History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890, Part 42

Author: Deyo, Simeon L., ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: New York : Blake
Number of Pages: 1292

USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890 > Part 42

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"The County road or highway laid out by ye in March and April 1686 through Barnstable is as followeth-beginning at ye bounds be- tween Sandwich and Barnstable, running for ye most part easterly at a rock lying in Ralph Jones, his fence, ye north side of ye sd way and a heap of stones on ye south side of sd way, from thence to a red oak markt tree on ye south side of ye sd way upon ye land that was Capt. Fuller's, from thence to ye fence of John Fuller Jr., on ye south side of sd road, and a markt tree upon ye north side of ye way, from thence to marked trees on both sides of sd way at ye corner of Wm. Troop's fence where ye way goeth down to Scorton, from thence to ye foot of ye hill between ye fence of Wm Troop and a little swamp & so to ye said Troop's stone ditch on ye north side of sd road and a bound set on ye south side within ye fence of sd Troop ye sd Troop's dwelling house on ye north side of sd road, from thence to trees marked on each side of ye way by a swamp and from thence to a marked tree on ye north side of sd road bounded by a stone set in ye field on ye south side of sd road and Mr. Smith's house on ye north side to the fence of John Bursley bounded by trees marked within ye fence of ye Widdow Davis on ye south side of ye way runing between ye dwell- ing house of sd Widdow Davis and ye barn of sd John Bursley on ye north side of sd way & so over ye bridge called John Bursley's bridge, from thence to a marked tree on each side of sd way upon Peter Blos- som's land to a stake set upon Peter Blossom's orchard, leaving ye sd Peter Blossom's house on ye south side of sd road, from thence thro ye lands of Wm Dexter bounded by several marks set up within ye fence of Phillip Dexter on ye north side of sd road, ye house of sd Phillip Dexter on ye north side of sd road & ye house of Increase Clap on ye south side bounded by a stone in ye orchard of sd Clap, through ye lands of Samuel Parker & John Crocker bounded by a markt tree and a stone within ye fence of sd Parker on ye south side of sd road by ye house of Richard Childs & ye house of Lieut John Howland on ye north side of sd road and ye barn of sd Howland on ye south his sheep yard in ye highway runing by ye house of Elder John Chipman on ye north and ye house of John Otis on ye north bounded by three marks set up within his fence on ye south side of sd road runing through or by ye foot of ye lands of Samuel Hinckley

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Senr, bounded by marks set up within John Otis his fence on ye north side of sd way, runing over ye bridge called Hinckley's bridge thro ye lands of Joseph Blish bounded by marks on ye side of ye sd way neer ye marsh between ye lands of Mr. Samuel Allin and sd Blish bound- ed by three marks set up within ye fence of sd Allin on ye north side of sd road & sd Allins and ye house of Joseph Blish on ye south side of sd road running by ye house of Widdow Annable's and ye house of Thomas Ewer both on ye north side of sd road bounded by two marks set within ye fence on sd Ewer's land on ye south side of sd road, running by or neer ye upper end of Deacon Crocker Junr. his land, on ye south side of a great rock partly at ye head of the lands of Austin Bearce, runing through a valley to coming into ye old road neer ye land of Thomas Huckins, always provided that Dea. Crocker Junr. make ye way that is turned out of ye old road (at his Desire) or cause it to be made a good convenient passable way till it come into ye old road again, runing above ye houses of Thomas Huckins James Hamlin Senr. Mr. Russel neer by ye meeting house all on ye north side of sd road, by ye pond called formerly Coggins pond on ye north side of sd way leaving ye Governours house on ye south and his barn on ye north side of sd road bounded by three marks set up within his fence on ye south side of sd way, from thence runing by ye house of John Lothrop and Mr. Barnabas Lothrop on ye north side of sd way & so thro ye lands of Capt. Lothrop between ye house of sd Capt Lothrop on ye southwest & ye house of Melatiah Lothrop on ye northeast side of sd road & along by ye house of Thomas Lothrop on ye north side of sd road being too narrow ye breadth of his stone wall in ye bottom neer his house, & so- going along by Isaac Chapman's house and shop on south side of sd way being too narrow is bounded into his land on ye north side of sd way from ye corner of his stone wall to Henry Taylor's fence, sd road going along by ye house of Saml Sarjant on ye south side and ye house of John Davis Senr. on ye north side of sd way up ye hill called Cobbs hill by ye house and shop of Lieut James Lewis on ye south side of sd way too narrow at his barn three foot, & so sd road lying along neer ye house of Mr. Bacon on ye north side of sd way leaving ye house of Serjant James Cobb on ye south side & ye house of En- sign Shobel Dimock on ye north side of sd road sd way too narrow ye breadth of his fence from John Scudders to a stake set in his field in ye swamp, sd way runing along close by ye house of Henry Taylor on north side of sd way bounded by a little stone & a stake in ye swamp within ye fence on ye south side of sd way lying along by ye house of George Lewis & ye house of Thomas Hinckley on ye south side of sd way bounded by a little stone in ye swamp within his piece. Said way runs by Saml Cobbs house & Josiah Davis his house on ye.

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north side of sd way bounded by a stake in his field on ye south side and by Joseph Benjamin's fence by a stone set in his field and by three stones laid together and by a little stone drove into ye ground with little stones laid about it on south side of sd way, runing along thro ye lands of James Gorham leaving ye house of Josiah Hallett and James Gorham on north side of sd way bounded into the field of sd Gorham on south side of sd way by three stones & stones laid to- gether at ye west corner of his fence of sd field & so thro ye lands of John Gorham leaving his house and barn on ye north side of sd road bounded by a stake set within his hay yard fence between his house and barn & so running to ye bounds of Yarmouth neer where are three great stones laid together being laid all along forty foot.

" The names of ye Jury: CAPT. LOTHROP, LIEUT. HOWLAND, ENSIGN DIMOCK, JAMES GORHAM, JABEZ LUMBART, JAMES COB, SAML COB,

NATHL. BACON, ENSIGN LUMBART, LIEUT. JAMES LEWIS, JOHN PHINNEY, JOB CROCKER, SAMUEL HINCKLEY SR., JOSEPH BLISH, JOSIAH CROCKER,

JAMES HAMBLIN JR."

The town, tiring of long trips to Plymouth for grinding, in 1687 ordered that a wind mill be built, either on Cobb's hill or the old Meeting House hill, and appropriated money and land to pay for it. Thomas Paine of Eastham constructed one on Meeting House hill, much to the satisfaction of Barnabas Lothrop and Samuel Allen, who were the committee to oversee the work. The same year John An- drews and others were granted a tract of eight or ten acres at the river by John Goodspeed's, and the benefit of the stream, "to build and keep a fulling mill," but there is no record of its being built. Roads were rapidly laid out, branching from the county road. In 1689 the same jury, whose names have been given, opened a highway into the woods opposite the Dimock house, another into the common field, and by the opening of this communication permission was given for another fulling mill, which was erected on the river where the Goodspeeds resided-now Marston's Mills-and Thomas Macy, or Massey, was made keeper of it. The contract with the town was that it should be kept running twenty years, and it was, much longer. The reader of the present day can hardly realize that the wool and flax at that time, and a hundred years later, were spun and woven into cloth for domestic use, and the fulling mill was as necessary as the grist mill. In 1696 other roads were laid out, and Mr. Otis had permission to build a warehouse on Rendezvous creek. He was given forty feet

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

square of land for the purpose, and this was the first store-house on the harbor in that part of the town east of the present court house. Rendezvous creek is said to have run northerly across the marsh, and had its source in the swamp back of Eben B. Crocker's residence.

Prior to 1700, communities had sprung up and started the various industries that the town needed. The creeks that furnished the power for mills were south of the ridge that lines the marshes and harbor on the north side of the town. In 1696 we find along the south shore John, Benjamin and Ebenezer Goodspeed. Thomas Macy. John, James, William and Andrew Lovell, John Issum. Thomas Bumpas, Dolor Da- vis, Thomas Lewis, Joshua Lumbert, John Linnel, John Phinney, jr., Edward and John Lewis, Joseph Lothrop, jr., Edward Coleman, and the Hallett, Crosswell, Bearse and Claghorn families. These names are largely represented now along the southern side of the town, at Cotuit, Marston's Mills, Osterville, Centreville and Hyannis.

In 1703, after a controversy of many years, a final division and apportionment of the land of the proprietors was made. They divided about six thousand acres among those who were entitled to the lands, and this bone of contention was removed. Too many who were not proprietors, nor their descendants or assigns, wanted rights in the commons. and the final division was much complicated by the great number of actual owners. They reserved eighty acres for schools, known as the school lot, in the south part of the town. and eighty for the ministry, known as the minister's lot, on the north side.

There was a poor house, prior to 1768, in the western part of the town, for that year it was "voted to build a new poor house on the site of the old one;" but when the first was built, neither tradition nor records give any date. This house of 1768 was used until 1821, when a new one was built on the farm which Parker Lombard had bequeathed "to the support of the poor for ever." This is the house now in use, situated at West Barnstable. The Lombard tract men- tioned, extends from the poor house north to the harbor. The old road running from the church to the cemetery is in part the eastern boundary of the tract.

The revolutionary war occupied almost the entire thought of the people of Barnstable, but did not preclude the idea of the importance of a mail from the large centers on the main land; and in 1775 the town conferred with Sandwich concerning a mail and stage line to Plymouth and Boston, which was very soon opened. Barnstable was early in line with her first quota of troops for the war, and had Joseph Otis, Nymphas Marston and Sturgis Gorham as its first war commit- tee. The so-called tory element strongly existed here, and at a town meeting in 1776, at which 140 voters were present, only sixty-five voted on the question of sustaining the continental congress in its

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declaration of the independence of the colonies-thirty for and thirty- five against. A strong resolution was at once signed by the loyal citi- zens of the town, condemning the action of the meeting, and urging as the reason for such a vote, a misunderstanding of the question and intimidation by lawless people at the meeting. The near future proved that the vote was not the sentiment of the town, and delegates were sent who were instructed to enact such rules as in their mature deliberation would conduce to the safety, peace and happiness of the people. The war was long and the colonies were young and poor, and in 1781, before peace was declared, Barnstable failed to send the quota required for Rhode Island and West Point; but by the almost superhuman efforts of the leading men, the town's credit was retrieved, and peace, in 1783, dawned upon a people who had, for the years of the war, endured a more than proportionate share of its attendant evils.

The war of 1812 made its calls upon the patriotism and means of the Barnstable people, as upon others, and the town responded as promptly.

The prosperity of the town during the first half of the present cen- tury was marked; a printing office was permanently established, and every part of the town seemed to open into new life and greater in- portance. The descendants of the sterling fathers of the town were filling the highest places in the courts and councils of the land, or were merchant princes in the distant cities. In 1839, September 3d, these children visited their homes to assist in celebrating the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Barnstable as a town. It was a scene of reverential devotion, enjoyed alike by its citizens and the officials of the commonwealth. John G. Palfrey, a former resident of Barnstable, delivered the address, which has been pronounced an able production. At this date the town was at the acme of its strength and beauty; its harbor was busy with shipping and its shores were white with salt works; its fields were golden with ripening harvests, and its many spires of church and school edifices pointed to God and know- ledge. At that date the statistics indicate no beggars in the town, no idlers nor sots, and only three in jail-and they foreigners.

The population had steadily increased to the year 1860, as the cen- sus report by decades will show. In the Colonial report of 1765 it was 2,108; in 1776, 2,610. The United States report of 1790 was 2,610; in 1800, 2,964; 1810, 3,646; 1820, 3,824; 1830, 3,974; 1840, 4,301; 1850, 4,901; 1860, 5,129; 1870, 4,793; 1880, 4,242; and in 1885 the population of the town was 4,050.

The people of Barnstable in one respect overdid the Puritan idea of using the meeting house for public purposes, for their public meet- ings were continued in that manner until nearly the middle of this

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HISTORY OF BARNSTABLE COUNTY.

century-the present town house being the first building erected by the town for civil uses only. About 1840 the subject of a town house was agitated -- some wishing to utilize what is now the Baptist church, and others wishing to have it on the south side of the town. Zenas D. Bassett and others were finally appointed a committee to locate a town house at the geographical centre of the town, which was found to be within the bounds of the Iyanough pond. It was therefore de- cided to locate it where it now stands, and a good building was erected soon after. It is centrally situated, has every convenience outside and in, and is a credit to the town.

Notwithstanding the lapse of 250 years since the incorporation of Barnstable, which great period would seem to preclude such an idea, a singular memento of primitive times was brought to the eyes of the citizens of Barnstable village on the 18th of March, 1889, in the form of a young deer that came from the woods south of the railroad sta- tion; he ran across the track, down through the fields in front of the Patriot office, by the jail to the vicinity of W. D. Holme's shop, and from thence back, across the track, to the woods again. He went over fences and walls with easy bounds, and presented a novel sight to those fortunate enough to witness it.

SCHOOLS .- The proprietors' records indicate an early and unflag- ging interest in the means of education. In fact none of the older towns were so prompt in appropriating annually the requisite fund for sustaining the common school. As early as 1714 the town voted an additional sum to their accustomed appropriation, that the teacher could teach six months in the south part of the town-dividing the year with the settlement in the north part. Prior to this time one school had served the purpose of the town. In 1731 a grammar school was added to the common school and £65 was voted for its support. In 1732 Mr. Bennett was employed as master and was to divide his time between the two parishes, casting lots to determine which should have the first term. Private dwellings were used for school purposes until 1735, when it was voted to have two gram- mar school masters-one in each parish-and that a schoolhouse be built. But the first school building, which was erected near the old burying ground, was not built until 1771.

In 1789 the appropriation for schools was £150, the privations caused by the war, or internal differences not having abated the zeal of these fathers in religious and educational interests.

The dawn of the present century found the schools of Barnsta- ble in a prosperous condition. Every improvement in its system, as developed by the more liberal 'laws and enlightment of the com- monwealth, had been eagerly seized by the people of this town. They also inaugurated, through individual support, a system of

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select schools which flourished many years, affording advantages not belonging to the common school. By the middle of the pres- ent century nearly a score of pretty school buildings here and there dotted the landscape of the town; and soon after, by a law of the Commonwealth the children at an inconvenient distance were conveved to and from the schools at public expense, which greatly increased the attendance and average standing of pupils.

Enoch T. Cobb gave the town $10,000, the income from which is devoted as he directed to the purchase of school supplies. These monies and the interest from the Percival fund have been assidu- ously applied, and the efforts of efficient officers have been seconded by a background of liberal public sentiment until the schools of Barnstable occupy a high plane of perfection. The sciences of physiology and hygiene, penmanship, language and music have been properly introduced with the most satisfactory results. The school buildings are commodious and neat, embracing every needed improvement, and are kept in the best possible condition. In 1849 the Hyannis section erected the best house yet seen here, and which was subsequently purchased by the town. West Barnstable has another fine one recently erected. The school building at Cen- treville erected since, is one of the finest edifices in the town. The publication of the names of meritorious scholars, as adopted by the school committee, has resulted in good. The committee now publishes rules for the use of books, which the town furnishes to the schools; also rules for the care of the buildings and apparatus, and conduct of pupils, all of which has greatly advanced the cause.

The last report of the school committee is most flattering, and the citizens may well be pleased by a comparison with other towns. Seven grammar schools are distributed through the town, also one high school, two intermediate and thirteen primaries. Thirty-four teachers have been employed during the year and twenty-five school rooms have been used in the education of the young. The regis- tered number of pupils was 743, the average per cent. of their at- tendance being 90.46 for the terms of the year. The school build- ings are valued at $34,000, besides the large amounts invested in apparatus and books. The amount paid for school purposes for a year is over $12,000, of which five-sixths is raised by tax.

The distribution of the schools and their gradation is most ad- mirably adapted to the wants of the town-section No. 1, East Barnstable, a primary; No. 3, Barnstable village, grammar and pri- mary; 4, Pond village, a primary; 6, West Barnstable, a primary and grammar; 8, Plains, a primary; 9, Newtown, a primary; 10, Cotuit, primary; 11, Cotuit, Intermediate; Santuit, grammar and primary; 12, Marston's Mills, mixed school; 13, Osterville, primary and gram-

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mar; 15, Hyannis Port, mixed: 16, Hyannis. grammar and primary; 17, Hyannis, intermediate; 18, Hyannis, high, grammar and primary; 20, Centreville, grammar and primary; and 21, Cotuit, High-Ground, primary.

The facts given are substantiated by the reports published in 1890 for the year 1889. This effective outgrowth is the realization of an idea of generations, a system that has evolved the government and secured liberty and prosperity. Contemplate the wisdom and fore- sight of the fathers who two hundred years ago struggled to establish such an unparalleled success ! They laid the foundation work of the marvelous structure that has bedecked the land with institutions, and has guided the body politic. Through these lesser and local sources -integral parts of the Commonwealth-the perpetuity of the whole system of civil and Christian liberties is secured; and to Barnstable, as a town, is much credit due for the thorough and active part taken in this foundation work.

CIVIL HISTORY .- The record of the transactions of the citizens of Barnstable as a body politic does not differ materially from that of other towns, as the people were under the same government. The first acts of the community were under the sanction of an incorporated town, however crude the advantages of the inhabitants may have been. It is traditionary, but supported by private memoranda, that the first town meeting was held around the same rock where the religious meeting was held, which is described elsewhere. Not for several years was the combined meeting and town house erected; but the public meetings of the town were as regularly called as the re- ligious.

In the town meeting of 1640 it was ordered that no one within the plantation shall make sale of his house or lands until he has offered the same to the proprietors; but if the proprietors do not buy he must furnish a purchaser to be approved by them. The town meet- ing of 1641 was devoted to the laying out of lands, of which Thomas Lothrop and Bernard Lombard were appointed "measurers" to lay out and "bound with stakes." The records of these measurements are not to be found; Amos Otis, Esq., says they were filed at Ply- mouth, and lost by fire; he also is the author of the tradition that the lots were from six to twelve acres each and were laid out to the north of Rendezvous lane. In future town meetings the subject of divisions of lands was paramount to all others. The training grounds, with the stocks and whipping post, were not forgotten. On the green just east of the Baptist church was the old green; and in June, 1642, John Casely was condemned to be publicly whipped there, and his wife Alice was placed in the stocks while the wholesome duty was being performed.

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There were forty-five voters in 1643. The duties of the officers of the town were increased in 1645 by the necessary arrangement for the town's quota of men for the Narragansett expedition. In 1646 the people had the new meeting house for public gatherings, as was the custom; and this invariable rule, to construct the meet- ing house for civil and religious meetings as soon as possible after a plantation had been seated, has followed the descendants of the Pilgrims wherever they have planted a colony.

In 1651 the order was made to record the bounds and titles of lands in the plantation, and gate keepers were appointed; later, in 1655, it was ordered that Captain Miles Standish and Mr. Hatherly have authority to settle all difficulties with the Indians, which might be submitted to them by the deputies. In 1661 William Crocker and Thomas Huckins were appointed "to take notice of such as intrude themselves into the town without the town's consent."

In 1662 the town meeting " ordered that the sons of the present inhabitants shall be successively received as inhabitants and allowed equal town privileges in the Commons and other privileges of the present inhabitants, at the day of their marriage, or at the age of 24, whichever happens first," and at that meeting Samuel Bacon, Samuel Fuller, Caleb Lumbard, Jabez Lumbard, Samuel Fuller, jr., Joseph Benjamin, Nicholas Bonham, James Hamblin, Thomas Lumbard, Samuel Norman, Samuel Hicks, James Cobb, Edward Coleman, John Howland, John Sargeant, John Crocker, Edward Lewis, Daniel Stew- art, Thomas Ewer and John Lewis were admitted, making the num- ber of voters in the town sixty-five, which number was increased to eighty-nine in 1670 by other additions. When the number of free- men and voters was recorded in 1670, the commons' meadows were ordered sold. The list of freemen and their widows not heretofore given, were: John Thompson, Henry Taylor, Edward Taylor, Moses Rowley, Mark Ridley, Samuel Storrs, John Scudder, William Sargeant, John Phinney, sr., John Phinney, jr., Jabez and Jedediah Lumbard, Benjamin Lumbard, Caleb Lumbard, Widow Lothrop, Widow Lum- bard, John Otis, Robert Parker, Joshua Lumbard, sr., Melt. Lothrop, Joseph Lothrop, Ralph Jones, John Jenkins, John Huckins, John Howland, John Hinckley, Barnabas Lothrop, Widow Lewis, Thomas Lewis, John Lewis, James Lewis, Edward Lewis, Shubael Dimock, Nathaniel Fitzrandal, John Fuller, Matthew Fuller, Samuel Fuller, sr., Samuel Fuller, jr., Samuel Fuller, son of Matthew, John and Nathaniel Goodspeed, Samuel Allyn, Nathaniel Bacon, jr., Peter Blossom, John Chipman, James Claghorn, James Cobb, Job Crocker, Josiah Crocker, Robert Davis, Thomas Dexter, William Dexter, William Troop, Thomas Walley, sr., John Gorham, Joseph Hallett, Bart. Hamblin, James Hamblin, sr., and James Hamblin, jr.

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History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1890, Part 42

Author: Deyo, Simeon L., ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: New York : Blake Number of Pages: 1292

Author: Deyo, Simeon L., ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: New York : Blake
Number of Pages: 1292