USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Hanover > Historical sketch of the town of Hanover, Mass., with family genealogies, 1853 > Part 2
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The Court, on the reception of this remonstrance, appointed a Committee, consisting of Lieut .- Governor Tailor, and Elisha Cook, Esq., of the Council, and Ezra Bourne, Esq., Major Tileston, and Edward Arnold, Esq., of the House, to view the territory, and they reported in favor of its incorporation, although they allowed that it would " put the inhabitants of Abington under some diffi- culties, respecting the supporting the public worship of God, for that several large tracts of land within the town did not pay to- wards the maintenance of the ministry."
To remedy this evil, however, at a subsequent date, by petition
1 State files, " Towns," 113, pp. 684, 694.
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HISTORY OF HANOVER.
presented June 20, 1727, the Court authorized Abington to levy a tax of one half-penny per acre, for three years, on all dormant or non-resident lands within their limits, for the support of the min- istry, and also granted them as a compensation for what they had lost, a tract of land lying to the North-east of that commonly called Waldo's farm,1
Scituate, the town most deeply interested in this decision, seems to have acquiesced in it, without any serious complaints, and so far as we can learn from an examination of the records of that town, cheerfully extended to the inhabitants of the newly incorporated district the hand of fellowship, and continued to live with them on terms of friendship, and reciprocal good will.
And now that the new town is fairly started upon a career of its own, it may be well to pause for a moment, and glance at the ter- ritory it embraced, and at the men who settled that territory ; pic- turing to ourselves, as well as we can, the appearance which it would have presented, had we been permitted, from some appro- priate eminence, to survey the scene, and note its features.
First and foremost stands the Town itself. Its ancient boun- daries are described in the Act of Incorporation, as "beginning at the Third Herring Brook, at David Jacobs' Saw Mill Dam, and from thence running near West about two hundred and fifty six rods, to the Northeast corner of Isaac Turner's Great Lot, then near west with the north side line of said Great Lot, one mile to the share line, 2 and then continuing the same course three quarters of a mile ; then turning and running near South, two miles to the South west corner of Nehemiah Cushing's lot, then South five degrees and forty minutes West to the Southerly bounds of Abington and Pembrook, and on Indian Head River, and South easterly by the North River, and easterly by the aforesaid Third Herring Brook, from the said North River, to the Dam before mentioned." 3
The territory here described, is substantially that now con- stituting the town, - only a small gore having been annexed to Pembroke ; - and valuable as it is to the present proprietors,
1 State Files, " Towns," 113, p. 708.
2. This share line was the original easterly boundary of Abington.
3. State Files, " Towns, " 113, pp. 704 and 707.
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LOCATION OF EARLY RESIDENTS.
and pleasant as is the home it affords to nearly sixteen hun- dred free and industrious people, it was still more highly prized, because obtained at greater sacrifices, by the original settlers ; and the location of these early residents we propose briefly to notice, according to the best information we have been able to obtain, de- rived from the Records of the Town and Church, from wills and deeds, and from family tradition ; and should any mistakes occur in this, which has proved a difficult part of our task, we can confi- dently affirm that our list of names is correct, so far as it extends, and errors of location it is impossible always to avoid, inasmuch as the ways travelled then were not, in every case, precisely the same as the highways of our own days, and many families have removed from the town, leaving few traces of their existence be- hind them.
At the Four Corners, and along the North, and Indian Head Rivers, the earliest settlements were made. Near the North Riv- er, and N. 18° W. 125 rods from the Four Corners, the respect- able and enterprising family of Barstows settled, as early as 1649. The house of William, the ancestor, who was a carpenter or ship- wright by trade, stood in the pasture a few rods North of Back, and East of Washington Street. How it was constructed, or when it was torn down, we have no means of determining with certainty. It had a cellar, the outlines of which are still visible, partially fill- ed with stones and rubbish ; and a few scattering trees, the rem- nants of an old orchard, known as the Benjamin Barstow orchard, are standing near the spot. Whether these trees constituted a part of the original orchard of Mr. Barstow, we cannot say, but it is certain that he had an orchard, as in the volume of "Actions," in the Records of the Old Colony, p. 69, William Barstow com- plains of John Palmer, Sen. and John Palmer, jr. in an action of £10 damage, " for setting of trapps and caching of swine, where- by the said Barstow is damnified ; " and on the same page, is the entry of another action instituted against John Palmer, damage £10, " for pulling down fence, and damnifying his apple trees, and for stroying his corn, English and Indian, with his hoggs." In the old family mansion, William, the youngest son of William, Senr. resided, and after him, his son Benjamin, with his numerous family of twenty-one children.
FU
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HISTORY OF HANOVER.
Farther east, or 41 rods N. E. of the Corners, and opposite the residence of Joseph S. Bates, on Broadway, stood the house of Joseph Barstow, grandson of William, which was used as a block-house or garrison house in the Indian War of 1676. This structure was removed many years ago, but its foundation is still visible, and the outlines of the same may be traced even from the road.
In March 1672, liberty was " graunted and allowed to Joseph Barstow to keep an ordinary at the place where he now lives, and that he be provided always with necessaries for the entertainment of travellers, and keep good order in his house, that there be no just cause of complaint against him in that behalfe."1
Across the North River, in Oct. 1656, William, Senr. was au- thorised to build a bridge, "above the third herring brook, at stoney reache, being the place where now passengers goe frequently over ; the said bridge to bee made sufficient for horse and foot ; and to cleare and marke a way to Hughes cross, and to open and clear and make a way along beyand Hughes Crosse toward the bay, soe as to avoid a certain Rocky hill and swamp ;- he to have £12 current countrey pay for so doing."2
July 27. 1662, Mr. Barstow agreed with Mr. Constant South- worth, and Major Josias Winslow, in behalf of the Colony of New Plymouth, to keep in repair and maintain the bridge called Bars- tow's bridge, upon the North River, in consideration of £ 20 in hand paid, for 20 years, to serve for transportation of passengers, hors- es, chattle, and all such use as they shall ordinarily put it to," and pledged for the fulfilment of this contract, the house and land in and on which he dwelt, a small tract already disposed of to his son (in law) Moses Simmons, only excepted. 3
This bridge, the first built on the stream, stood above the pres- ent bridge, and the old piers, which are still visible, and which be- longed to the second bridge, are probably near, if not on the spot where Mr. Barstow built.
In 1657, Mr. Barstow was "allowed by the Court to draw and sell wine, beer, and strong waters for passengers that come and goe
1 Col. Rec. 3. 78.
2 Ibid. 3. 107.
3 Col. Rec. 4. 76.
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LOCATION OF EARLY SETTLERS.
over the bridge he hath lately made, or others that shall have oc- cation, unless any just exception shall come in against him." 1 He had been previously licensed to keep an ordinary ; 2 so that we think it probable that near his bridge he had a small building as a kind of toll-house, and here his refreshments were kept.
About 1662, a grant of land was made to William Barstow, "ly- ing westward of Cornett Studsons graunt, in reference to satisfac- tion for his paines &c. in the countreys business ; " 3 and the com- missioners were instructed to lay out for him not less than 40, nor more than 50 acres of arable land.
Benjamin, Capt. Joseph, and Samuel Barstow, were the repre- sentatives of the family in Hanover, at the date of the incorpora- tion of the town.
Benjamin, who occupied his grandfather's house, was engaged principally in ship-building, at the yard established by the family on the North River, as early as 1690, and this business is still followed by his descendants. Some of his sons moved to Roches- ter, and established ship-yards, yet improved by their descendants, who are among the most active and enterprising men in Matta- poisett.
Capt. Joseph, in connexion with Benjamin Stetson, received in 1720, a grant of two acres of land on the Indian Head River, be- tween Pine Hill and Rocky Run, for the accommodation of a forge and finery, and erected the forge subsequently known as Barstow's forge, but now as Sylvester's, and which was improved by his descendants for nearly a century, or until about the year 1800.
Samuel Barstow resided in the Drinkwater district, and owned land in the Central and Westerly parts of the town. He was en- gaged principally in farming, having an estate of nearly one thou- sand acres, and was somewhat interested in commercial pursuits as a ship owner, and in manufactures as proprietor of a mill.
The descendants of these families, and of the common ancestor, are widely scattered over the Northern and Western States, and wherever known are men of respectable standing, and several have risen to eminence and honor, in the councils of States, and the Congress of the nation.
FUE
1 Col. Rec. 3. 115. 2 Ibid. 4. 126. 3 Ibid. 4. 160 and 186.
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HISTORY OF HANOVER.
Of the Eells family, which has also furnished to the town useful and enterprising men, who served it faithfully in the French War, and were commanders of Companies in the War of the Revolution, Samuel, a ,descendant of Revd. Nathaniel, fourth pastor of the Second Church in Scituate, dwelt at the Four Corners, on the spot where the house of Joseph C. Stockbridge stands, and in the building erected and occupied by his father-in-law, Mr. Witherell. He was a blacksmith by trade, and his shop is spoken of in the laying out of a highway in 1730. His career was short, but dis- tinguished. In 1740, a company was enlisted in the county of Plymouth, by Capt. Winslow, to serve in the expedition against the Spanish West Indies, under Admiral Vernon, whose original mus- ter-roll, on parchment, is still in existence, and in the possession of Revd. Benjamin Kent, of Roxbury. Of the 500 men sent in the expedition by Massachusetts, not more than 50 returned, many having fallen victims to the prevailing tropical fevers.1 Samuel Eells enlisted in this company as an Ensign, and died, either on the passage from Carthagena to Jamaica, or at Jamaica, May 9, 1741, in the 35th year of his age. His widow, Hannah, who sur- vived him for many years, and occupied his homestead, obtained a pension from the British Government, through the friendly aid of the Revd. Ebenezer Thompson, Rector of St. Andrew's Church, . which, we understand, was punctually remitted to her to the close of her life. 2
Abner Dwelley, a descendant of Richard, of Scituate, was in Hanover in 1727, but died soon after, and his descendants left the town. He lived on Elm St. not far from Col. J. B. Barstow's, and an old orchard, known as the " Abner Orchard, " marks the spot. The cellar and well are yet visible. His brothers settled in Pem- broke, and some of their descendants are now in Hanover. Dr. Melzar, Dwelley, also a descendant of Richard, of Scituate, came to Hanover in the latter part of the last century, and remained until his death in 1828. His descendants are in Ashburnham, and South Boston. One of his sons yet resides in Hanover.
Melatiah and John Dillingham seem to have lived near the Cor- ners, and tradition says that the former was a blacksmith, and
1 Winsor's Duxbury, p. 116. 2 Letter of J. Barstow, Esq.
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LOCATION OF EARLY RESIDENTS.
built the house at present occupied by the widow Eells. Joshua, the Quaker, a descendant of Melatiah, was also a blacksmith, and his shop stood at the corner, near Wood & Torrey's store. He moved to New York. A few descendants of these brothers, in the male line, lived in Hanover until the close of the last century, but the name is now extinct. There were several intermarriages in this family with the Este's, of Hanover.
Below the Corners, and on the old Scituate road, near the third Herring brook, called by some the smelt brook, lived the Palmer's. John, supposed to be the same who came with the first settlers of Hingham, in 1635, and who was a freeman in Massachusetts in 1638, was freeman in Plymouth in 1657, with his sons John and
Elnathan. His house lot was near the junction of the road S. E. of Church Hill.1 He is the one referred to in our account of the Barstows. In 1660, he built a log-bridge over the third Herring brook, " from firm upland to firm upland," which is still known as Palmer's bridge. Ezekiel and Josiah, his descendants, were citi- zens of Hanover for a time, and others of his descendants have re- sided in the town, though there is but one of the name now living here.
Not far from the residence of the Palmers, lived the Stock- bridges, descendants of Charles, of Scituate, who was son of John, the wheelwright. To Charles was granted, in 1673, " 30 acres of land on the third Herring brook, on condition that he erect a corn mill on that brook, and keep and tend the mill fourteen years." 1 This mill, subsequently known as Jonah's mill, and the Tiffany mill, stood near the tack factory of Mr. Samuel Salmond, and was built in 1677. In the division of the estate of the father, in 1684, there was given " to Charles, the oldest son, land at third Herring brook, and half the corn-mill and three fourths of the saw-mill there ; To Thomas, land on third Herring brook, half the corn-mill, and one fourth of the saw-mill ; To Joseph 50 acres of land in Duxbury, near Indian-head river."
The first of these, Charles, lived near the Herring brook, and also Thomas.3 Joseph, the third son, became a citizen of Pembroke
1 Deane's Scitnate, p. 319. 2 Deane, p. 343.
3 In the house occupied by Ephraim Stetson.
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HISTORY OF HANOVER.
in 1735, but continued to be a member of the Church in Hanover until his death, in I773, at the advanced age of 100 years. His farm, which was his father's grant, was in what is now Pembroke, and where Haviland, son of the late Capt. William Torrey resides, - the first house in Pembroke, after crossing the bridge at the Curtis Forge. His son David, who married Deborah, daughter of Judge John Cushing, built the house near North River bridge, where the new house of Edmund Q. Sylvester stands, and was Town Clerk for many years, Representative, &c. and his son David was Senator, &c.
Within a half-mile of the Corners, Northward, dwelt the Sylves- ters, descendants of Richard, who was of Weymouth in 1633, and of Scituate in 1642. Capt. Joseph, the father of Amos and Ben- jamin, of Hanover, had, according to Deane,1 a farm north of the Church Hill, which in part he purchased of John Whiston in 1664, and his house stood where that of Samuel Waterman stands, not far from the third Herring brook. He was Capt. under Col. Ben- jamin Church, the famous Indian warrior, in the Eastern expedi- tion in 1689, and in 1690, was Captain with 16 men from Scitu- ate, many of whom never returned, in Phips' expedition to Cana- da, and died in the service. His will, which was verbal, was proved in the Court by three of his soldiers, Benjamin Stetson, and John and William Perry, and gives "all my land at Hugh's cross to son Joseph ; the three younger sons (Amos, Benjamin, and David,) to be provided for by their mother ( Mary, ) out of the remainder of my estate."
On Broadway, and on Elm and Spring Streets, dwelt the Jos- selynns, descendants of Thomas, who came from London in 1635, through Abraham, his oldest son, and Henry, his grandson, who settled in Scituate in 1669. Nathaniel, Jabez, Joseph, and Dea. Thomas, were living in Hanover at the date of the incorporation of the town. The descendants of this family are very numerous, and widely scattered.
The Burdens or Bardins, Isaac and Thomas, probably descend- ants of Abraham of Scotland, 2 also resided on Broadway, and tra- dition says the latter built the house now occupied by David Her-
1 Deane, p. 349. 2 Deane, p. 215.
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LOCATION OF EARLY RESIDENTS.
sey. He was likewise proprietor of the First Forge, erected on the Indian Head river, about 1704, where the Curtis Forge now stands, whose dam stretched across the stream from shore to shore, and near which the then highly important alewife fishery, subse- quently a matter of controversy, and now of no consequence to the town, was carried on in its season.
Farther up the stream, and on the gore which was annexed to Pembroke, dwelt the Cushings, Lt. Elijah and Lt. Nehemiah, de- scendants of John of Scituate, who came from Hingham in 1662 and who was son of Matthew, born in England in 1588.1 Both these men were useful in the town, the former serving as Modera- tor, Representative, &c. The latter, Nehemiah, became a citizen of Pembroke before 1750, and also Elijah ; and their descendants are principally in Hanson.
Few families in the country have been more celebrated than the Cushings, and probably no other one has furnished more Judges for our Probate, Municipal and Supreme Courts. In all its branches, it has been highly respectable, and it still maintains its ancient standing.
In the vicinity of the Cushings, and on the gore annexed to Pem- broke, so far as I can learn, dwelt a few other families, whose de- scendants are now in Hanson ; as Richard Bowker, Richard Hill, and perhaps Edmund Bowker, William Cocks ( Cook, now Coxe, ) and Israel Smith.
In the Westerly part of the town, on Torrey's lane, now Winter Street, the Tilden house, a portion of which is still standing, was erected over 130 years ago, and was occupied by a brother of Lt. Job, when the town was incorporated. On the same lane dwelt the Torreys, David and Stephen, - and James and Nathaniel liv- ed more towards the centre of the town. Farther on, and on the same street, the Wings,-Bachelor, Sylvanus, and Ebenezer,- were settled. In the male line, all these names are extinct here. A few of the female descendants still survive, among whom we may name the wife of Thomas M. Bates, who was a Wing.
Around Circuit Street, and in other parts of the Drinkwater district, were settled Robert Young, Thomas Jones, and John
1 Deane, p. 254.
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HISTORY OF HANOVER.
Cobb, who left no descendants in Hanover ; Joseph and Samuel Ramsdell, whose descendants are in the western part of the State ; Job Otis, who returned to Scituate ; and near Abington line, Samuel Staples, who occupied the old Wanton House, and John Bray and Thomas Wilkes, the latter of whom has descendants in Abington. William Ford may have lived in the same neighbor- hood, though of this we cannot speak with confidence.
On and near what is now Plain Street, lived Caleb Barker, the Quaker, whose descendants are in Pembroke and New York ; and Matthew, William, and Edward Estes, a few of whose descend- ants are in Hanover, but who mostly removed to the Western States.
On Center Street, and near the present residence of Albert White, Esq., the Hatch family settled, on land bought before 1680, by Jeremiah and Walter Hatch, of John Hanmer, being a portion of Hanmer's Hook. Jeremiah, Isaac, and Dea. James, were in'Han- over in 1727, and all lived in the Westerly part of the town, James owning the saw-mill near Teague's bridge, then Hatch's bridge, and which stood where stood the mill of Cobb & Cushing, burnt in : 1852. The Hatch estate, improved as a farm, and on which was a family burial ground, is said to have been sold in 1743, to Cor- nelius White, then of Marshfield, and a descendant of Peregrine White, the first male child born in Plymouth Colony - and it has since been in the possession of, and is yet improved by his de- scendants.
Benjamin Hanmer, a descendant of John, who was of Scituate in 1639, seems to have lived on some part of the hook, and I in- fer, from scattered notes, that he was settled not far from the old Meeting House.
In the vicinity of this Meeting House, lived the Stetsons, de- scendants of Cornet Robert, of Scituate, a noted and valuable man in the Colony. Matthew, Benjamin, Seth, Robert, and Samuel, were heads of families when the town was incorporated. Tradition says that Isaac Buck lived in the same neighborhood ; but none of his descendants remain in the town. Probably the venerable schoolmaster, Richard Fitzgerald, lived in the same section of the
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LOCATION OF EARLY RESIDENTS.
town ; and 'Thomas and John Rogers, a few of whose descendants yet remain.
The Bates family settled in the Westerly and Southerly parts of the town, and descended from Clement, who was of Hingham in 1636. Joseph, Solomon, Amos, and Clement were in Hanover in 1727, and a large number of their descendants still reside in the town.
The Baileys, descendants of John, of Scituate, 1670, settled first on Curtis Street, and afterwards principally on King Street. Col. John and Major Luther, of Revolutionary memory, belonged to this family, - also Dr. David, of Scituate, and others.
The Curtis family lived on Washington Street, where many of the descendants still reside, and on Curtis, now Main Street. Benjamin, Benjamin, jr., William, John, Elisha, Richard, Jesse, David, Ebenezer, Samuel, Thomas, and Bezaleel, were in Hano- ver before 1727.
The Turners, descendants of Humphrey, of Scituate, and Thomas, of Hingham, settled on Curtis Street, and in the North part of the town, in the " Snappet " neighborhood.
Joseph House lived on Curtis Street, and David, the hatter, near T. J. Gardner's mill, on the third Herring brook.
John, Uriah, and Isaac Lambert, lived in the Northerly part of the town. This name is extinct in Hanover.
Of the Manns, descendants of Richard the planter, who came over in the Mayflower in 1620, Benjamin was in Hanover in 1723, and owned part of a mill on Curtis Street, where he re- sided.
Eliab Studley, a descendant of Benjamin, of Hingham, settled on Pleasant Street ; and Benoni, who was of another family, from Sandwich, lived on Hanover Street, and his house, one of the old- est in the town, is still standing, not far from the residence of the late Dr. Joshua Studley.
Benjamin Bass, the first minister of the town, also lived on Hanover Street, and his house stood near the house of William Church.
Joseph Cornish resided near him, but no descendants are left in the town.
3
26
HISTORY OF HANOVER.
Jonathan and Othniel Pratt resided on Washington Street, near where Martin and Samuel S. Church now reside. A few of their descendants yet live in the town.
Thomas Rose, a descendant of Thomas, who was in the "Two mile" in 1660, seems to have lived near where Edwin Rose now resides, on Hanover Street ; and Edward Brisco lived in the same neighborhood, the plain on which his house stood being known on old records as Brisco's Plain. If I am not mistaken, he moved to North Carolina over a hundred years ago.
Of the Perrys,-Samuel and Joseph were early in Hanover, and have descendants here, and in Pembroke, and other towns in the vicinity.
William Witherell, the First Town Clerk, lived at the Four Cor- ners, and perhaps Samuel and Daniel also. John Woodwarth, or Woodward, lived beyond William Church's, on Hanover Street, near Woodward hill, so called. Both these names are now extinct in the town.
Capt. Joseph Soper, lived on what is now Union Street, back of the house occupied by Josiah Bonney, on the hill. His de- scendants are in Hanson_
A few other names occur on the early records, but most of them are extinct. Of these are Henry Merritt, Ezekiel Vi- nal, John Warren, Benjamin and John Taylor, Nathan Bourne, Samuel Harlow, Hugh Vickery, Daniel Foster, John Stoddard, and Recompense Tiffany ; the last of whom lived near Palmer's Bridge.
The families of Briggs, Brooks, Barrell, Clark, Church, Cham- berlin, Gardner, Ellis, Jacobs, Munroe, Robbins, Simmons, and Whiting, appear on the records from 1740 to 1775. The other names in the town are of a more recent date. Sketches of all these families will be found in our Second Part.
In the foregoing pages, our aim has been to give a picture of the town before the Revolution, and especially in the earlier days of its settlement. We do not claim that our sketch is perfect ; on the contrary, we think it highly probable that some errors will be detected in it ; but we have sought to make it correct and reliable. Should errors be discovered, however, we hope they will be noted,
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LOCATION OF EARLY RESIDENTS.
and that those who have it in their power to correct them, will take the liberty so to do.
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