USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Chelmsford > History of Chelmsford, Massachusetts > Part 41
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Stevens, Henry W. Enl., Aug. 30, 1862. Mustered in, Aug. 31, 1862, for 9 months. Co. K, 6th Regt. Inf. Mustered out, June 3, 1863. Age, 21. Single.
Stewart, Samuel. Enl., July 24, 1863. Mustered in, July 29, 1863, for 3 years. 13th Regt. Inf. Substitute, transferred to Co. I, 39th Regt. Inf., July 14, 1864. Mustered out, June 26, 1865. Age, 27. Single. Sullivan, Edward. Enl., Aug. 30, 1862. Mustered in, Aug. 31, 1862, for 9 months. Co. K, 6th Regt. Inf. Mustered out, June 3, 1863. Age, 18. Son of Michael and Ellen Sullivan.
Sullivan, Jerry. Name on Selectmen's book among 1861 enlistments and in their return of men in service, Aug., 1862, at Adj. Gen. office but am unable to find a record of his service.
Sutton, Andrew. Enl. and mustered in, Jan. 19, 1865, at Fortress Monroe, Va. 37th Regt., U. S. Colored Troops. No further record at A. G. O. Age, 42. Residence, North Carolina.
Toner, John, Jr. Enl. and mustered in, Oct. 1, 1861, for 3 years. Musician, Co. F, 30th Regt. Inf. Re-enlisted, Jan. 1, 1864. Corpl., Jan. 17, 1866. Mustered out, July 5, 1866. Age, 18.
Tyrrell, Samuel. Enl. and mustered in, Nov. 28, 1864, for 3 years. 12th Batt'y, Light Art'y. Mustered out, July 25, 1865. Age, 30. Married. Residence, Lowell.
Vause, John T. Enl., Aug. 18, 1864. Veteran Reserve Corps. Prior service, 32d Regt., N. Y. Inf. Discharged for gunshot wound. Age, 21. Born, New York.
Walsh, John. Enl. and mustered in, Aug. 6, 1864, for 3 years. Co. L, 4th Regt. Cav. Mustered out, Nov. 14, 1865. Age, 18. Born, Ireland. Warren, Augustus. Enl., April 16, 1861. Mustered in, April 22, 1861, for 3 months. Co. H, 6th Regt. Inf. Mustered out, Aug. 2, 1861. Age, 30. Roll gives residence, Lowell. Born, Chelmsford and home there at time of enlistment.
Webber, William H. Mustered in, Aug. 17, 1864. Veteran Reserve Corps. Prior service, 30th Mass. Regt. Inf. Dis., Oct. 16, 1862. Age, 29. Born, South Danvers.
Welch, John. Enl. and mustered in, Aug. 8, 1864, for 3 years. 3d Regt. Cav. No further record at Adj. Gen. Office. Age, 21. Enlisted at Concord.
Wentworth, Moses C. Enl. and mustered in, Oct. 5, 1861, for 3 years. Co. H, 26th Regt. Inf. Re-enlisted, Jan. 3, 1864. Credit, Chelmsford. Wounded, Sept. 19, 1864. Engagement at Openquan, Va. Mustered out, Aug. 26, 1865. Age, 30. Single. Residence and 1st Enl., credit, Lowell.
West, Edward. Enl. and mustered in, Aug. 5, 1864, for 3 years, 2d Regt. Never joined Regt. Age, 21. Single. Residence, Boston.
Whelan, Philip. Enl., Jan. 4, 1864. Mustered in, Feb. 9, 1864, for 3 years.
Co. D, 59th Regt. Inf. Died, March 5, 1865, at Washington, D. C. Age, 32. Married.
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HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
Whitcher, Charles F. Mustered in, July 17, 1864, for 100 days. 1st Sergt., Co. B, 6th Regt. Inf. Mustered out, Oct. 27, 1864. Age, 23.
Whittle, John Henry. Enl. and mustered in, Dec. 8, 1863, for 3 years. 7th Mass. Batt'y. Mustered out, Nov. 10. 1865. Died at Chelmsford, Nov. 26, 1865. Age, 27. Married.
Williams, John. Enl. and mustered in, April 6, 1865, at Boston for 1 year. 30th Regt. Inf., unassigned. Discharged, May 6, 1865.
Wilson, Charles B. Enl. and mustered into U. S. Service, Jan. 16, 1863, for 3 years. Certificate of Asst. Adj. Gen., Jan. 20, 1863. Nothing further obtainable.
Wilson, George B. Enl. and mustered in, Aug. 8, 1864, for 3 years. 2d Regt. Cav. No further record. Letter W. D., Nov. 26, 1867. Age, 35. Married. Residence, New Haven, Conn.
Wite, William. Enl. and mustered in, Aug. 5, 1864, for 3 years. Co. I, 33d Regt. Inf. recruit. Never joined Regt. Age, 24. Married. Residence, Boston.
Woodman, Miles. Enl. and mustered in, Dec. 6, 1864, for 1 year. Co. D, 17th Regt. Inf. Mustered out, July 11, 1865. Age, 42. Married. Residence, Boston.
Wright, Jonathan. Enl., Aug. 30, 1862. Mustered in, Aug. 31, 1862, for 9 months. Co. K, 6th Regt. Inf. Mustered out, June 3, 1863. Age, 36. Married.
NAVY.
Baker, Erastus D. Enl. Feb. 7, 1862 as Seaman for 2 years. Served on Katahdin and Bermuda. Discharged, June 13, 1864, from Princeton. Age, 43. Born, Groton.
Coburn, Henry H. Enl., April 28, 1862 as Seaman, at Boston, cr., Milton. At Hampton Roads, May 1, 1862. Discharged, April 16, 1864, from R. S. Ohio, Special Order. Age, 23. Born, Hudson River, N. Y. Selectmen's statement on file at Adj. Gen. Office claims him for Chelms- ford.
Daly, Cornelius. Enl. at Boston, Sept. 15, 1860, for 5 years. Served on Flag Ship, Minnesota. Discharged, Oct. 30, 1864. Age, 19. Born, Ireland. Son of James Daly. Home in Chelmsford at time of service. Fay, or Tay, John J. Enl. July 31, 1862. Credit, Boston, for 1 year. Dis- charged, July 4, 1863. Age, 31. Born, Chelmsford.
Hall, Henry M. Enl., Sept. 1, 1862, at Boston, for 1 year. Served on Rhode Island. Discharged from R. S. Ohio. Expiration of Term. Subsequent service in Army. Credit, Harvard. Enl. and mustered, Dec. 7, 1863. Co. G, 36th Regt. Inf., for 3 years. Transferred, June 8, 1864 to 56th Regt. Mustered out, July 12, 1865. Age, 38. Born, Harvard, Mass. Hinds, Josiah D. Enl., Sept. 2, 1862, at Boston, as Ordinary Seaman for 1 year. Deserted, Dec. 13, 1862, from Hospital at Boston. Age, 18. Born, Knox, Maine.
Maglue, James. Enl., Feb. 3, 1862, at Boston, as Seaman for 2 years. Served on Penobscot, Sacramento, Montgomery. Discharged, Feb. 19, 1865, from Montgomery. Expiration Term. Age, 32. Born, Salem.
Pike, William H. Enlisted in Navy in 1858 for 5 years. Served his time and re-enlisted in Army. According to his statement his first as well as second service was in the regular army.
Ripley, Edward H. Enlisted, May 31, 1861, at Boston. Credit, Boston, for 1 year. Served on Colorado. Discharged, June 30, 1862. Expiration of Term. Age, 25. Born, Lowell. Son of Lewis and Sophia (Graves) Ripley. Residence, Chelmsford.
Savage, Patrick. Enlisted, Aug. 23, 1861, as Cabin Boy, at Boston, for 3 years. Served on Gemsbok. Deserted, June 8, 1862, at Baltimore, Md. Age, 16. Born, Boston.
Seamans, Charles M. Enlisted, Aug. 23, 1861, at Boston, as 1st Cabin Boy, for 3 years. Served on Cambridge. Discharged, Feb. 6, 1862. Imbecility. Age, 17. Born, Springfield, Mass.
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THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-5
Sears, Charles A. Enlisted, Aug. 23, 1861, at Boston, as 1st Cabin Boy, for 3 years. Served on Sabine and Sciota. Discharged, Sept. 30, 1864, from R. S. Ohio. Expiration of term. Age, 17. Born, Boston.
Smith, Frank B. Enlisted, Aug. 21, 1861, as 2d Cabin Boy, at Boston, for 3 years. Served on Sabine. Discharged, Sept. 12, 1862, from R. S., No. Carolina. Disability. Age, 18. Born, West Medford.
Stewart, Francis W. Enlisted, Aug. 19, 1861, as Ordinary Seaman, at Ports- mouth, for 3 years. Served on Ohio and at Navy Yard, Washington, D. C., to Mch. 31, 1862. No further record. Age, 24. Born, Wells, Maine.
Stillings, Samuel W. Enlisted, Aug. 23, 1861, at Boston, as 2d Cabin Boy, for 3 years. Served on Cambridge. Deserted, June 9, 1862, at Baltimore, Md. Age, 15. Born, Berwick, Me.
Sumner, Thomas C. Enlisted, Feb. 17, 1862, at Boston. Credit, Framing- ham. Served on Constitution. Died, March 11, 1862, at Hospital, Portsmouth, N. H. Age, 18. Born, Lowell. Home, Chelmsford, at time of service.
Synett, Francis W. Enlisted, Aug. 23, 1861, at Boston, for 3 years. Served on Sabine, Savannah, Niagara. Discharged, Aug. 19, 1864. Age, 23. Born, England.
Wallace, William. Enlisted, Aug. 4, 1862, at Boston, for 1 year. Served on Ino. Deserted, Oct. 4, 1862. Age, 22. Born, Ireland.
Ware, Joseph. Enlisted, Aug. 9, 1862, at Boston, as Coal Heaver, for 1 year. Age, 24. Born, Worcester.
Watson, Hiram P. Enlisted, July 30, 1862, at Boston, for 1 year. Served on Ino and Ohio. Discharged, Sept. 12, 1863. Age, 22. Born, Lowell, real name, Hiram T.
Webber, Alden S. Enlisted, Aug. 4, 1862, at New Bedford, for 1 year. Served on Ino. Discharged, Sept. 12, 1863. Age, 21. Born, Bowdoin- ham, Maine.
Welsh, Patrick. Enlisted, Aug. 7, 1862, at Boston, for 1 year. Served on Galena. Discharged, June 17, 1863, from R. S. Princeton. Age, 34. Born, Ireland.
Wheland, Francis A. Enlisted, Aug. 2, 1862, at Boston, for 1 year. Served on Ino. Discharged, Sept. 12, 1863. Age, 21. Born, Boston.
White, Charles E. Enlisted, Aug. 7, 1862, at Boston, for 1 year. Served on Ino. Discharged, Sept. 12, 1863. Age, 21. Born, Newport, R. I. Wilkey, or Wilking, Henry. Enlisted, July 29, 1862, at Boston, for 1 year.
Served on Albatross. Discharged, Aug. 7, 1863. Age, 25. Born, Prussia.
Woodman, William. Enlisted, Aug. 7, 1862, at Boston, for 1 year. Served on Morse. Discharged, Aug. 4, 1863. Age, 24. Born, Ireland.
CHAPTER VIII. THE LIFE OF LONG AGO.
H UBBARD, in Hist. of N. E., p. 543, says that in 1653 was liberty granted for several plantations, one "at a pleasant place upon Merrimack river, called Chelmsford."
The men who first surveyed the land for the new plantation to be called Chelmsford, and the families who settled here travelled on horseback or on foot from the South and East through trackless forests or over Indian trails. Some may have floated in boats down the Concord river. One of the earliest and easiest modes of travel was by water. The land vehicles first used were two-wheeled carts. In the early days there was scarcely anything like a modern roadway, even in the older settlements. Stagecoaches did not come into general use until after the Revolution. Levi Pease started a line between Boston and Hartford in 1783.
A woman would sometimes be seated on a pillion behind her husband. A century and a half ago, in the inventory of Henry Fletcher's estate, is found this item: one pillion appraised at £0: 7:0. This mode of travel was not unpopular among young lovers, as the woman could only hold herself on by putting her arm around the man.
Up to the latter half of the 18th century (1750), travellers usually rode on horseback, and, after stage lines were established, continued to do so for short distances. It was near the year 1800 before "horse wagons" came into use. Articles for market were carried in wallets and panniers thrown across the horse.
The mention of a "cart bridge" in the Town records, in 1672, shows that wheeled vehicles were then in use here, probably ox carts.
In 1808, Joshua Baldwin wrote Dr. Betty from Charlestown, July 16, "We arrived at Charlestown the fourth day after we left Westford. The going was very bad, and we got along very slow." The vehicle used was probably a chaise.
Two men with one horse would ride and tie, one of them going ahead on the horse to a distance agreed upon, would tie the horse and walk on, until the other, coming to the horse, would mount and pass the first and tie again.
What is known as the old Concord road was, for a time, the only outlet on the south, and Billerica street, called in early days, "The Road to the Bay," made travel possible from Chelms- ford to Salem and other coast towns. There is no record of the laying out of the latter road, which is supposed to be the earliest, certainly one of the earliest, roads in the Town.
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THE LIFE OF LONG AGO
We can picture these sturdy pioneers coming out upon some narrow meadow or grassy bank of the river, and picking their way through the dense wood towards the place now known as the centre of the Town, where, perhaps, there might be an open space along what they soon called Beaver brook, or some fire started by the Indians may have cleared and blackened a few acres. Here they would refresh themselves with provisions they had brought with them in knapsack or saddlebag, and, perhaps, push on up Robin's hill to get a more extended view of their future abiding-place. The cornfield of Robin, the Indian, on Robin's hill was the only piece of ground then under cultivation in the vicinity, excepting the planting grounds of the Wamesits along the Merrimack river.
There is a tradition that the first site selected for a settlement was on Chestnut hill, which is higher than the Centre village, where the actual settlement was made; but the latter place offered superior advantages, in its brooks and meadows. Nearly a century later, when the western half of the Town was set off as Westford, it was again proposed to make Chestnut hill the centre of the undivided town, which might thus have remained intact.
HOUSES.
The first care of the settlers was to provide shelter for them- selves and their families. Josiah Richardson accomplished this by digging into a bank of earth. They felled trees and erected small log houses, generally containing two rooms, a living room and a kitchen, and sleeping places in the garret, to which they ascended on a ladder. The floors were of hard earth or of split logs. The roofs were thatched or clapboarded. The walls were made tight against the weather by placing clay between the logs. Most of these early houses were not over twenty feet square. The fireplace and chimney were of stone; sometimes the chimney was catted-made of split sticks of wood with clay between them. In the early days, the colonists used oiled paper in the place of glass, to let in the light through the windows. The Chelmsford settlers were not long without glass. Small diamond shaped panes were used, and were fastened in place with nail- instead of putty and zinc points, so that they rattled in the wind, and were not altogether proof against the rain.
There are many items in the Town accounts for expense in mending the glass in the meeting house.
Leather or wooden hinges were commonly used for the doors.
The gambrel-roofed houses were the earliest type of framed dwellings, of which the Captain Billy Fletcher house is a good example. Many such houses were built. In these there were three rooms on the ground floor, the kitchen, with its oven, being under the low sloping roof at the back. The chimney in the middle of the house gave vent to three fireplaces, one in each
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HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
room. Nine-tenths of the heat went up the chimney, which radiated some of it through the house. There was a small entry at the front of the house, from which the stairs led to the sleeping rooms. A good example of this form of chimney is in the present residence of Karl M. Perham. Opposite the front door, in the back wall of the small square entry, is a low opening into the space back of the three domed fireplaces, in which is room to keep a stock of cider or anything to be preserved from freezing. In this house, the solid paneled shutters slide into the wall at the side of the windows.
The more stately, two-story, square houses with brick ends, which carried the four chimneys up through the gable roof, came in during the latter half of the eighteenth century. The Sam Davis house, the Coburn house, the Fiske house, and the Ezekiel Byam house are of this description, and some of them are quite noteworthy, with their pilastraded fronts and fanlights over the transoms of the outer doors. Those named were built about the year 1800.
The nails used in building houses were all hand made, and were so valuable that they were sometimes mentioned in wills, and sometimes old houses past use were burned to secure the nails in them.
SOME INTERESTING OLD DWELLINGS.
The one-story gambrel-roofed building (which stood on the west of North square until recently demolished) commonly known as the Captain Bill Fletcher house, was not originally a Fletcher residence. As recently as 1840 it was known as the Bates house, and was at one time occupied by a man named Herrick. Abner Herrick was for many years sexton of the meeting house. He died in 1806, aged 55. Josiah R. Fletcher gave the writer these facts: The first home in Chelmsford owned and occupied by the Fletchers stood about fifty or sixty rods east of the Bates house in what is now a field for cultivation and on the left [north] of a cart path [a continuation of Crosby Lane] leading eastward from the Crosby house. See top of Plan No. 7. This was the house where the first public meeting in town was held.
That field was held in possession by lineal descendants of the original owner until within the last ten years. The cellar was not filled until I was twenty-five years old [1847] and my father often called my attention to it when a boy, as we passed it on our way to our work. The house in which my father was born stood twenty-five feet west of the Crosby house, and the well which supplies water for the same is the one from which several generations of the Fletchers drank. This Fletcher house, although it had become too weather beaten for a dwelling, was standing until after my birth, and I was told by my mother that she carried me in her arms through it, in order that I might be able to say in after years that I was once in the house in which my father was
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THE LIFE OF LONG AGO
born. My grandfather, Captain Josiah Fletcher, built the house now known as the Crosby house, and occupied it during the remainder of his life, and his oldest brother, William, who had lived with him in the old house, bought the Bates house, which he occupied until his death. Thus it has been called the Capt. Wm. Fletcher house. William Fletcher never held the rank of Captain, although he was a soldier on Bunker Hill. Another brother, who performed service in the army of the Revolution, did rank as Captain.
Josiah kept some of his cider in the cellar of the Bates house when his brother William lived there, and one day went to draw a pail full, but none would come when he turned the spigot. William called out to him, "Try the other end of the barrel, Brother Si, I got all I could out of that end."
The Fiske house in Central square was built in 1798 by Simeon Spaulding, Colonel in the Revolution. The present house occupies the site of an earlier building, owned and occupied by Major John Minot, when the homestead contained but four acres, including the public square in front of the present house. In 1784 John Minot deeded about one-half an acre with the buildings thereon, just south of the present house, to his son-in-law, William Bridge (son of the Rev. Ebenezer Bridge) who had married his daughter Rachel. The old well may be seen on the lower terrace. A barn once stood where the road now runs between this lot and the square, and remained some time after the road was laid out in 1829, so that it was necessary to drive around or through it, in going that way.
In 1784 Minot also sold his own place to Elijah Proctor. The next year, Proctor sold to Simeon Spaulding, who added six acres to the farm and in 1798 built the dignified Colonial home. But in 1807 he was obliged to mortgage the place, and in 1812 sold it to Azariah Spaulding and Joseph Bailey. In 1818 Simeon Spaulding re-purchased the place and kept it until 1830, when he sold to Mathias Spaulding. Within three years it was owned by William Fletcher, John Foster and Joel Adams, whose grandson, Captain C. E. A. Bartlett was born there. In five years the house had another owner, Thomas Moore, and it became a tavern, known as the Lafayette House, where in the spring of 1839, Mr. and Mrs. John Minot Fiske of Boston and their three sons came in search of a country home, thinking to buy the old house which had belonged to Parson Bridge, Mr. Fiske's great-grandfather. But his wife took a fancy for the tavern, which was bought by Mr. Fiske in April, 1839 and has since remained in the family. The tasteful and delicate looking though well made fence in front of the house, the late John Minot Fiske told the writer, was built in that year. The lower northwest room contained the bar, which, with its furnishings are still in the house.
James Pitts built the Richardson house.
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HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
The stately Colonial residence in Worthen street, known as the Worthen or Russell house, was built after the Revolution. Capt. Samuel Davis, who lived there, is said to have commanded a vessel in the coasting trade. Like the Fiske house it is built with brick ends, through which rise the chimneys, two in each end, with the frame front supported by handsomely carved pilasters, and an elaborate fan-shaped ornament over the front door. This house at one time belonged to the estate of David Perham, who owned all the intervening land between there and the lime kiln on Littleton street. He gave to the Town the small triangular piece of ground at the junction of Worthen and Westford streets, just as the similar plot at Central square came from the Fiske estate.
The Rev. Hezekiah Packard built a residence of some pre- tensions but not so fine an example of the Colonial style as the last two mentioned. It was later known as the Buzzell house, from Mr. D. A. Buzzell, who with his wife long occupied it. Some of these residences might almost compare with those at Salem or Newburyport. Mr. H. S. Perham once remarked to the writer that the builders of these three houses impoverished them- selves in the undertaking.
All Saints' Rectory, at the corner of Lowell (or Chelmsford) and Billerica streets, is probably about one hundred and fifty years old, and originally stood east of the old turnpike, near River Meadow brook and the Billerica road. It was owned by a man who had a glue factory near it. The house was moved to its present site about the year 1810. On the map of 1831, it is marked as a school, and was, at that date, used for that purpose. There was also near it, right at the corner of the street, as indicated on the map, a smaller building. This was the "noon house," or "Sabba' day house," where the family of Silas Pierce spent the intermission between the morning and afternoon services in the meeting house.
Joseph Bailey owned and lived in the house, about 1830. He was a bookbinder, and bound school books for the children. He was, at the same time, one of the owners of the property across Billerica street, which became the Fiske estate. Other families who lived in the present rectory were Rufus Proctor, the Bakers, Carters, Kittredges, Cooleys, Cressys, Putneys, Clarks, and Wozencrofts. Wozencroft had a blacksmith shop just east of the house. There was, at one time, a barn on the north side of the house.
TAVERNS AND DWELLING HOUSES.
The old tavern which stood near where Parkhurst's store now stands, in Central square, was kept, at one time, by Capt. Moses Barron; and later, by Joseph Reed, Harrington, Ailing, and H. Proctor. This was burned in 1861. The elms in Central square still give evidence of the damage they received at this
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time. From 1838 to 1840, Thomas Moore kept tavern in the Fiske house, in Central square. A spacious alcove in one of the main rooms (N. W. corner, lower floor), is where the bar was kept. The present residence of Mr. J. A. Bartlett was a tavern kept by Joseph Adams, who took it in 1822. An ell of this house was moved across the street and became the home of the Dadmuns.
The substantial colonial building at the Town Farm was built by Jonathan Manning, in 1816. Joseph Manning kept a hostelry at this place, as did Messrs. Larcom, Wyman, Moseley and Piper, previously. The opening of the Boston and Lowell railroad, in 1835, took away the trade from this, as well as other taverns. It closed in 1838. Across the Billerica road, from the Manning tavern, at what is known as the Lovering place, (one of the oldest houses in Chelmsford), Joseph Manning had kept a tavern. Benjamin Chamberlain succeeded him and supplied entertainment for man and beast at this place.
Near the toll house, which still stands on Golden Cove road, opposite the Town Farm, Abel Hunt of Concord kept a store. A Mr. Larcom and a Mr. Piper were toll-takers here. Before the road was built from Central square to Golden Cove, in 1829, the travel went around by Billerica street and the Turnpike which crossed Billerica street at the Town Farm, and crossed what is now the Lowell road where the lane is, some distance south of Golden Cove.
At Middlesex Village, the Old Middlesex Tavern was kept by Col. Jonas Clark, who entertained many distinguished guests. This tavern was favored by the wealthy class. Marshall's tavern, in Parker street, Lowell, was the resort of those who drove for trade.
Balch and Coburn's tavern, at Pawtucket Falls, was the stone building, afterwards the home of Dr. J. C. Ayer, and later given by Mrs. Ayer and their son, Frederick Fanning Ayer, for the Ayer Home.
The residence of the late Dr. S. L. Dutton, in Worthen street, is a good example of a restored colonial house.
The Bowers house, on Wood street, Lowell, is a quaint old place.
At the North Village, Benjamin and Thomas Adams kept a tavern in the house on the high ground near the junction of the Dunstable and Groton roads. This house was built for that purpose in 1781, as the house across the street, on Groton road, built in 1770 by William Adams and occupied by him, was too small, and the selectmen threatened to take away his license if he did not find more commodious quarters. The older house originally stood between Groton and Dunstable roads, but was moved across Groton road, and forms the ell to the present structure. The ell to the last built house was added in 1791.
There was a stable, 100 feet in length, on the east side of what is now Adams street, with horse stalls the whole length on each side, and much travel was accommodated here.
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