I will adventure to promise thee a good year ; the request is in itself reasonable, and may be to thee eternally profit- able. It is only this ; duly to prize and diligently to improve time, for obtaining the blessed end it was given for, and is yet graciously con- tinued unto thee by the eternal God. Of three hundred and sixty- five days allowed by the making up of this year, which shall be thy last, thou knowest not ; but that any of them may be it, thou oughtest to know, and so consider, that thou mayest pass the time of thy sojourn- ing here with fear."
-
49
became his library ; and so highly respected was his judgment, that when he was consulted, as he very frequently was, his opinion was generally considered final. His mental powers remained vigorous and keen to the time of his death ; and his last discourse was listened to with admiration for its richness of thought and energy of language. When the reforming synod, as it was called, convened at Boston, in September, 1679, he was one of the joint moderators of that body during the greater part of the session. In 1682 he preached the sermon before the convention of Con- gregational Ministers in Massachusetts ; and this is the first sermon on that occasion, now upon record .*
Mr. Sherman was the father of twenty-six children in two marriages ; six in the first, and twenty in the other. His second wife was grandaughter of the Earl of Rivers, whose family belonged to the Roman Cath- olic party in England.+ Her mother, daughter of the Earl of Rivers, was married to Mr. Launce, a Puritan gentleman, and was herself a Puritan, though of a Pop- ish family. The lady, to whom Mr. Sherman was married, was at that time under the guardianship of Gov. Hopkins of Connecticut. She survived her hus- band many years.# Among the descendants of this minister of Watertown, the Hon. Roger Sherman, one of the memorable committee who drew up and report-
* See a list of the preachers in the " Historical Sketch of the Conven- tion," & c. p. 30.
+ Clarendon relates that the house of the Countess of Rivers, near Colchester, was plundered in 1642 by the rabble, on account of her being a Papist. Vol. III. p. 1086.
# Mrs. Sherman died in 1710; and in the town record of that year is the following notice of her funeral : "The selectmen being informed that Mrs. Mary Sherman is deceased, being the widow of the Reverend pastor Sherman, who was the pastor of the town for many years, from a sense of the honour and respect the town had to their Reverend Pastor and his widow since his decease, and to express the same in this their last office of love, do order that Capt. Jonas Bond, Esq., who is one of the said Selectmen, do provide wine and gloves sufficient for said fune- ral at the town's cost, not exceeding the sum of ten pounds, and Mr. Bond to be seasonably repayed out of the present town rate."
50
ed the Declaration of Independence, has sometimes been erroneously reckoned. That distinguished patriot descended from Capt. John Sherman, who came from Dedham, England, and settled in Watertown in 1635, and who, as has been already mentioned, was probably a relative of the minister .*
Mr. Sherman was succeeded by the Rev. John Bailey, with whom his brother, Thomas Bailey, was for a while associated. One of these brothers, about two months before Mr. Sherman's death, had been invited to become his assistant ; but whether he came to Watertown at that time does not appear. A com- mittee was chosen at a town meeting on the 24th of August, 1685, to treat with "Mr. Bailey the elder," i. e. Mr. John Bailey, on the subject of settling in the ministry at Watertown. Subsequently to this, there was much debate about procuring a residence for the expected clergyman. It was proposed to build a par- sonage ; but the report of the committee, appointed to select a place for this purpose, was not accepted. The next proposal was to hire a house for the minister ; and the persons, to whom that business was entrusted, found a suitable one. But neither does this step seem to have given satisfaction. A vote was then passed, " that if a number of persons would build a conven- ient house to entertain the minister in near to the meeting-house, the town would pay them that build it rent for the said house, until the town do agree and have actually removed this meeting-house, or built another in the room of this, more convenient for the inhabitants, somewhere else where the town shall agree upon." From this vote, it would seem that the difficulty in procuring a dwelling for the clergy-
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.