History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 144

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818

USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 144

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" Consented to.

" J. DUDLEY."

Act of Incorporation .- The following is the act of incorporation :

" An Act for raising u new Town by the name of Norton, within the County of Bristol :

" Whereas, The tract of Land commonly called and known by the name of the North Purchase, Lying situate within the Township of Taunton, in the county of Bristol, circumscribed within the Lines and Bounderies prescribed by a committee some time since appointed by the General Assembly, as follows, viz .: Beginning at the Line between the two late Colonies of the Massachusetts and Plymouth, in the line of the said North purchase and Attleborough; from thence Running South- ward to Rehoboth North-East Corner; and from thence Eastward, on the North-purchase Line, to Taunton bounds; thence eastward to the Mouth of the Brook calld Burt's Brook, and extending from the mouth of Bart's Brook to the Bridge over the Mill River, near Wm. Witherel's; and from thence North-eastward to the North-Purchase Line; and, from the North-purchase Line, the Road that leads from the said Bridge to- wards Boston to be the Bounds till it come to the Line betwixt the two Late Colonies aforesaid; which Line to be the bonnds to Attleborough aforesaid was set off from Taunton by and with the consent of that Town, and by an order of the General Assembly, passed at their Session in March, 1710, made a distinct and separate Town from Tawnton, con- taining a sufficient quantity of Lands and a competent number of Inhabitants for that purpose, and named Norton ; the full perfecting of the said Grant being adjourned and refered to the present Courts.

" In pursuance, therefore, of the afore-recited Order and Grant, and I for the completing and perfecting of the same, Be it enacted by his Ex-

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NORTON.

cellency the Governor, Council, and Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the aforesaid Tract of Land commonly called the North Purchase, circumscribed and bounded as above expressed, Be and is Granted to be a Township Dis- Tinct and separate from Taunton; the Town to be named Norton, and the Inhabitants thereof to have, Use, Excercise, and enjoy all such Im- munities, Powers, and Privileges as other Towns within this Province have and do by Law excercise and enjoy, so that the said Inhabitants settle an alle, Learned, Orthodox Minister in the said Town, and from time to time allow him a Comfortable support.

"Provided Nevertheless, That the Inhabitants in the east end of the said North Purchase shall have one-half of the said Purchase as their Precinct, when they are able to maintain a minister, and this Court judge then so.

"June 12th, 1711.

" This Bill, having been read three several times in the House of Rep- resentatives, passed to be enacted.

" JOHN BURRILL, Speaker.

" Read three several times in Council, Concured, and passed to be enacled.

" ISAAC ADDINGTON, Sectry.

" By his Excellency.

" I consent to the enacting of this Bill. " J. DUDLEY."

The First Settlements .- To William Wetherell is due the honor of having been the first settler within the bounds of the present town of Norton. He located in 1669 on the easterly side of Winnecon- net Pond. Rev. Mr. Clark, in his excellent " History of Norton," says,-

" By an examination of the Proprietors' Records of the old town of Taunton (p. 50), I find that on the 29th of April, 1669, William Wetherell sold several parcels of land situated on and near Mill River (which is the stream that runs out of Winneconnet Pond), and included in this sale were 'five accres, more or less, which was granted to him by the town for a home-lotte.' And on the same day was laid out to him, in four lots, about sixty acres of land on the easterly and northerly side of the pond; and the bounds of these lots can be pretty generally identi- fied at the present time. Hence we think, in the ab- sence of all testimony to the contrary, that in the spring of 1669, and on the east side of the pond, only a few rods from the meadow, was erected the first habitation in our town.

" Tradition says that this William Wetherell, whose name will ever be a household word to the people of Norton, came from England in the capacity of a cabin-boy, with William Dunn, the master of the vessel, and one of the original proprietors of Taun- ton, who is said to have soon returned to England, leaving his cabin-boy in charge of his proprietary, with the understanding that if he (Dunn) did not return to claim it, the right should escheat to young Wetherell, and such was the result. Of the exact time Capt. Dunn arrived in America we have no re- liable account; it might have been just before the settlement of Taunton, and he might have brought over in his vessel many of the first settlers of the town, and as most of these were from the vicinity of Taunton, in England, it is possible that the birthplace of Wetherell was in that neighborhood. All this is, however, mere conjecture. The first reliable evidence

we have of William Wetherell being in Taunton is in 1643, when his name appears on a list of males, between the ages of sixteen and sixty, subject to mil- itary duty. He was one of the inhabitants of Taun- ton who, on the 28th of December, 1659, had a divis- ion of land made in the proportion of two acres on each shilling of the rate paid by the individual, two acres on each head in the family, and two acres to the lot. Mr. Wetherell's rate was seven shillings and ten pence, and there were five heads in his family (supposed to be himself, wife, and three children), and twenty-eight acres of land were assigned him. His wife's name was Dorothy -. When they were married is uncertain, but it is supposed to have been about 1650, for, in 1672, William Wetherell and Wil- liam Wetherell, Jr. (supposed to be his son), were among the proprietors of the South Purchase of Taunton, including what is now Dighton and a por- tion of Berkley.

"He was admitted a freeman at the Plymouth Court in June, 1658. June 6, 1664, William Weth- erell and three others, of Taunton, were fined 'twenty shillings for an abuse done to a saw-mill att Taunton belonging to James Walker and others, by coming in the night and breaking downe some parte of the said mill, and for takeing away sevuerall thinges from the same.' It is presumed that this difficulty grew out of the fact that the dam to this mill was so built as to prevent 'the alewines from goeing vp' the river, and hence was not legally built, for on the same day that Wetherell and others were fined the owners of the mill were required, before 'the next season of the fishes goeing vp,' to make 'a free, full, and sufficient passage for the said fish.'

" Just before the commencement of Philip's war in 1675, a list of the proprietors of Taunton was made, and on this list is the name of William Wetherell, who owned 'on his own rights and that which was Mr. Dunn's.' His name appears several times on the Grand Inquest between 1650 and 1690. He was a constable in Taunton for the years 1662 and 1676. In 1671 and 1685 he was a 'deputy' or representa- tive from Taunton to the Plymouth Colony Court. He was also a deputy at a special court held on the last day of October and first of November, 1676. In 1685 he was one of the selectmen. In 1671 he was one of a committee 'appointed in each town to see to the gathering in of the Minister's Maintainance,' etc. In 1679-80 he was one of the court's committee ' to bound the meddowes on Assonett Neck.' June 2, 1685, he was licensed 'to retaile cider, beeir, and strong liquors.' It is presumed, as he lived at this time on the road leading from Taunton to Boston, and known then and now as the 'Bay road,' that he kept a sort of 'ordinary' or victualing-house for trav- elers; and hence he no doubt kept the first public- house within the limits of Norton. May 25, 1680, he was appointed one of a committee of the town 'to revise the town orders, records of land,' etc.

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

"Thus it will be seen that he was a man of some consequence, and possessed a good reputation among the early settlers of Taunton. From an old deed now in possession of our townsman (descendant of the first settler), William D. Wetherell, given by John Weth- erell, son of William, to his son Jonathan, it appears that William Wetherell was an 'Eldest Sergeant in Capt. Gorrom's (Gorham's) Company in the great Narragansett-Swamp fttt,' which took place Dec. 19 (?), 1675, in the present town of South Kingston, R. I., and that a grant of land was made by the court to the soldiers who were wounded in that ever- memorable battle. From the Plymonth Colony Rec- ords, vol. vi. p. 119, it appears that 'Sergt. Witherly' and 'other Taunton men' came wounded to the house of Peleg Sanford, Dec. 24, 1675, and that lie re- mained till Oct. 17, 1676. His wound must, there- fore, have been of a pretty severe character to have confined him almost a year before he was able to re- turn home. It was in consequence of his wounds re- received in the battle of Narragansett Swamp, we presume, that the court granted Mr. Wetherell ten pounds in 1685, and five pounds in 1686.

" From all the facts that we can gather relating to Mr. Wetherell, he seems to have been a man blessed with a good share of worldly goods, holding two rights in the original purchase of Taunton (his own and Mr. Dunn's), one right in the South Purchase of Taunton, and, at the time of his death, half a right in the North Purchase. In the year 1690 he deeded most of his property to his children and grandchil- dren, and in his will, dated Aug. 15, 1691, and pro- bated November 18th of the same year, he makes some little legacies to his children, and confirms the deeds he had previously given of his lands. He mentions in his will his sons William, John, and Ephraim (who was dead at the date of the will), and his daughter, Dorothy Wood, who was the wife of William Wood (her second husband), to whom she was married April 1, 1686. Her first husband was Elias Irish, and they were married Aug. 26, 1674. He lived only about three years, for, in October, 1677, William Wetherell was appointed administrator of his estate."

The next settler in the North Purchase was Thomas Brintnell, in 1685, in what is now Mansfield.

" Dec. 6, 1695," says our excellent authority before quoted, "Thomas Leonard, Sr., and James Leonard, Sr., received a deed from the proprietors of the North Purchase of two hundred acres of land at Stony Brook, 'on the westward side of Cowcesset River,' as an 'Incouragement' ' to set up and build a forge to make iron at said place,' and it was 'to be built and in some considerable forwardness' before Dec. 1, 1696, or the grant of land was to be null and void. I have in my possession the affidavits of two persons, taken in 1717, who declare that the iron-works or forge near the dwelling-house of Maj. George Leon- ard, deceased, was begun in 1695, and in some con-

siderable forwardness in 1696. To these Leonards was also given the liberty to take their next division of one share in the North Purchase lands 'in the best of iron-oare that they can find.' They were also allowed the privilege of digging ore on any other man's land for the use and benefit of said works by ' paying the owner of such land one shilling a tun for every tun of iron-oare they shall dig.' George Leon- ard, the son of Thomas and the nephew of James Leonard, to whom this grant was made (probably as their agent), set up a forge or 'bloomery,' as it was called, at the place designated, which was nearly in front of the spot where the old Leonard mansion- house now stands ; and the establishment of this iron forge, together with the energy and business tact of young George Leonard, soon gave new life and vitality to this neighborhood. The lands in the vicinity were speedily taken up, the population rapidly increased, and everything seemed to prosper beyond the most ardent expectations of the proprietors of this move- ment."

Documentary History .- The following vote in re- lation to wild-cats is under date of March 30, 1724:

" Voted, that they would Pay out of the treasury of Norton five shil- lings a head to any Person or Persons that shall Bring any wild-cat's head to the towne Clerk : and if the said clerk any ways scruples whether they ware eilled in the sd. towne or Present, that then they shall make oath that they ware before the towne Clerk ; and then the said clerk shall Give an order to the towne treasurer for sd. sum or sums, who shall Pay it accordingly. And there shall be a rate made upon the Poles and estates of sd. towne and Present to supply the treas- nry for that Purpose."

Sept. 14, 1724, the town and East Precinct " voted to pay Benjamin Drake for killing one wild-cat, £00. 05s. Od." He probably was of the East Precinct.

" March ye Ist, 1724-5 .- Joseph Godfrey, John Caswell, and Eben- ezer White, Brought Each of them a wild-cat's llead to me, and I eut the Ears of from them ; and the towne of Norton was to pay five shill- ings a head for each of them.

" Per me, GEORGE LEONARD, Clerk."

Oet. 6, 1725 .- " Voted to Raise five shillings more in said Rate to pay to Thomas Skinner, Sen., for a wild-cat's head, which he ciled."

March 28, 1726 .- " Voted, that they would not Pay for Killing of wild- cats the year ensueing, nor for the wild-cats which have been Killed sence ye aet about said cats was out."

May 23, 1715, the town " voted to pay three half- pence a head for every flying blackbird or Jaw's head that should be kild in this town, and the heads brought to the selectmen, or John Smith or Eliezer fisher, between this time and next March."

" Sept. the 19th, 1715, voted to pay,-

s. d.

To Robert Tucker, for killing birds. 02 09

To Benjamin Williams, for killing 19 birds 02 02

To Tho. Stephens, for killing 11 birds. 01 03

To John Hall, for killing six birds. 00 09

To Ensign Wetherell, for killing 7 birds. 00 10

To Simeon Wetherell, for killing 6 birds. 00 09

To John Newland, Senior, for killing 10 birds 01 03

To Seth Babit, for killing four birds 00 06

To Benjamin Newland, for killing 5 birds 00 07

To John Hodges, for killing 20 birds 02 06

To Nicolas Smith, for killing four birds 00 06

To Lt. Brintnall, for killing 38 birds .. 04 09

To John Austin, for 3 birds 00 04."

March 20, 1717, " Voted three ha'pence for black- birds' heads, and Jayes and Woodpeckers."

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NORTON.

March 19, 1718, by a vote of the town, "The aet Revised Conserning the killing of birds ;" and it is supposed that for several years a premium was thus paid for the destruction of these birds.

In September, 1741, the town "voted to raise £40 for the Suport of the Scoole, and for the birds' and Squrils' heads, and the poor." We suppose this was for the support of " the poor," and not a bounty of- fered for cutting off their " heads."

April 4, 1803, "Voted to give 25 cents for every old crow that should be killed in the town of Norton and carried to the Town Treasurer."

First Settlers .- The following is a list of the first settlers of Norton, all of whom, with one exception, are known to have been here prior to or in 1711, con- densed from Rev. Mr. Clark's " History of Norton":

Peter Aldrich was one of the original members of the church. His wife was Experience -, married before 1702, and they had three children.

Deacon John Andrews might have been the son of Henry and Mary (Deane) Andrews, who were mar- ried Feb. 17, 1685-86, and was born about 1686. He is supposed to have been a grandson of Henry An- drews, one of the first settlers of Taunton.

John Austin was the son of Jonah Austin, Jr., of Taunton, and was born 1st July, 1671. He lived at the east part of the town. When he died is unknown.

Samuel Bayley lived at the east part of Mansfield. He married, Aug. 28, 1711, Elizabeth Caswell, and had eight or nine children. He died previous to March 5, 1754.

Thomas Braman, Sr., might have been the son of Thomas, who with his wife were at Taunton June, 1653. He died June 7, 1709; his widow died Sept. 18, 1714 .:

Thomas Braman, Jr., is supposed to have been the son of Thomas, Sr., just mentioned, and to have been born about 1686. He was dead previous to May 1, 1725.

Daniel Braman was the son of Thomas, Sr., and Hannah (Fisher) Braman, and was born Oct. 11, 1688. He lived at the place where his father settled.

Deacon John Briggs was the son of Richard and Rebecca (Haskins) Briggs, of Taunton, and was born Feb. 26, 1669 (79?). He is presumed to have lived near the Centre, as he used to sweep the meeting- house, and was several times chosen "Clark of ye Market."

Joseph Briggs (brother of Deacon John, last named) was born 15th June, 1674.

Richard Briggs was the brother of Deacon John and Joseph, just mentioned, and was born 12th Jan- uary, 1679.

Deacon John Briggs, Jr., is supposed to have been the son of William and Sarah (Macomber) Briggs, of Taunton, and was born 19th March, 1680.

Samuel Briggs was an early settler. He married, July 27, 1692, Mary Hall, and had several children. He died about 1705.

Capt. Samuel Brintnell was the son of Thomas and Esther Brintnell (the first settlers of what is now Mansfield), and born Dec. 2 (?), 1665. He lived at the homestead of his father, and was a very influential man in the early history of the town, much em- ployed in public affairs as selectman and representa- tive to the General Court.

Samuel Brintnell, Jr., was the son of Samuel, just mentioned, and was probably born about 1690, and lived near the old homestead.

Sylvanus Cambell settled probably before 1700.

John Caswell, Sr., was the son of Thomas Caswell, of Taunton, and was born July 1, 1656. He settled at the east part of what is now Mansfield.

John Caswell, Jr., was the son of John, just named, and was born July 19, 1690. He settled at the east- erly part of Mansfield.

Benjamin Caswell was probably the son of Thomas, and the grandson of Thomas, Sr., of Taunton, and was born Nov. 16, 1675. He probably lived some- where in the east part of Mansfield.

James Caswell is supposed to have been the brother of Benjamin, and was born May 17, 1681.

John Cobb might have been the son of John and Jane (Woodward) Cobb, of Taunton, and was born March 31, 1678.

William Cobb was, perhaps, a brother of John. He lived in the easterly part of the town.

Seth Dorman settled in the east part of what is now Mansfield.

Joseph Dunham lived on Lockety Neck.

Ebenezer Eddy was the son of John and Deliver- ance (Owin) Eddy, of Taunton, grandson of Samuel and Elizabeth Eddy, of Plymouth, great-grandson of Rev. William Eddy, a Non-conformist minister of Cranbrook, Kent Co., England, and was born 16th May, 1676 (?). He settled near Crane's Depot.

Eleazer Eddy was a brother of Ebenezer, and was born 16th October, 1681.

Joseph Elliot lived at the east part of Mansfield.

Samuel Fisher was the son of Daniel and Hannah Fisher, of Taunton, and was born 3d December, 1669.

Eleazer Fisher was the brother of Samuel, and was born 12th May, 1673.

Israel Fisher was born 27th March, 1680, and is supposed to have settled near his brothers, Samuel and Eleazer. He was one of the original members of the church.

Nathaniel Fisher was a brother of those just men- tioned, and was born 9th February, 1681. He proba- bly lived near Barrowsville.

Thomas Grover was the son of Thomas and Sarah (Chadwick) Grover, of Malden, and was born, accord- ing to records, March, 1668 (1669?). He settled near what is now West Mansfield.

Andrew Grover, the brother of Thomas, was born October, 1673.

Deacon Ephraim Grover, a brother of those previ- ously mentioned, was born about 1675.

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

John Hall is supposed to have been the son of Samuel Hall, of Taunton, and born 19th October, 1666. He lived in the Mansfield part of Norton, near to Cobbler's Corner, probably on the east side of Rum- ford River.

Ebenezer Hall was the brother of John, born 19th of March, 1677.

Nathaniel Harvey has left behind him but very few traces. His wife's name was Susannah.

John Hodges was the son of John and Elizabeth (Macy) Hodges, of Taunton (grandson of William Hodges, who was at Taunton in 1643), and was born 5th of April, 1673.

Nathaniel Hodges was the brother of John, and was born 2d of April, 1675.

Samuel Hodges was a brother of the above, and was born 20th of May, 1678.

William Hodges was also a brother of those just mentioned, and was born 6th of June, 1682. He set- tled near the common graveyard, just beyond Austin Messenger's.

John Lane was the son of Andrew and Tryphena Lane, of Hingham, and grandson of William Lane, who came to Dorchester from England (?) in 1635- 36, and died about 1654.

"Hon. George Leonard, the son of Judge Thomas and Mary (Watson) Leonard, of Taunton, grandson of James and Margaret Leonard, who came to Taun- ton in 1652, and great-grandson of Thomas Leonard, of Pontypool, Wales, was born 18th of April, 1671. This family of Leonards claimed descent from Len- nard Lord Dacre, one of the most distinguished fami- lies of the nobility of the United Kingdom, and de- scended in two lines from Edward III. through two of his sons, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and Thomas Plantaganet, Duke of Gloucester. There ap- pears to be some ground for this claim, from the fact that the arms of the Lennard and Leonard families were the same. Near the close of the last century the last Lord Dacre, bearing the name of Lennard, died, and it is supposed that the late Judge Leonard, who was a grandson of George, who first settled in Norton, could have claimed the title. At any rate, there was some consultation among the Leonards in this vicinity upon the propriety of claiming it; but I am told the matter ended by the judge saying that 'he preferred to be lord of acres in America rather that Lord Dacre in England.'' Whether descended from Lord Dacre or not, the subject of this sketch and his descendants lived very much in the style of the English nobility, being the owners of an immense tract of land, and surrounded by their tenantry. Probably no family in New England were lords of more acres than the Norton Leonards. The ances- tors of George Leonard were interested in the iron- 1 works both in England and America, and, as we have

already stated, he acted as the agent of his father and Uncle James in setting up, in 1695, the first bloomery or iron-forge within the limits of our town. The house (built before 1700) in which George Leonard lived is still standing, and is said to have been the first framed house erected in town."

Benjamin Newland, the son of Jeremiah and Kath- erine Newland, of Taunton, was born about 1670 (?). John Newland was a brother of Benjamin.

Jabez Pratt was perhaps the son of Jonathan, of Plymouth, born Nov. 1, 1673.

Ephraim Sheldon settled in the westerly part of Mansfield.

Isaac Shepard was the son of Thomas and Hannah (Ensign) Shepard, and was born at Charlestown in April or May, 1682.

Thomas Skinner, the son of Thomas and Mary (?) Skinner, and grandson of Thomas, who came from Chichester, England, about 1650, and settled in Mal- den, was born November, 1668. He settled in the westerly part of the North Purchase, now Mansfield, as early as 1695.

John Skinner was a brother, or perhaps only half- brother, of Thomas, for Mary, the wife of Thomas Skinner, died at Malden, April 9, 1671, and John was born April, 1673. He settled in the west part of the North Purchase about the time Thomas did.

Nicholas Smith was the "step-child" of Farmer Smith, of Taunton, and was born 21st February, 1672.

John Smith is supposed to have been the son of John and Jael (?) (Parker) Smith, of Taunton, and to have been born 6th December, 1680.

Thomas Stephens was the son of Richard Stephens, of Taunton, and was born 3d February, 1674. He is supposed to have lived near the centre of the town. In 1712 he had land laid ont to him on Lockety Neck, near the junction of Rumford and Wading Rivers. He was one of the first board of selectmen.

Robert Tucker was here as early as 1698.

William Wetherell was the son of the first settler of Norton, and was born about 1650 (?). He lived at the place where his father is supposed to have first " pitched" his habitation within the limits of Norton, near the outlet of Winneconnet Pond.

William Wetherell, Jr., was the son of William last named, and grandson of the first settler.

Jeremiah Wetherell was the son of William and Elizabeth (Newland) Wetherell, but when born is unknown. He lived at the east part of the town, and afterwards moved into Taunton.

John Wetherell was the son of William, the first settler, and was born in 1664.

John Wetherell, Jr., the son of John, already men- tioned, was born Oct. 8, 1688, and is said to have been the first child born within the limits of Norton. He lived at the east part of the town, upon the old home- stead.

Deacon Nicholas White was the son of Nicholas and Ursilla (Macomber) White, of Taunton, and

1 For more particulars of the Leonard family than are given here, see Genealogical Register, vol. v. p. 403 and onward.

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History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 144

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1818

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818