USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Chelmsford > History of Chelmsford, Massachusetts > Part 54
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Upon the following 50 pages are recorded the descriptions of each man's portion of the first allotment. From these descrip- tions it appears that the field which they had voted to inclose for "their present use" consisted of 900 acres, with a fence upon the south side and upon the east and west ends; the Merrimack river making a fence unnecessary upon the north.
The lots, which were numbered from west to east extended, with a few exceptions, from the fence upon the south back to the Merrimack river. The exceptions were lots 1 and 2 (at the west end) which were bounded upon the north by the Indian ditch near to Merrimack, lots 40-41-42-43-44 which were bounded upon the north by land reserved at the fishing place, and the six at the east end of the field which were bounded north by Pawtucket meadow, each person selecting his lot, as we have seen, by the impartial method of drawing his figure from beneath a hat.
I will read one of these descriptions which will be sufficient for an understanding of the whole. Instead however of selecting a figure from under a hat I will take number 50 as I shall have occasion to refer to that lot later on.
516
HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
"The vpland medow Land & several persels of fenc we belongeth to Thomas Parker it being his full proportion in ye first Division of ye wamaset Land as it fell to him by Lott upon ye 13th day of may: 1687.
1. 18 Acres being ye 50th Lott bownded on ye south by ye fenc on ye east by A Range of stakes marked wt 50ty: Vpon A Lyne from stake to stake from sd fenc to patucat medow on ye North by patucat medow, Except John Stevens medow on ye west by ye Land of John Perhum.
2. Two Acers more or Les Lying on ye north side of speens brooke, bownded on ye North by ye higeway, on ye east corner by A Stake marked wt 50ty, Runing down by Another stake to speens brooke on ye south by speens brook, taking ye bredt [ ] of two Lots next speens brook from sd brook to samuel ffoster Juns. vpland, on ye west by samuel fosters Jun vpland. Also three persels of fenc, Two of which Lyeth At ye west end of sd feeld being ye 50th Lott both ways.
3. Three or four poll A ye east end of sd ffeeld At ye end of ye Indian Ditch by merimack River side."
Most of the proprietors had two of the small lots outside the fence, or "without the fence" and some had three; one lot in each case being meadow.
This large field was known by the name of the "general field" or "Wamesit Field." It was used in common for some years as a pasture for stock.
At a meeting of the proprietors March the 7, 1712 it was voted "that every man that hath Right or Rights in sd neck: may turn in six creturers to a Right & no more." In "feb 13 1722 et wos voted yt the fence aboute sd felld shall be shall be made acording to law and so contenewee yerely by the seuenth day of martch.
3 te was voted that now Cretors shoud be torned in to sd felld only from the seuenth of ocktober To the Thurteth." This would indicate that the field was under cultivation and only pastured after the crops were harvested.
This also appears from a deed from Stephen Peirce to his son Robert Mch 3, 1729-30* of land "within the Now improved Generall feild in Wamas- sett ajoining to Chelmsford."
In 1739 however it would appear to be again in pasturage as a committee of twelve was chosen to see that six creatures were turned in to a right and no more.
In the history of Chelmsford by Rev. Wilkes Allen, published in 1820; he describes the field thus "The north west boundary of said 'purchase' began near the head of the Middlesex Canal and so to the glass manufactory and thence running near the houses of the late Mr. Philip Parker, Mr. Micah Spalding; and Capt. Benj. Butterfield, terminated at Wamesit falls in Concord river, or at the mouth of River Meadow Brook."
.
Philip Parker, here mentioned, lived upon what is now Pine street; Micah Spalding at the corner of School and Liberty streets, and Capt. Butterfield upon Hale street where stands the residence of the widow of the late Benj. Edwards, a few rods from Lincoln square.
*Benjamin Parker papers.
+Page 15.
517
PAPERS BY MR. H. S. PERHAM
To give his description by the present city streets it would be bounded by Baldwin, Pine, Liberty, and Hale streets and from there to Wamesit falls or to the mouth of River meadow brook.
The names of the proprietors given in the descriptions in the record book correspond with those in the deed, but vary slightly from a list in the book headed "The Names of the first Proprietors of Wamesit Purchers." In the latter the name of Joshua Fletcher is omitted and that of Cornelius Waldo occurs twice, and the name Peter Fascutt is given in place of Peter Talbott. The list is not in the handwriting of either the first clerk Eleazer Brown, or his immediate successor Solomon Keyes Sen.
The first action in reference to the mill lot appears in the record of the meeting of "march; 17; 1695-96, a vote in reference to the undevided land was passed at the same time.
1. yt ye stream together wt twenty Acors of Land below winthrops meadow on both sids of ye brook shall be Reserved for ye vse of ye whol Company yt is to be vnderstod yt place whear is it most Convenient to set vp A mill: this sd twenty Acors is to be Layd out befor ye Lots are Layd out, this voted
2. yt all ye vndiuided Land & meadow on this side merimack shall be deuided this year ensueing, this voted."
It appears by a subsequent vote that the same method was used in selecting the lots by each man drawing his "figer."
The following is the description given of the mill lot.
"aperell the: 11: 97.
land layd out for the incoregdment of bilding a mill at wamasite this land is twenty aceres moer or lese bounded south and southarly by the river medo riuer and north and noreast and norweast by marked tres: one whight ocke one red ocke on the nor weste part: on the north and noreast part: thre black ocke tres marcked: one acere of sayd land lys on the south syd of sayd riuer by the mill place.
Solloman Keyes, senier. Sameuell foster, Junier. Andrew Spolding, Senier. Committee."
By these votes we find that it is just 200 years since the first movement was made proposing to utilize some of the abundant water power within the present limits of this city for manufacturing purposes. A primitive saw mill only was then contemplated. There is no record to show when the mill was erected, or by whom, but a record in 1714 shows that the mill was there at that time. I will give the full record of that meeting.
"Chelmsford sum Time in The munth of Nouember 1714 et wos voted at a meting of the proprietors of wamaset pvrches yt The land Land Lefte vndivided by The saw mell place should be diuideed in to fifty loots and hywayse conveniant to The fishing place and to the sawmell and in to concord riuer Neck-Edward foster Edward Spavlding Stephen peirce wos chosen for To lay out These loots and hywayse 1 fist a hyway wos laid out Throw sd Land roneing To the neckfield fence To mr Borlens land Two Rod wide 2 a
518
HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
hyway from this hyw [ ] to the sawmill be Tweene Solomon Keyses house and barn Two Rod wide 3 a hyway from the saw mell esterly by marked Trees to a black ock Tree marked by The side of The River Two Rod wide a hyway from The a boue sd black ock a croce the Riuer and by stacks To The formar deuided land-
4 a hyway from The fust hyway below The place calde ye wolnut Tree to The olde ford way aboute six rod wid
Stephen peirce Edward Spaulding
commety
as wetnes our hand this Twenty forth day of Janawary 1715 atest Stephen peirce
Clark"
It seems from these entries that the saw mill was upon River Meadow Brook, perhaps where Hale's mill was erected later.
The mention of Solomon Keyes' house in the record just read leads me to digress a moment, as it sheds light upon a disputed question. Solomon Keyes (born June 24, 1665) was the son of Solomon, the second proprietors' clerk, who died in 1702 (Mch 28). He also had a son *Solomon (born May 11, 1701) 13 years of age at the time of this record. This son was later a member of the company of Capt. John Lovewell and participated in the famous "Lovewell's fight," that obstinate and deadly fight with the Indians in the wilderness. His part in the battle is thus told by fParkman. "Solomon Keyes, of Billerica received two wounds, but fought on till a third shot struck him. He then crawled up to Wyman in the heat of the fight, and told him that he, Keyes, was a dead man, but that the Indians should not get his scalp if he could help it. Creeping along the sandy edge of the pond, he chanced to find a stranded canoe, pushed it afloat, rolled himself into it, and drifted away before the wind." Fortunately a favoring breeze wafted him across the lake, and, notwithstanding his wounds, he succeeded in reaching the stockade. There he found several others of the survivors with whom he set out through the wilderness for Dunstable which place they managed to reach six days later. The brave and hardy Keyes recovered from his wounds but was killed in battle thirty years later at Lake George while commanding a company from Western (now Warren), Mass. Why he was credited to Billerica does not appear. Hazen's History of Billerica gives no evidence of such a name there until it appeared upon their tax list in 1749. Hodgman, the Westford historian, claims him for that town. We will make the claim for Chelmsford where we find his early home at Wamesit, and the name upon the tax list until after the date of Lovewell's fight.
What disposition was made of the 500 acres included in the "purchase" upon the north side of the Merrimack river does not appear from anything to be found in the record book. Allen statesį that it "appears to have been retained by the Indians."
*Keyes Gen. 1880, p. 74.
tHalf Century of Conflict, Vol. 1, p. 255.
#Page 170.
519
PAPERS BY MR. H. S. PERHAM
If so it was by sufferance only. It evidently had a recognized value. In 1702 a committee was chosen to run the line "Betwene the Varnums and said proprietors on the land purchesd by said proprietors on the North side of Merimake Riuer" and further to employ "Capt Danforth as an Artic" (artist) if they "should see cause"
and Sar. Solomon Keyes records the sale* in 1701 "to capten bowe-r my whol intrest in the five hundred acres on the north syd of meramack which belongs to my lot in wamesat neck."
The following are some of the local names given in descriptions of land and highways.
Georges' brookt
Pine Hill
Speensį brook
Black brook Hill
Pond meadow
meeting house Hill
Round
Wamesit meeting houses Hill
Pawtucket meadow
Great swamp
Wamesit meadow
Blind bridge
Long Pond
Great Pine plain
Round Pond
Long cause
These names have long since gone out of use. Some of them however can be located from their relation to other objects. Pawtucket meadows extended from the fishing place, at the foot of Pawtucket falls, to the mouth of the Concord river. They have since been filled in and occupied by the mills along the river bank. Wamesit meadows were along the Concord river.
The "long cause" was the causeway where Plain street crosses the river meadow. In the early Chelmsford records the road from the centre of the town in that direction was described as the road to the "long causeway." The "great pine plain" was upon the south side of River Meadow Brook and included the land now occupied by the Catholic and Edson cemeteries. The name "Wamesit meeting house hill" is probably the name given to the spot where the apostle Eliot was accustomed to gather the Indians about him to teach them the principles of the christian religion. The name occurs in the description of Moses Parker's small lot, or lot 2. It reads "Two Acers more or Les Lying at wamaset meeting house hill bownded on ye North by ye highway, on ye North east Corner so Runing down by another stake to wamaset medow, on ye south by wamaset medow, on ye west by thomas Parkers Long Lott"
The name occurs also in the description of a highway recorded in 1696.
"3 ye way begins at A blake oake vpon ye meeting house hill & gos along ye south side sd hill by marked trees & gos ouer wamesit medow in mr John Fisk his Lott & on ye south side sd meadow Cros all ye Lots to mr Moses fisk his Little Lott"
*Page 53.
tAlso given George Robbins' brook.
#Named for an Indian "James Speen, Indian, received £8 for four wolves heads."
§ Page 43.
520
HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
There are two points given in this first description which help us in fixing its general location: its southern boundary upon Wamesit meadow, and its western boundary upon Thos. Parker's "long lot." Parker's lot was No. 50 in the general field, and therefore at the extreme east end. If there was ever a hill near the corner of Central and Merrimack streets I should say that that might be the place.
Provision was made for the convenience of fishermen by "*A small parsel of Land against ye fishing place Reserued As well for strangers As town dwelers To bait yr horses." They were not so liberal however towards strawberry pickers as "it was voted that evry propriator shall pick strabres. Apone his one land and yt no parson that is not A propriotor shall pick A pone Any mans Loot on Las Te oner of The loot be Thare with tham."
The fishing place was sure to be kept open as the fish were abundant and furnished an important article of food up to the time when the factories were established along the rivers' banks. As Mr. Sidney Davis describes the method which he has seen employed for taking fish it was by nets, one of which was spread between two boats, and as they rowed into shoal water at the shore their haul would load a wagon with the salmon and shad. No farmer's cellar was well furnished without its barrel of salted fish; indeed so abundant and cheap were they that it is said that in order to prevent apprentices from being fed too exclusively upon a fish diet, it was sometimes specified in their indentures that only a certain proportion of their food should consist of shad. We may conclude that Merrimack river salmon were highly esteemed in Boston for when Justice Oliver Fletcher of Chelmsford wished to give a present to his friend Judge Sewall in 1755 he sends a nine pound salmon, which "my said Brother deli'd at his house in Boston." It seems that salmon also frequented the smaller streams in the vicinity as the selectmen testified in 1745 that the mill dams were no obstacle to their course in Great brook. "Chelmsford March ye 11th 1744-5 we whose names are here unto Subscribed are of oppinion that the Mill Dams a Cros Grate Brook so Called in Cheemsford is of no damedg to any person or to the publeck in perticuler, so to the Coarce of Fishes pasen Espetially Saman Shad Ealwaives & c-but is of Service to the Publect to have them kept up and Improved. Ephraim Spaulding Selectmen Danl. Procter
of
Benj Chamberlin Zachariah Richardson
Chelmsford
Allen, the Chelmsford historian, estimated;“ The quantity of salmon, shad and alewives, caught in Chelmsford annually may be computed at about 25 hundred barrels, besides a large quantity of other fish of less value."
*Page 9.
+Page 41.
521
PAPERS BY MR. H. S. PERHAM
As the Wamesit land came to be divided into farms there was a smaller number of proprietors.
In 1750 there were but sixteen. The record of that meeting is as follows:
At a meeting of ye proprietors of wamaset purchase Regularly cald on January ye 29/ 1750 then they preceded as follows.
1 voted that each proprietor haueing twenty acrs of land should be alowed to vote in sd meeting and so for a greattor or lesor number acordingly. 2 it was agread that the names hear after mentiond should be allowd to vote as follows first that Thomas Fletcher should vote on four rits
Andrew Fletcher on seuen Sert Benjamin Parker on five Henry Fletcher on three
Sert Joseph moors on Seuen Stephen Fletcher on fiue
Sert Jerathmiel Bowers on fiue Benjamin Parker Junr on two
Ebenezer Frost on one Quat Robert Peirse on fiue Josiah Fletcher on two
Sert Henry Stevens on two Robert Fletcher on four
John Burg and David Butterfield on one
Capt Ebenezer Parker on one
Sert James Perkust on one
Capt John Butterfield on two Stephen Peirce on two
2 voted and chose Capt Ebenezer Parker modderator
3 voted and chose Robert Fletcher Proprietors clerk.
4 voted and Chose Sert Benjamin Parker Capt Ebenezer Parker Sert Joseph moors Quat Robert Peirce and Robert Fletcher Committy men to renew & rectifie and Settle the Bounds betwen the parties owning lotts formerly laid out.
5 voted that any five of the proprietor applieing them Selues to the Clrk to haue a meeting Calld he Should notifie and Call meetings for the futer.
6 voted that the meeting for the futer Should be att Cornl Jonas Clark. Attest Robert Fletcher, Clrk.
Col. Jonas Clark here mentioned kept the tavern by Clark's ferry, now known as the "old Middlesex tavern."
No meeting was again called until 1773 (Aug. 7.)
and then "at the house of Moses Davis, Inholder in Chelmsford at one of the Clock in the aftor noon."
- "to revive the former committee . - to see what they will doe concerning the opening their watering place"
and "to see what they will doe with the undevided Lands or any part of them.
Robert Fletcher proprietors Clark."
Moses Davis lived at Davis' corner where the property is still held by his descendants. His Inn accommodated travelers passing through to Salem.
But one meeting was held after that, the record of which is brief.
522
HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
"Chelmsford January the 13 / 1785 at a Meeing of a Number of the Proprietors of Wamasett purchas so called at the House of Benjamin Parker January the 13 / 1785 at fore aclot in the ater noon in order to Chuse a Clark for the to Keep the Boock and All other Rightings first proceaded and Choase Mr Moses Davis Modrater for sd Meeting then proceaded and Chose Benja- min Parker their Proprierts Clark."
Mr. Benjamin Parker was a son of one of the first proprietors, Benj. Parker. His house stood upon what is now Pine street, near the Highland school. One of his descendants, Mr. Henry E. Parker, (of the fourth generation from Clerk Benjamin*) still occupies the ancestral homestead. And to that family we are indebted for the preservation of these valuable historic records.
This old record book contains not a line in reference to the hardships and dangers encountered by those who established their homes upon this tract.
The purchase of their lands from the Wamesits was an amicable transaction, but they were nevertheless in danger of attack from bands of hostile Indians in quest of scalps and cap- tives. In 1695, such a band surprised some families in Billerica, killing or carrying away as captives fifteen persons. Other neighboring towns suffered at different times. So that the danger must have been sufficient to keep the families in a constant state of anxiety and dread. A petitiont on file in the Massa- chusetts archives of which the following is a copy, shows the danger to which they felt themselves exposed in 1725:
"To ye honourable William Dummir Esqr Lieut Governour in Chief in and over her Majesties province of the Massachusetts bay in New England The petition of ye subscribers Humbly Sheweth that where as Merry make River is at present being Exceeding low and thereby ye Town of Chelmsford is very Exceedingly indangered and we humbly pray your honor wee may be allowed a scout of men to scout upon said River and other Exposed partes of the Town for about ye space of Two months from ye Date here of as in Duty bound your homble petitioners shall ever Ever pray Jonathan Richardson Jonas Clarke Captains for Chelmsford
Chelmsford June ye 23: 1725"
But notwithstanding these dangers which menaced them they had prospered so that at the very time of this petition they felt themselves sufficiently strong to entertain the ambition to assume the responsibilities of a separate town. Heretofore although Wamesit had not been formally annexed to Chelmsford, they were considered as inhabitants of that town, and it was there that they went to meeting and were assessed for taxes. This anomalous condition could not always continue. In 1725 the General Court refused to seat the Representative from Chelms- ford, Deacon Stephen Pierce, who lived at Wamesit, on the ground that he was not a resident of Chelmsford.# This brought matters to a crisis. The people of Wamesit refused to pay the taxes that had been assessed upon them.
*1. Benjamin. 2. Jeduthan. 3. Benjamin. 4. Henry E. tPetitions, Vol. 72, p. 247.
#Allen, pp. 171; 45.
523
PAPERS BY MR. H. S. PERHAM
The inhabitants of Wamesit together with the people adjacent to them on the east side of the Concord river petitioned the General Court to be "erected into a separate and distinct Town,"* and Chelmsford sent in a petition by the selectment asking to have Wamesit annexed to Chelmsford.
The General Court took the petitions into consideration and, June 10, 1726, "Ordered that they Prayer of the Petition be so far granted, That the Tract of Land called Wameset & ye Inhabit- ants thereon be and hereby are annexed to and accompted as Part of the Town of Chelmsford."}
Failing in their efforts to become a separate town, they petitioned the General Court two years later to be formed into a separate precinct. The following is the report of the legislative committee and the action thereon, April 9, 1729: "Spencer Phips Esqr from the Committee on the Petition of the Inhabitants of Wamasset gave in the following Report, viz. The Committee appointed on the Memorial of Samuel Hunt and others Inhabitants & Proprietors of Lands called Wamasset Purchase or Winthrops Farm, by an Order of this Court of June the seventh last past, have in Obedience to the said Order repaired to the said Lands petitioned for to be erected into a Precinct & have carefully viewed the said Land & considered the Situation & Circumstances of the Petitioners as well as the Town of Billerica in this affair, & are humbly of Opinion, That the Lands hereafter described together with the Lands commonly called Wamasset or Indian Purchase & their respective Inhabitants be erected into a distinct & separate Precinct: The Line to begin at Concord River between the Lands of John Rogers Junr & Enoch Kidder & so on that line to the Way leading to Winthrops Farm so called thence on a strait line to the South East End of Prospect Hill six Score Rods North of the House of James Kittredge, Continuing the same Line to Andover Line; From thence on Andover Line to Merrimack River thence on said River to the Bounds till it comes to Chelms- ford old Line (which was the Bounds between the said Town & Wamesset or Indian Purchase) Keeping said Line to Concord River to a Stake called Patucket or Wamasset Stake; Thence crossing Concord River to the Bounds first mentioned: Wch
includes Wamesset or the whole Indian Purchase :- And is submitted In the name & by order of the Commtee
Spencer Phips Ju
In the House Representves Read & Ordered that the Lands Set forth & deliniated in the within Report be & hereby are made & constituted a distinct & Separate Precinct (The former Order of this Court referring to Wamasset Purchase Land notwithstand- ing:) And the Inhabitants of said Lands are hereby vested with the Powers Privileges & Immunities that the Inhabitants of other
*Massachusetts Court Records, Vol. 13, p. 55.
+Allen, p. 171.
ĮMassachusetts Court Records, Vol. 13, p. 154.
524
HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
Precincts within this Province by Law are or ought to be vested. Provided that the Inhabitants of said Precinct do within the space of three years from this time order & finish.a good and Suitable House for the publick Worship of God & place it where the Committee that have already viewed the said Lands shall appoint & also procure & settle a learned orthodox Minister of good conversation & make Provision for his Comfortable & honourable Support
In Council; Read and Concurd."*
It seems that the opposition of Chelmsford prevented this act from being carried into effect, for in 1730 the town paid to "Majr Jonas Clark to answer his bill of Expense and time expended about getting the neck Land of from being a precinct 03-04-06."
The people at the Neck continued their relations to the Chelmsford Church up to the time embraced in the memory of some persons now living. Mr. Sidney Davis tells of the long ride there to meeting on Sunday mornings and the sermons of the minister, Rev. Wilkes Allen. He remembers also that pastor's parochial calls at the Davis home (at Davis corner) observing that when the decanters of liquor were set on (as the social custom of the time demanded) the minister partook sparingly. The "noon house," where the family of Silas Pierce spent the inter- mission between the morning and afternoon service, stood at the corner of Lowell and Billerica streets.
THE EARLY SETTLERS OF THAT PART OF CHELMSFORD NOW LOWELL, READ FEB. 16, 1892, BY HENRY S. PERHAM.
When the tract which now includes Chelmsford, Westford and Lowell, was first examined by the English, in 1652, with a view to settlement, it was already partially occupied by the Indians. The explorers found "a planting ground about a hill called Robins Hill," and wigwams of the Pawtuckets, or Wamesits, were standing upon the banks of the Merrimack at Pawtucket Falls and at their village, Wamesit, on the east side of the Concord River. Large numbers of Indians assembled here in the fishing season. The fertile lands "yielded them plenty of corn," and from the river, with their nets made of wild hemp, they drew forth the salmon and bass. Or with a flaming torch of birch-bark waving from their canoe at night, they allured the sturgeon which came "tumbling and playing and throwing up their white bellies" to the unerring spear of the Indian.
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