USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Chelmsford > History of Chelmsford, Massachusetts > Part 66
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The Centre Village of Westford is on Tadmuck hill.
Swamps: Great and Little Tadmuck, Great (by the Canal), Wigwam, Bear, Poplar, Long, Muddy, Spruce.
Plains: Merrimack, Carolina, Pine, Golden Cove, Bocken- egont, Pond.
Brooks: Great or Mill, River Meadow, Hale's, Beaver, Farley's, Black, (flows through Peat meadow), Long, Stony, Keyes, Deep (runs into the Merrimack at Newfield), East Meadow, Gilson's, Crooked Springs, House (southeastern part of Town), Golden Cove, George's, George Robbins', Vine, Speen's (in East Chelmsford), Sawmill Meadow.
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HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
Flaggy meadow is in the western part of Chelmsford, a half mile west of the Elbridge Dutton homestead, a mile from the Westford line.
Peat meadow, in the eastern part of the Town, is a part of the tract known as "Redshire," about a mile west of Stedman street. Black brook flows through this meadow, and through Middlesex Village.
River meadow gives its name to the brook flowing through it. Long meadow is named in Adams's grant, 1660.
Flushing meadows are near Flushing pond.
Ministry meadow; Round meadow; Smooth meadow; East meadow; Mole Hill meadow; Golden Cove meadow; Forty Acre meadow; Pond meadow; Crane meadow; Cross meadow; Home meadow; Blanchard's meadow; Tobacco meadow; Sakateare meadow; Wamesit meadow; Long Pond meadow; Pawtucket meadow; Spring meadow; are mentioned in the records.
Snake meadow is between the West and North Villages, near Crooked Springs brook.
Grasshopper valley is east of the bridge in North Chelmsford. Drowned Cow hole is in Tadmuck swamp.
Six acres called Providence meadow lie on the east side of Tadmuck hill.
QUOTATIONS FROM ALLEN-1820.
"Chelmsford is situated twenty miles north-west of Boston, on the post-road to Amherst and Windsor. It is bounded on the north by Merrimack river, on the east by Concord river, south-east by Billerica, south by Carlisle; west by Westford, and north west by Tyngsborough. By a measurement in 1781, it was found to contain 13,838* acres; 2,063 of which are in roads, ponds and sunken lands. It is remarkably diversified by meadows and swamps, uplands and forest trees of various kinds, and inter- sected by brooks and rivulets. Few townships in the Common- wealth have a greater variety of soil, or possess greater facilities to a profitable market for their various productions. Upon the Merrimack and Concord, much of the land is alluvial and fertile. Thence proceeding south west, lies a pine plain, called Carolina plain, upwards of a mile wide, intersecting the north east and south west part of the town. The soil is shallow and sandy; and of little use except for raising rye. It produces a crop of about ten bushels per acre triennially ... . The flour is of a quality superior to that raised on a richer and more fertile soil. The natural growth of this plain is white and yellow pine. It lies in the vicinity of Middlesex canal; and makes advantageous additions to the farms bordering upon it ....... The wood is an article of great domestic use, and finds a ready market at the Glass Manu- factory ....... The wood lands in the neighbourhood of this great plain produce an alternate growth of oak and pine.
* 6 miles square contains nearly 23,000.
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The west part of the town is generally rocky and hard to be subdued; but when much labor and expense have been bestowed upon it, it is found to yield a large crop and to retain its strength and vigor for many years.
So illy suited to grazing is the town, that few families even among the most wealthy make a sufficiency of butter and cheese for their own consumption. Its principal productions for market are English grain and cider. Since the opening of Middlesex Canal, much of the woodland has been cleared up, and its growth sent to the capital. The principal resources of the town are its fisheries, granite, lime-stone, clay, peat, wood, mills, manufactures, canals, and great roads.
HEART POND.
The only [?] pond in town, is Heart Pond, which is a very pleasant basin of water of a few miles in circumference, much frequented, formerly by those who were fond of angling. It lies in the south west corner of the town, and in form resembles a heart.
BROOKS.
Stony Brook originates in Harvard, passes through the northerly parts of Littleton and Westford, and the north west corner of Chelmsford, where it enters into the Merrimack. It affords a number of excellent seats for mills, which are improved by forges, trip-hammers, saw mills, grist mills, and clothing mills.
Mill brook, rises out of Heart Pond, and takes a south easterly direction to the north part of Carlisle where it shifts its course towards the north, and falling into the great meadows, in the easterly part of Chelmsford, is called River-meadow-brook, from the junction of Beaver brook; where it takes a north easterly course, until it enters Concord river above Wamesit falls. It has upon it four grist mills, two saw mills, and a clothier's mill.
Beaver brook rises in Tadmuck and other swamps west of the meeting-house, and running a few rods south of it falls into River-meadow-brook half a mile east of the said meeting house. On this stream, though less than three miles in length, are a saw mill, a grist mill, a carding machine, lathe and apparatus for sawing felloes for wheels, moved by water.
Black brook issues from a large swamp south of Stony brook, runs about a mile and a half in an eastern direction, and then north east into Merrimack river, half a mile above Pawtucket falls.
Deep brook begins in the north east corner of Westford, and passing through the north west corner of Chelmsford, enters the Merrimack, between Newfield Eddy and Stony brook.
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HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
The town possesses natural advantages, which may be the means of increasing the wealth and population, so as to make it the seat of much business. The two rivers that form its northern and eastern boundaries are connected by Middlesex canal with Boston harbor.
This opens a communication from these rivers, which facili- tates the transportation of lumber and produce, and increases their value. The fisheries upon these rivers are lucrative to individuals, and were the laws regulating the taking of fish better observed, would be a source of considerable wealth to those who devote their attention to this business.
When the town was first settled and for fifty years afterwards, Merrimack river abounded with salmon, shad, alewives and sturgeon,* together with various kinds of smaller fish. With these the mouth of Concord river was also stored. Some of the smaller streams, particularly Stony brook, abounded with shad and alewives. For some years the inhabitants used them to manure their fields. Artificial obstructions across these rivers and brooks, and other causes have greatly diminished the fish; so that they are rather desirable as a luxury, than as an article of cheap living.
The quantity of salmon, shad and alewives, caught in Chelms- ford annually may be computed at about 25 hundred barrels, besides a large quantity of other fish of less value.
MILLS.
The advantages of the brooks and rivers above mentioned will best appear from the number of Mills, Machines and Manu- factories, built upon them. There are six saw-mills; seven grist mills; one woolen manufactory; and iron works, where hoes and shovels are manufactur'd, and various kinds of curious work done, and irons for machinery castt, a fulling Mill and clothier's shop. Also a very curious loom for weaving boot- straps, moved entirely by water. This loom, constructed by Mr. John Golding is a great curiosity in these parts, and will, it is believed, bring a handsome income to the ingenious and indefatig- able owner.
LIME.
In the south west part of the town, is a bed of lime stone, of an excellent quality, extending two miles north-east. It has five lime kilns upon it, and from which are annually drawn, about a thousand hogshead, which may be estimated at $5 per hogshead.
* Merrimack, signifies in the Indian language a Sturgeon. In some of the earliest histories of this country, it is called Merrimack or Sturgeon River.
t Messrs. Ames & Fisher.
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PEAT.
Peat has been lately found in sundry places ....... Few experi- ments have yet been made to ascertain its quantity or quality. From the few that have been made, it appears highly probable, that many meadows now esteemed of little value, contain vast treasures of fuel, from which future generations will draw their supplies, as the present do from their wood lands.
GRANITE.
In the north west part of the town, are granite [boulders] of superior beauty and excellence. They are not found in quarries, but on the surface of the earth, or partly sunk into it. They are of various sizes and dimensions, from one to a hundred tons' weight. They are first split with iron wedges, and then wrought into any form by hammers and other iron tools, at the pleasure of the workman. They are in so great a demand for the con- struction of dwelling houses, churches and public edifices, that eight workmen, the last season (1817) were not able to answer the urgent calls, which were made for them. A quantity of the value of twelve thousand dollars and upwards, was transported the last year, in a rough state through Middlesex Canal, to the State Prison in Charlestown, where they were hammered and prepared for the builders' use by the convicts ....... So extensive has become the knowledge, and so celebrated the beauty of them, that an elegant church was built of them at Savannah, Georgia, in 1818 ..... .. They are found in divers parts of the town; but the best and whitest are in Merrimack plain, or Newfield, and the adjacent part of Tyngsborough. They have acquired the common and discriminating name of 'Chelmsford granite.'
The amount of stones wrought in Chelmsford, and transported to Boston and other places, in 1818, is estimated at upwards of 25,000 dollars.
CLAY.
Beds of clay have been opened in sundry places and con- siderable attention has been paid to the making of brick; par- ticularly in the east part of the town. The clay is not of the purest and best kind; but is manufactured to good advantage. The local situation and quality of the clay, hold out advantages sufficient to induce enterprising men to carry on the brick-making business upon a more extensive plan, than has yet been attempted. [Allen, pages 38-43.]
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HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
INDIAN NAMES.
Aberjona: Hale's, or River Meadow brook, the region below the great causeway-i. e., Plain street, Lowell .*
Assanunnickcom-misick, Annannieumsick: Newfield pond. Kissacook hill, in Westford.
Massachusetts: at or about the great hills, i. e., the Blue Hills of Milton.
Massic falls and island, Concord river.
Musketaquid: the Concord, the grass grown or meadow river. Merrimack: sturgeon, rapid river, place of swift waters, river of broken waters.
Naticot, Nacooke, Nahamcok, Naamkeak, Namcock, Name- keake, Nahamkeage, Neahambeak: eel-land, or a fishing place. Middlesex Village.
Nabnasset, Nubannussuck: pond in Westford.
Pawtucket: at the falls, or, place of the loud noise.
Suneanassit: region at mouth of Stony brook.
Tadmuck: hill and swamp in Westford.
Wamesit, Weymessick: the place for all, or of a large assembly.
Weikeset, Wicasee, Wicasuck, Wickasauke, Wicosucke: now called Tyng's Island, in the Merrimack.
ORTHOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS.
Twenty-three different spellings of the name of the Town have been noticed in the records and documents consulted.
Chelmsford
Chenceford
Chellmsford
Chensford
Chellmsfoord
Chalmsford
Chemlsford
Chelford
Cheemsford
Chilford
Chemsford
Celmsford
Chilmsford
Clemsford
Chimsforde
Chemsfort
Chimsfarde
Chettinford
Chansford
Chalmsforth
Chansforth
Chelmsforth
Chalmsferd
These variations are found in records relating to the English town :
Chelmsford
Chelmesforde
Chelmsforde
Chelmysford
Chelmersford
Chelmysforde
Chilmersford
Chelmysfode
Chelmesford
Chainsford
*Probably a reminiscence of the Aberjona river in Woburn, whence came some of the early settlers.
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TOPOGRAPHY
Lippincott's Gazetteer gives the pronunciation of the name "Chemzford"-the e short, and without sounding the 1. This is the common pronunciation.
The name Merrimack, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, is spelled with the k at places along the river above Haverhill; but the k has now been officially recognized as belong- ing to the name.
PART TWO.
METEOROLOGICAL AND SEISMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
The earliest recorded earthquake in this region was on June 1, 1638, between the hours of 3 and 4 P. M. The weather was clear and warm, and the wind westerly. All New England was violently shaken. The shock lasted about four minutes. In some places people could scarcely stand upright.
On January 26, 1663, another heavy shock was felt in New England. It was especially severe in Canada.
Feb. 27, 1695, the General Court could not sit in Boston on account of the severe cold, and a violent storm of wind and snowdrifts.
In 1727, on October 29, there was a severe earthquake in this part of the country, lasting about two minutes. Walls and chimneys fell and all the towns on the Merrimack suffered severely.
1816 was the cold year. The grain raised was not sufficient in quantity to suffice for planting the following season. There was a considerable emigration from New England to the West.
FROM THE DIARY OF THE REV. EBENEZER BRIDGE.
1750/1. Jan. 22. This morning a very high wind which blew down several buildings, & much rain.
1755. Oct. 30. Lecture day. I preached. Snow storm. The thinest meeting I have seen in Chelmsford.
[1755. Nov. 18, occurred an earthquake which shook the grasshopper weather-vane off Faneuil Hall in Boston. And on the same day the city of Lisbon in Portugal was destroyed by an earthquake.
Rev. William Emerson says: "On the morning of 18 Novem- ber, 1755 the inhabitants of Boston, and of all the northern and middle states of North America, were surprised with the most violent shock of an earthquake that ever was experienced in this part of the world. Many houses were shattered, hundreds of chimneys were blown down, wells broken, and huge chasms made in various parts of the earth. It lasted about three minutes." It was taken to be a token of the divine anger.]
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HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
Parson Bridge gives this account of his experience:
1755. Nov. 18. About 4 o clock this morning we were suddenly awaked out of sleep by a most terrible & shocking Earth- quake. I was awaked whether by ye noise or ye shaking I know not, but immediately I thot what it was. Called to my wife & she & I leaped immediately out of bed-& were casting about in our minds wt Course to take for safety. She ran to ye Chamber where 4 of our children & our Servt. lay. I run after her & then took back to dress me. She then ran to ye chamber where my Sons Ebr. & Jno. lay-My dear lambs were all in a dreadful surprize-I believe this shock was as great as yt in ye year 1727 wch I well remember. We all got up & dressed ourselves & I could not enough praise & bless the Lord who had preserved us and ours. I observed presently a little repetition of ye Shock & about an hour & a half another Considerable one. I discoursed with my family upon this loud call in ye providence of ye Lord & gave em ye best counsel I could. My son Ebenr. & Daughter Sarah were effected. While my wife & I were in our greatest Confusion & She running to ye Kitchen Chamber. I perceived ye shock to abate, but then it Came again with a greater force, & I called to her to stand still & see ye Salvation of the Lord. About this time a hand bell in our garret was set a ringing by the shake. Two bricks fell from the top of our chimneys, but the Lord pre- served us and ours from all damage. Blessed and forever blessed be his great and holy name. I soon went out and walked about. Ye night had been remarkably serene. & clear. but a considerable Cloud had lain in ye East, as it had done for a night or two before. Oh, it is a night much to be observed by me & by all people in ye land. I pray I may never forget it.
May the Lord quicken me & my wife and all my people, & all his people, and may he lead us all to repentance.
20. Last night about 10 o'clock there was considerable rumbling of an earthquake but little or no shaking.
22. This evening between 8 & 9 o'clock we were alarmed again with ye shock of an earthquake. It rained. We kept up till toward 2 o'clock. Oh that I and mine could trust in ye Lord calmly. Lord, spare thy people.
1756. Jan. 8. A Day of Public Humiliation & Prayer on account of ye Earthquakes, &c.
1757. Aug. 14. Foul weather p. m, so that one could not observe the eclipse of the sun, only ye darkness.
1759. Feb. 1. Earthquake between 2 & 3 in the morning.
1761. March 12. A very considerable shock of an earth- quake, greater than I have known, except that of 1727 & '55.
During the summer there was a long draught-no thunder storms.
Oct. 24. Great wind did damage to fences and trees.
Nov. 1. Earthquake this evening between 8 & 9 o'clock.
1772. March 15. Ebenezer Bridge was sick and could not send for a doctor on account of the deep snow.
--
No. 38
EAST CHELMSFORD IN 1825
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
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TOPOGRAPHY
JOHN BETTEY'S OBSERVATIONS.
Nov. 26. 1779 the Ground was covrd. with snow and in Decr. the first portion of the month their came snow a foot deep. Then on Jan. 3rd. their came 3 foot more and so on from time to time till got to be 25 foot deep in many places.
And on May 19, 1780. it was so dark for many hours that know work could be performed in house without a candle and went to dinner with a candle. This is my observation. J. Bettey.
THE DARK DAY.
May 19, 1780 was the famous Dark Day which filled the superstitious with terror. Nov. 2, 1819 was another Dark Day. Sept. 6, 1881, some can remember as the Yellow Day. Whittier, in "Abraham Davenport," describes the day in 1780:
"'Twas on a May-day of the far old year
Seventeen hundred eighty, that there fell
Over the bloom and sweet life of the Spring, Over the fresh earth and the heaven of noon
A horror of great darkness. * * *
*
*
Birds ceased to sing, and all the barnyard fowls Roosted; the cattle at the pasture bars
Lowed, and looked homeward. * *
* *
Men prayed and women wept; all ears grew sharp To hear the doom-blast of the trumpet shatter The black sky."
A lady in Boston, it is related, sent her young son to Dr. Mather Byles to know if he could explain this terrifying phenomenon. "My dear," said the reverend gentleman, "tell your mother I am as much in the dark as she is."
FROM BRIDGE'S DIARY.
1780. May 19. A very great darkness came on fm abt. } after nine, a. m. & lasted till between 2 or 3 p. m. It was so dark by 11 o'clock yt I could not read with my spectacles wthout a candle. We ate our dinner by candle light, such lights were to be seen in ye neighboring houses. I suppose it was occasioned by ye density of ye Clouds, wch spread over every part of ye heavens above us, & even to ye whole visible horizen, & no wind. Many people were terrified, & full of fearful apprehensions.
20. Last night there was a great & uncommon darkness for ye night as yt was in ye day time for ye day.
1782. April 12. Had a fine view of an Eclipse of ye Sun in ye middle of ye day. How manifold are yy. works O Lord. In wisdom hast thou made em all. All yy. works praise thee, O, Lord. I could not help calling to mind these passages & such like, of holy writ, and felt my soul somewt. affected wth. the thots of ye Infinite powr, wisdom & goodness of the Lord.
June 18. About 5 o'clock, p. m. there was a prodigious Gust of wind wth. thunder & rain, wch passed by us & seemed for a
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HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
short space as if it would bear down all before it. Some limbs were blown off fm. a tree by my house. A great deal of this sort was done in ye trees by David Danforth's, & Josiah Fletcher's barn was blown down entirely. It seems as if it was similar to a hurricane, for it extended but a little way in width. There were other such winds in other places the same afternoon, and much damage.
1785. Feb. 25. A very great snow storm, and ye way vastly blocked up.
1786. January 1. Extremely cold. Ebenezer Bridge almost fainted in the pulpit.
December 11. Roads so blocked up with snow, they could not bury the dead.
1790 July 17 A great storm, rain and hail, thunder and lightning. Wind, which did a great deal of damage. Parson Bridge's windows and those of others greatly broken by large hail stones. Rye, corn, trees, &c., greatly damaged.
THE SEPTEMBER GALE.
1815. The "great blow" or September Gale, which inspired a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes, occurred on September 18, 1815. Allen says: "The remarkable and destructive gale, experi- enced through New England, Sept. 18, upset and moved out of their place, most of the small buildings, and several barns in the Town. The barns of Mr. Samuel Marshall, sen., Col. Bowers and Mrs. Haywood, together with a barn of Mr. Joel Mansfield, were blown down. Col. Joseph Bowers, his nephew of 16 and son of 8 years old, were wonderfully preserved. They were at work in the barn, and happened to be in the linter at the moment when it fell. They were buried under its ruins. Col. Bowers and his son were uninjured. His nephew, Milo F. Byam, had his head so badly pressed between two timbers as to start his eyeballs from their sockets; he was timely relieved, and in a few weeks recovered his health. A considerable proportion of the fruit and forest trees were broken down, eradicated, or prostrated to the ground. The wood blown down and destroyed in Chelmsford is estimated at 50,000 cords. A very large elm of 60 years' growth, before the house of Maj. Nathl. Howard, was blown down, which contained on measurement 8} cords of wood. It was 4} feet in diameter at the ground and 14 feet in circumference."
The roof was blown off the "three story" or Bowers house in Middlesex Village. The pine forest near the Dupee house at South Chelmsford was levelled with the ground. Portions of the Mansfield barn were strewn along for half a mile. A pine tree of good size was uprooted and blown along down a slope of nearly half a mile, and fetched up against the Spaulding-Hazen house.
1832. Note by Allen: This winter was remarkable for long, severe cold. Many fruit trees were killed, owing, as is supposed, to the cold weather setting in before the sap had gone down.
CHAPTER XIV.
GEOLOGY, BOTANY.
G EOLOGY treats of the history of the earth and its life. Among the principles which it utilizes are those of physics, chemistry, mineralogy and botany. The latter science is that branch of biology which deals with plant life. The complete history of a given locality should include some account of the ground we walk upon, and of the vegetation which is so important to our welfare. The following articles on the Geology and Botany of Chelmsford were prepared expressly for this History at the request of the present writer.
Map No. 9 will indicate to the reader the location of exposed ledges, glacial marks, and eskers in this vicinity.
THE GEOLOGY OF CHELMSFORD.
By Clarence H. Knowlton, formerly Principal of the Chelmsford High School.
Numerous publications refer in one way or another to the geology of Chelmsford and vicinity. The oldest of these is Hitchcock's Report on the Geology of Massachusetts, published in 1835, which describes the Westford granite and the Chelmsford limestone. Prof. William O. Crosby, recently of the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology, studied this area with con- siderable care, and published a very interesting map .* His descriptions of rocks and minerals are good, but many of his published conclusions have been superseded. I have also con- sulted three less technical local papers, f one of which, on Early Mining near Lowell, deserves careful reading, for it combines with its geological facts a great deal of interesting local history. (A portion of this paper is printed in Chapter XV.) For a modern presentation of the essential facts in regard to the under- lying bedrock, I am greatly indebted to my classmate, Mr. Lawrence La Forge of the U. S. Geological Survey.
There are three general classes of rocks: sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. Sedimentary rock is composed of fragments of older rock, usually laid down in water. It usually shows layer
* Contributions to the Geology of Eastern Massachusetts, pages 123-161, 1880.
t Geological Explorations, Rev. Owen Street, D. D., Contributions of Lowell Old Residents' Historical Association, Vol. IV, pages 60-86. Our local Geology, Harriette Rea, do., Vol. VI, pages 33-45. Early Mining Operations near Lowell, Alfred P. Sawyer, Contri- butions Lowell Historical Society, Vol. I, Pages 316-342.
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HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
structure, and often the fragments of which it is made can be distinguished. Sandstone and limestone are examples. Igneous rocks are those which have cooled from a molten mass, like lavas at the surface, or granite in the interior. When there is great pressure and heat applied to rocks, as in mountain building, strata are often bent and twisted and heat enough is generated to change the original structure, and the rock becomes more crystalline, often developing new planes of cleavage. Such rocks are called metamorphic, and gneiss, schist and slate belong to this class.
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