USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Cambridge > History of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1630-1877. With a genealogical register > Part 2
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Like most ancient townships, Cambridge has had great en- largement and diminution in its boundary lines. At first, it seems to have been designed merely as a fortified place, very small in extent, and apparently without definite bounds. Charles- town and Watertown, on the northerly side of Charles River, had already been settled ; but it is doubtful whether a distinct line of separation had been established. Between these two towns a spot was selected as " a fit place for a fortified town," about six months after the arrival of Winthrop with the fleet of emigrants in 1630.3 Houses were erected here in 1631 by Thomas Dudley, Deputy Governor, and by a few others. It was ordered by the
1 The City Hall, at the corner of Main and Pleasant streets, in Cambridgeport, stands exactly upon the longitudinal line, and about a hundred yards south of the parallel of latitude indicated.
2 Brighton and Charlestown have re-
cently been annexed to Boston ; but they have not yet ceased to be designated by their former names.
8 The selection was partially made Dee. 21, 1630, and definitely determined Dec. 28, 1630.
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGE.
Governor and Assistants, Feb. 3, 1631-2, that " there should be three scoore pounds levyed out of the several plantations within the lymitts of this pattent towards the makeing of a pallysadoe aboute the newe towne."1 But no definite line of division be- tween the New Town and Charlestown appears to have been established until March 6, 1632-3, when "it was agreed by the parties appointed by the Court, &c., that all the land impaled by the newe towne men, with the neck whereon Mr. Graves his house standeth, shall belong to Newe-town, and that the bounds of Charlestowne shall end at a tree marked by tlie pale, and to passe along from thence by a straight line unto the midway be- twixt the westermost part of the Governor's great lot and the nearest part thereto of the bounds of Watertowne." 2 The line, thus established, was substantially the same as that which now divides Cambridge from Somerville. The " neck whereon Mr. Graves his house standeth," was the upland included in East Cambridge. The line between Cambridge and Watertown was not definitely established until April 7, 1635.3 In the mean time, on complaint of " straitness for want of land," at the Court held May 14, 1634, leave was "granted to the inhabitants of Newe Towne to seek out some convenient place for them, with promise that it shalbe confirmed unto them, to which they may remove their habitations, or have as an addition to that which already they have, provided they doe not take it in any place to preju- dice a plantation already settled." 4 After examining several places, " the congregation of Newtown came and accepted of such enlargement as had formerly been offered them by Boston and Watertown." 5 This " enlargement " embraced Brookline, Brighton, and Newton. Brookline, then called Muddy River, was granted on condition that Mr. Hooker and liis congregation should not remove. They did remove; and thus this grant was forfeited. But the grant of what was afterwards Brighton and Newton held good.
1 Mass. Col. Rec., i. 93. Dr. Holmes, writing in 1800 (Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., vii. 9), says : " This fortification was act- mally made ; and the fosse which was then dug around the town is, in some places, visible to this day. It commenced at Brick Wharf (originally called Windmill Hill) and ran along the northern side of the present Common in Cambridge, and through what was then a thickct, but now constitutes a part of the cultivated grounds of Mr. Nathaniel Jarvis ; beyond which it cannot be distinctly traced."
Cambridge was at first called " The New Towne," and afterwards New Town or Newtown, until May 2, 1638, when the General Court " Ordered, That Nowe- towne shall henceforward be called Cam- bridge." Mass. Col. Rec., i. 228. No other act of incorporation is found on record.
2 Mass. Col. Rec., i. 102.
3 Ibid., p. 144.
4 Ibid., p. 119.
5 Savage's Winthrop, i. 132, 142.
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Billerica.
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CAMBRIDGE, AS BOUNDED IN 1644-1655. Extending from Dedham to the Merrimack River.
Lexington.
Arlington.
Cambridge.
Brighton.
Newton.
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CIVIL HISTORY.
In the settlement of the line between Cambridge and Charles- town, no indication is given how far the bounds of either ex- tended into the country beyond the line drawn from " the Gov- ernor's great lot," or the Ten Hills Farm, to the " nearest part " of Watertown. But the Court, March 3, 1635-6, agreed that " Newe Towne bounds shall run eight myles into the country, from their meeteing house." 1 This grant secured to Cambridge, on its northern border, the territory now embraced in Arlington and the principal part of Lexington ; and, as the measurements of that day were very elastic, perhaps the whole of Lexington was included. But even this did not satisfy the craving for land. Accordingly a conditional grant of Shawshine was made, June 2, 1641, and renewed June 14, 1642: " All the land lying upon Saweshin Ryver, and between that and Concord Ryver, and be- tween that and Merrimack Ryver, not formerly granted by this Court, are granted to Cambridge, so as they erect a village there within five years, and so as it shall not extend to prejudice Charlestowne village, or the village of Cochitawit," etc.2 This grant was confirmed absolutely, March 7, 1643-4,3 and included the present town of Billerica, parts of Bedford and Carlisle, and a part of Tewksbury, or of Chelmsford, or of both. The terms of the grant - all the land lying between Concord and Merrimac rivers - would seem to include Lowell ; yet an Indian village then occupied that territory, and such villages were generally protected.
The township had now attained its full size. In shape some- what like an hour-glass, about thirty-five miles in length, and wide at each extremity, it was not much more than one mile in width in the central part, where the original settlement was made, and where most of the inhabitants then resided. Such was its shape when Johnson described it in 1651. "This Town is compact closely within itselfe, till of late yeares some few strag- ling houses have been built : the Liberties of this Town have been inlarged of late in length, reaching from the most Northerly part of Charles River to the most Southerly part of Merrimack River." 4 This description, however, does not comprehend the
1 Mass. Col. Rec., i. 166.
2 Ibid., i. 330, ii. 17.
3 Ibid., ii. 62. The deseription in this grant is somewhat different from the for- mer: "Shawshin is granted to Cam- bridg, without any condition of makeing a village there; and the land between
them and Concord is granted them, all save what is formerly granted to the mil- itary company or others, provided the church and present elders continue at Cambridge."
4 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., xiii. 137.
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGE.
whole territory then belonging to Cambridge ; for both Brighton and Newton are wholly on the southerly side of Charles River. The portion of Dedham, which now constitutes the town of Need- ham, was the southerly bound.
But Cambridge soon lost a part of its enormous length. In 1655, an amicable arrangement was made between the town and those of its inhabitants who had erected houses at Shawshine, for a separation ; this arrangement was confirmed by the Gen- eral Court, and Shawshine was incorporated as a town, under the name of Billerica.1 Soon afterwards the inhabitants on the south side of the river, in what is now Newton, where a church was organized July 20, 1664, petitioned for incorporation as a sepa- rate town. Cambridge objected ; and a long and earnest contro- versy ensued. The Newton people triumplied at last, as will be fully related in another place, and in 1688 became a separate township.
The northwesterly portion of the territory remaining in Cam- bridge was for many years called " The Farms," and a church was organized there Oct. 21, 1696. The Farmers, as they were styled, subsequently agreed with the town upon terms of sep- aration, and by an "order passed in Council and concurred by the Representatives," March 20, 1713, they were incorporated as " a separate and distinct town by the name of Lexington, upon the articles and terms already agreed on with the town of Cam- bridge." 2
From this period Cambridge was not curtailed of its propor- tions for nearly a century. Indeed, it obtained some additions. The present southwesterly portion of the city, lying west of Sparks Street and south of Vassall Lane, was set off from Water- town and annexed to Cambridge, April 19, 1754,3 except the " Cambridge Cemetery " and a few acres between that and the former line, which were annexed April 27, 1855.4 The line of Watertown was thus carried about a half a mile further westward; and the tract thus acquired embraces some of the most desirable land in the city for dwelling-houses. From Charlestown (now Somerville), the dwellings and a portion of the estates of Nathan- iel Prentiss, Josiah Wellington, Stephen Goddard, Benjamin God- dard, and Nathaniel Goddard, including most of the tract bounded by North Avenue, Russell, Elm, and White streets, were annexed
1 Mass. Col. Rec., iii. 387.
2 Mass. Prov. Rec., ix. 258.
8 Ibid., xx. 228. Dr. Bond conjectured that the first meeting-house in Watertown
stood on this tract of land, not far from the present residence of James Russell Lowell. - Hist. Watertown, p. 1046.
4 Mass. Spec. Laws, x. 360.
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CIVIL HISTORY.
to Cambridge, March 6, 1802; 1 the estate of William Hunne- well, Feb. 12, 1818; 2 and a portion of Professor Ware's estate, now the Norton homestead, June 17, 1820.3 These three annex- ations are indicated by the sharp angles on the map. The line at White Street was somewhat changed April 30, 1856, and the line between Cambridge and Belmont and Arlington, was straightened Feb. 25, 1862.
The northwesterly part of the town was made a separate pre- cinct Dec. 27, 1732, and was afterwards styled the Second Parish, or more generally Menotomy. The line of division was " Menotomy River from Charlestown till it comes to Spy Pond Brook; then on said brook till it comes to a water-course or ditch in Whiting's meadow, so called : the ditch to be the boun- dary till it comes to Hamblett's Brook, following the course of the Brook to the Bridge ; thence on a straight line to the north- west corner of Mr. Isaac Holden's orchard, and continuing the same course to Watertown line."4 This tract, with the addition of the remaining territory on the westerly side of Menotomy River, was incorporated, Feb. 27, 1807, under the name of West Cambridge," which name was changed to Arlington, April 20, 1867.6
The inhabitants of the territory left on the south side of Charles River petitioned to be made a separate precinct, as early as 1748, and renewed their petition, from time to time, until April 2, 1779, when they were authorized to bring in a bill to incorporate them as an ecclesiastical parish, "excepting Samuel Sparhawk, John Gardner, Joanna Gardner, and Moses Griggs. and their estates."7 This was styled the Third Parish, or Little Cambridge. The whole territory south of Charles River was incorporated, under the name of Brighton, Feb. 24, 1837.8
By the incorporation of West Cambridge and Brighton, which was the result of an amicable agreement between the several parties, Cambridge was reduced substantially to its present lim- its. Several attempts have since been made for a further divis- ion ; but its incorporation as a city has removed most of the difficulties which previously existed, and it may be reasonably expected that no more attempts of the kind will be made during the present century.
1 Mass. Spec. Laws, ii. 520.
2 Ibid., v. 220.
Ibid., v. 385.
4 Mass. Prov. Rec., xii. 351.
5 Mass. Spec. Laws, iv. 88.
6 Ibid., xii. 244.
7 Mass. Prov. Rec., xxxix. 213.
8 Mass. Spec. Laws, iv. 70. By an act approved May 21, 1873, Brighton was annexed to Boston, - the annexation to take full effect on the first Monday in January, 1874.
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CHAPTER II.
CIVIL HISTORY.
THE purpose for which Cambridge was originally established as a town is stated by two of its projectors, Winthrop and Dud- ley. " The governor and most of the assistants," had "agreed to build a town fortified upon the neck," between Roxbury and Boston, Dec. 6, 1630 ; but, for several reasons, they abandoned that project, eight days afterwards, and agreed to examine other places. On the twenty-first day of the same month : " We met again at Watertown, and there, upon view of a place a mile be- neath the town, all agreed it a fit place for a fortified town, and we took time to consider further about it."1 Dudley, describing the events of 1630, in his letter to the Countess of Lincoln, says, " We began again in December to consult about a fit place to build a town upon, leaving all thoughts of a fort, because upon any invasion we were necessarily to lose our houses when we should retire thereinto. So after divers meetings at Boston, Roxbury, and Watertown, on the twenty-eighth of December, we grew to this resolution, to bind all the assistants 2 (Mr. Endi- cott and Mr. Sharpe excepted, which last purposeth to return by the next ship into England), to build houses at a place a mile east from Watertown, near Charles River, the next spring, and to winter there the next year ; that so by our examples, and by removing the ordnance and munition thither, all who were able might be drawn thither, and such as shall come to us hereafter, to their advantage, be compelled so to do ; and so, if God would, a fortified town might there grow up, the place fitting reason- ably well thereto." Johnson describes the original design and its partial accomplishment, in his characteristic manner : " At this time, those who were in place of civil government, having some
1 Savage's Winthrop, i. 45, 46.
2 Winthrop was then Governor, and Dudley Deputy Governor; the Assistants were Sir Richard Saltonstall, John Endi-
cott, Increase Nowell, William Pynchon, Thomas Sharp, Roger Ludlow, William Coddington, and Simon Bradstreet.
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CIVIL HISTORY.
additional pillars to underprop the building, began to think of a place of more safety in the eyes of man than the two frontier towns of Charles Towne and Boston were, for the habitation of such as the Lord had prepared to govern this pilgrim people. Wherefore they rather made choice to enter further among the In- dians than hazard the fury of malignant adversaries who in a rage might pursue them, and therefore chose a place situate on Charles River, between Charles Towne and Water Towne, where they erected a town called New Town, now named Cambridge, being in form like a list cut off from the broad-cloth of the two fore- named towns, where this wandering race of Jacobites gathered the eighth church of Christ." 1
Notwithstanding it was agreed that " all the assistants " should build at the New Town in the spring of 1631, it does not appear that any of them fulfilled the agreement, except Dudley and Bradstreet. Governor Winthrop indeed erected a house ; 2 but he subsequently took it down again and removed it to Boston. This led to a sharp controversy between Dudley and Winthrop, which was at length decided by the elders in favor of Dudley.3 There may have been good and sufficient reasons why Winthrop should prefer to remain in Boston rather than to remove to the New Town. But it is much to be regretted that he should claim to have substantially fulfilled his obligation, or " performed the words of the promise," by erecting a house, though he immedi- ately removed it. This is scarcely consistent with his otherwise fair fame as a gentleman of singular ingenuousness. It would seem that Sir Richard Saltonstall intended to build a house, and
1 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., xiii. 136.
2 It has been said that Winthrop erected only the frame of a house ; but he says it was a house inhabited by servants. See next note.
3 Savage's Winthrop, i. 82, 83. Winthrop says Dudley " complained of the breach of promise, both in the governor and others, in not building at Newtown. The governor answered, that he had performed the words of the promise ; for he had a house up, and seven or eight servants abiding in it, by the day appointed; and for the removing his house, he alleged that, seeing that the rest of the assistants went not about to build, and that his neighbors of Boston had been discouraged from removing thither by Mr. Deputy himself, and thereupon had (under all their hands) petitioned him, that (accord-
ing to the promise he made to them when they first sat down with him at Boston, namely, that he would not remove, except they went with him), he would not leave them : - this was the occasion that he re- moved his house. Upon these and other speceles to this purpose, the ministers went apart for one hour ; then returning, they delivered their opinions, that the governor was in fault for removing of his house so suddenly, without conferring with the deputy and the rest of the assistants ; but if the deputy were the occasion of dis- couraging Boston men from removing, it would excuse the governor a tanto, but not a toto. The governor, professing himself willing to submit his own opin- ion to the judgment of so many wise and godly friends, acknowledged himself faulty."
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGE.
a lot was assigned to him for that purpose ; 1 but he went to England in the spring of 1631, and did not return. Nowell remained at Charlestown ; Pynchon, at Roxbury ; Ludlow, at Dorchester ; and Coddington, at Boston. Endicott and Sharpe were originally free from engagement.
Dr. Holmes says, " the Deputy Governor (Dudley), Secretary Bradstreet, and other principal gentlemen, in the spring of 1631, commenced the execution of the plan." 2 No list of inhabitants is found until after the " Braintree Company " arrived in the summer of 1632, except this memorandum on the title-page of the Town Records: " The Towne Book of Newtowne. In- habitants there - Mr. Tho. Dualy Esq., Mr. Symon Bradstreet, Mr. Edmond Lockwood, Mr. Daniell Patricke, John Poole, Wil- liam Spencer, Jolin Kirman, Symon Sackett." 3 But this Book
1 The Proprietors' Records show that the General Court, Constable of the New what is now called Winthrop Square was allotted to Sir Richard Saltonstall ; but when it was ascertained that he would not return from England, the lot was as- signed for a "Market Place," by which name it was known for more than two centuries, though no market-house was ever erected there. Probably like the old Market Place in Boston, it was used for traffie, in the open air, between the in- habitants and such as brought eommodi- ties for sale.
2 Coll. Mass. Hist Soc., vii. 7.
3 Of these eight persons who laid the foundation of the New Town, Thomas Dudley was the most eminent. He was elected Deputy Governor in 1630, beeanie Governor in 1634, and was either Gover- nor, Deputy Governor, or Assistant, dur- ing the remainder of his life. He removed to Ipswich, perhaps before May, 1636,when lie and Bradstreet were named as magis- trates to hold thic court there, while others were appointed for the court at New Town. Soon afterwards he removed to Roxbury, were he died July 31, 1653. Simon Bradstreet was an Assistant from 1630 to 1678 ; Deputy Governor, 1678; Governor, 1679-86, 1689-92. He also removed to Ipswich, probably with Dudley, whose daughter was his wife; was afterwards in Andover for a short time; then in Bos- ton until Sept. 18, 1695, when he re- moved to Salem, and died there, March 27, 1697. Edmund Loekwood, having the prefix of "Mr.," was appointed by
Town, at its organization, May, 1632; and at the same session was selected as one of the two inhabitants of the town " to confer with the Court abont raising of a public stock." He died before March, 1635. Daniel Patrick, also styled " Mr.," was one of the two captains appointed by the Court, to command the militia of the Colony. Except as a military man, his character does not appear to have been very reputable. In 1637 he had liberty to remove to Ipswich, but seems rather to liave gone to Watertown, where he was Selectman, in 1638. He afterwards re- moved to Connecticut, and was killed by a Dutchman, at Stamford, in 1643. John Poole probably remained here only a few months, as he is not named in the list of proprietors, in 1633. He was of Lynn, 1638, and afterwards of Reading, where he died April 1, 1667. William Spencer, uniformly styled " Mr." on the court rec- ords, was one of the "principal gentle- men." He was associated with Mr. Lock- wood, May, 1632, " to confer with the Court about raising of a public stock ; " was Deputy or Representative of the New Town, 1634-1637; one of the first Board of Townsmen, 1635; lieutenant of the trainband, 1637, and a member of the An- cient and Honorable Artillery Company, at its organization in 1639 ; he probably removed to Hartford in 1639, where he was Selectman and Deputy, and died in 1640. John Kirman removed to Lynn, 1632, and was a Deputy, 1635. Simon Saek-
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CIVIL HISTORY.
of Records was not commenced until 1632, several months after Dudley and Bradstreet performed their promise " to build houses at the New Town." Whether more than the before named cight persons, and indced whether all these resided in the New Town before the end of 1631, I have not found any certain proof. The number of inhabitants in that year was doubtless small ; yet there werc enoughi able-bodied men to be specially included in an order of court passed July 26, 1631, requiring a general training of soldiers in all the plantations.1
Although the Governor and Assistants generally did not per- form their agreement to make the New Town the place of their permanent residence, they seem to have regarded it as the prospective seat of government, and not long afterwards, as will appear, commenced holding the general and particular courts there. Several orders, passed during the year, indicate such an expectation and intention. For example : June 14, 1631, " Mr. John Maisters hath undertaken to make a passage from Charles River to the New Town, twelve foot broad and seven foot deep ; for which the Court promiseth him satisfaction, according as the charges thereof shall amount unto."2 On the fifth of the following July, provision was made for the payment of Mr. Mas- ters, when it was " Ordered, That there shall be levied out of the several plantations the sum of thirty pounds, for the making of the creek at the New Town," - but no portion of this sum was assessed upon the New Town. Again, Feb. 3, 1631-2, " It was ordered, That there should be three score pounds levied out of the several plantations within the limits of this patent, towards the making of a pallysadoe about the New Town ; viz. Water- town, viii.l. the New Town, iii.l. Charlton, vii.l. Meadford, iii.l. Saugus and Marble Harbor, vi.l. Salem, iv.l. x.s. Boston, viii.l. Rocksbury, vii.l. Dorchester, vii.l. Wessaguscus, v.l. Winett- semet, xxx.s." 3
ett dicd herc before 3d November, 1635, the town ordered a causeway and foot- when administration was granted to his bridge to be constructed, Jan. 4, 1635-36. widow Isabell Sackett.
1 Mass. Coll. Rec., i. 90.
2 Ibid., i. 88. This canal still exists on the westerly side of College Wharf, from Charles River nearly to South Street. It was a natural crock, enlarged and deepened thus far, from which point, turn- ing westerly, it extended along the south- erly and westerly sides of South and Eliot streets, and crossed Brattle Street, where
Mass. Col. Rec., i. 98. Winthrop says that Watertown objected against the validity and justice of this assessment : and his learned editor says : "To the agi- tation of this subject we mnay refer the origin of that committee of two from cach town to advise with the court about raising public moucys ' so as what they should agrce upon should bind all,' under date of May of this year. This Icd to the
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGE.
Six months later, there was a considerable accession of inhabi- tants, by order of the General Court. The order does not ap- pear on the records of the Court ; but Winthrop says, under date of Aug. 14, 1632, "The Braintree 1 Company (which had begun to sit down at Mount Wollaston), by order of court, removed to Newtown. There were Mr. Hooker's Company." 2 Before their arrival an order was adopted by the inhabitants, in regard to the paling around the common lands; the contemplated assignment of proportions, however, was not made until several months after- wards, when new inhabitants had arrived and had received grants of the common property. The date of this order, which is the first recorded in the town records, is March 29, 1632 : -
" An agreement by the inhabitants of the New Town, about paling 3 in the neck of land. Imprimis, That every one who hath any part therein shall hereafter keep the same in good and sufficient repair ; and if it happen to have any defect, he shall mend the same within three days after notice given, or else pay ten shillings a rod for every rod so repaired for him. Further, It is agreed that the said impaled ground shall be divided accord- ing to every man's proportion in said pales. Further, It is agreed, that if any man shall desire to sell his part of impaled ground, he shall first tender the sale thereof to the town inhabi- tants interested, who shall either give him the charge he hath been at, or else to have liberty to sell it to whom he can."
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