USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Chelmsford > History of Chelmsford, Massachusetts > Part 86
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1696. Indian, Mulatto, and negro servants were estimated as other personal estate.
1699. May 10, To Cornet Hill for transporting corn to Billerica £0:8:0.
1701/2. March ye 3. The inhabitants of Chelmsford being then assembled together: they did then by a voat Joyntly agree that Each Proprietor In the Towne shall have Three acres of Upland: to one Right: as it was formerly Agred Upone, by the first planters In the Towne: and forever, to be A Standing Rule.
1704. Half the soldiers in Chelmsford and other towns "most able and of best estate" to provide themselves with snow shoes and mogginsons.
1708. "Voted to devid the wholl comons."
1711. Maj. Tyng was wounded by the Indians between Groton and Concord, carried to Concord and there died-Family Records, in possession of Robert Brinley, Esq. Tyngsboro. Hubbard and Hutchinson say that Maj. Tyng was killed in Chelms- ford. They were doubtless in error. A second division of the Commons made: an acre to an acre of right. There were four divisions in all.
1716. More than three thousand (3,650) pine trees were loaned at 2-6d per hundred for the purpose of extracting turpen- tine. These were on the Town Common lands. Voated that the hy way between Chelmsford and Concord shall be laid out by verginea meddows.
1720. Saml. Goold and wife, who came from Dunstable to Chelmsford, were the first persons maintained at the public expense. The town gave for their maintenance 8s. per week. A horse was provided for them to ride to meeting.
John Davis did smith work.
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HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
1724. Forty men in Chelmsford obliged by law to provide snowshoes and "moggasins" to be in readiness to go against the Indians.
1730. A wall was built round the Ministry.
The Town chose deer-reeves to prevent the destruction of deer. These were chosen every year until 1795.
A committee was chosen "to let out the fishing place and take care of them."
"Samuel Holden, Esq., of London, whose munificence was extended to other churches and incorporations in America, (he bestowed charities in New England to the amount of £4,847; his wife and daughter, £5,585,) presented to the church and congre- gation in Chelmsford the works of Richard Baxter in four folio volumes." [Allen.]
1733. In 1733 and 1762 mention is made of Abbott's ferry, (see page 481). In 1761 at the desire of some of the inhabitants of Chelmsford and Dracut a Town Road was laid out from the meeting house in Chelmsford, easterly from the Long Causeway (Plain Street) by the neck houses as the road is now used, by the house of Henry Fletcher, to Merrimack river at Abbott's Ferry place.
Probably the Hunt's ferry mentioned in the record of 1762 was across the Concord river, and the road to Col. Jonas Clark's would be what is now Merrimack street in Lowell, continuing up Pawtucket street along the river. The "Bridle road," running northerly to Merrimack river, would be Bridge street at Abbott's ferry. The latter ferry also was at one time operated by a Mr. Hunt. In 1735 an entry in the Dracut records mentions the laying out of a road from Lt. Richardson's to Merrimack river at Hunt's ferry. The description shows it to have been the present Hildreth street to Bridge street and thence to the river. The same year John Colburn of Dracut conveyed to Robert Hildreth, 100 acres of land, one of the bounds being a "black oak at the ferry." The land extended eastward to Beacon street on Dracut heights, and from the river northerly as far as Tenth street. The ferry became known as Hildreth's ferry, but in 1756 land and ferry were sold to John White. He in turn sold to Solomon Abbott in 1758, and in 1761 Abbott sold to Amos Bradley. His son Joseph operated the ferry for many years, but in 1827 con- veyed his rights to the Central Bridge Corporation. Thus the ferry was known successively as Hunt's, Hildreth's, White's, Abbott's and Bradley's ferry. Clark's ferry was at the foot of Clark's ferry road, or Baldwin street at Middlesex Village, (see Map No. 19). In 1759, when, on Oct. 22, Jonas Clark conveyed his farm of 280 acres, one bound was given as "at the Ferry way called Clark's Ferry, now in possession of sd. Jonas and Timothy."
John Webb's ferry was one of the earliest on the Merrimack. His house, on the Dracut side of the river, was near the river bank, close to the Durkee or Old Ferry road. In 1668 he peti-
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tioned the selectmen of Chelmsford to lay out a road from the river to the Centre of the Town (see page 533) which was granted. This road may have been what is now Wood street.
Hinchman's ferry was above Clark's ferry.
Hamblet's and Ansart's ferries were the same and were below Clark's.
Brown's ferry was across the Concord river near its mouth.
Much of the above information is to be credited to Edwin M. Currier, of Dracut.
1737. Road from Hunt's to Clarke's ferry, south side of Merrimack, laid out by order of the court of sessions. Col. Jonas Clark erects a pew in the meeting house, near Col. Tyng's pew. "For the stocks and mending the irons £0:10:6:0."
1742. Gave Daniel Shute, £8 per month for teaching school -- but in 1744, they hired him for £2 lawful money-which is the first record made on the town books in lawful money, after the depreciation of paper money.
1743. The Town paid a fine of £10:5:0:0 "for want of a schoolmaster."
1745. "Probably the Louisburg expedition did more to unite the Colonies and prepare them for the Revolution than any Colonial undertaking."
1746. The Middle of the Town is described as extending two miles each way from the meeting house.
The Centre Village is sometimes called "The Middle Town of Chelmsford," and two centuries ago was designated as "The Midst of the Town." "Chelmsford Old Town" is another phrase used.
1748. The Town refused permission to the "Southerly side of the Town" to be set off for a separate precinct.
1750. Town records, first dated according to the new style.
1751. Road laid out through Concord-river-neck, from Billerica line, by Eben. Frost's to Zebediah Keyes' house.
1752. A barrel of powder and 42 dozen flints bought for the town stock.
1754. The Town accepted the highway laid out from Simeon Spaulding's house "to the Rhode that Ledes from Golden Cove to Carnal Clark's, provided that the Land is to be open for Peple to pass."
1755. Deac. Eben Gould, taught the first Singing school in town, which was continued for three months from the 7th day of April.
He received for his services £1:12:0 lawful money per month.
1756. Jean Landrie and a large family, being French from Nova Scotia, were thrown upon the town and maintained at the public expense, until the end of the war in 1763, at an expenditure of £200. which was reimbursed by the province, agreeable to an order of Counsel.
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HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
John Parrot died Nov. 20. He was a poor man supported by the Town. The Town paid for "six pairs of gloves for John Parrot." This was an old funeral custom. The gloves were worn by the bearers or mourners.
1755. Robert Keyes of Chelmsford removed to Shrewsbury in 1740, and thence to the easterly side of Wachusett Mountain. In 1755 his daughter Lucy, between four and five years old, was lost in the woods, and never afterwards heard of. It was supposed that she was carried away by the Indians.
1760. Benjamin Kemp built a cooper shop.
The Town paid Silas Richardson for labour at the bridge over Stoney brook and for saving the plank and timber in the time of the great freshet, £0:9:0:0.
1765. A new pound ordered to be built of stone. The old one was of wood, built in 1729, and called the new pound.
1768. Wood per cord, about 87 cents.
1770. Col. Simeon Spaulding, was present at the extraordinary session held in Harvard College.
1771. The Town cleared up part of the ministry land, for which they paid £8. The occupant, Mr. Bridge, had agreed to mow the bushes annually, if the Town would clear it up faithfully by a stipulated time .- The condition not being fulfilled on the part of the Town, the occupant refused to perform his part. Thus it remained uncultivated and almost useless until 1803. In 1763, Mr. Bridge addressed a letter to the Town relating to this matter. [Allen, p. 52.]
In 1683 ten acres in Snake meadow was added to the ministry. It was leased to John Spalding and Arthur Crouch for four shillings a year, payable in corn at two shillings per bushel. It was given to Westford when that town was set off from Chelmsford.
1776. July 13, Joseph Emerson was paid £1:16:0 for a drum. 1777. Voted to accept the 80 bushels of salt provided for Chelmsford by the Government.
1782. Isaac Chamberlain had a blacksmith shop.
1784. In the Genealogical Section of the Boston Transcript of May 1, 1916, is the statement that Jeremiah Wier, (see page 352) went to Antrim, N. H., and was murdered on his way home from New York with the pay for his military service in 1784. He married Esther Kidder of Chelmsford, April 6, 1775.
Feb. 13, 1793. To Dr. John Betty for staking out the ground for the new meeting house £1:11:6:0.
1793. There was purchased "a chain to confine Wm. Powers with."
A letter was received from some Gentlemen in Westford ask- ing the Town to concur with them and petition the Gen. Ct. to have an academy established in Westford.
1793. Voted that the Inhabitants of Chelmsford are not so well acquainted with the circumstances of the Towns of Groton and Westford as would be necessary to justify a complyance
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with the request of the Committee yet they do not find in their minds any objection to the Incorporation of an academy in the Town of Westford.
1794. £250 appropriated for building new school houses.
Taxes are abated in some instances on account of sickness or absence in the army.
William Bridge is constable. He held other town offices.
"A chist with lock and Kee" to be provided in which shall be kept the military stores, and put in the meeting house.
1795. From March, 1794, to March, 1795 there were ten Town meetings. A post was to be erected near the meeting house for posting up papers.
1796. The Town dismissed a request to set off the north- easterly part of the Town to be a separate town with part of Dracut and Tyngsborough.
Accounts are now kept in dollars and cents.
Voted not to provide carriages to make use of at funerals.
1798. Voted to kill all the dogs in town. This was no doubt on account of the severe laws and penalties recently enacted by the General Court. In January of that year the General Court passed an act to lessen the dangerous evils of canine mad- ness and other injuries occasioned by dogs.
Those persons living near Merrimack river bridge were not freed from paying the minister tax.
1799. Voted to lay out a road from the meeting house to golden cove. It was accordingly laid out but not made.
1800. Jan. 20. The Town took into consideration the death of the worthy General Washington, and Mr. Mattathiah Spaulding was desired to deliver an oration in the Town on the 22d of February next. A Committee was appointed to arrange the business of that day: Dr. Timothy Harrington, Lt. John Bateman, Lt. Cyrus Baldwin, Dr. John Betteys and Gen. Ebenezer Bridge.
1812. The Merrimack Boating Company was organized Jan. 17, 1812, John L. Sullivan, agent. The first boat reached Con- cord, N. H., in the autumn of 1814 and it was nearly a year later that regular trips were made. Business was continued until 1822, when it was bought by the Boston and Concord Boating Co., which was to continue as long as the Middlesex Canal was kept open.
[For description see Travels in N. E. and N. Y., by Timothy Dwight, Vol. I., pp. 406-7.]
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HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
THE MERRIMACK COMPANY'S RATES OF FREIGHT, 1816.
Per Ton
Names of Agents
Landing Places
Up
Down
Stephen Ambrose
Concord (upper)
$12.50
$8.50
Samuel Butters
Concord (lower)
12.00
8.00
Caleb Stark
Pembroke
11.50
7.50
Richard H. Ayer
Dunbarton
10.50
7.00
Samuel T. Kidder
Manchester
9.25
6.50
N. Parker
Merrimack (upper)
6.00
4.50
Adams & Roby
Thornton's
4.50
4.00
James Lund
Litchfield
4.50
4.00
Coburn Blood
Dracut
4.50
4.00
Levi Foster
Chelmsford
4.50
4.00
Noah Lund
Billerica
3.50
3.00
Jotham Gillis
Woburn
2.50
2,50
William Rogers
Medford
2.00
2.00
Thomas Kettell
Charlestown
David Dodge
Boston
Furniture $24 to $30 per ton, according to weight and room. Empty hhds. from Concord, 50c. tierces, 25c. bbls. 18c. hf. bbls. 11c. each. Hhd. staves, $10. per M. Barrel staves, $6 per M. J. L. Sullivan.
Concord, N. H., April 20, 1816.
"The boats employed on the Middlesex Canal were required to be not less than forty feet and not more than seventy-five feet in length, and nine feet and one-half in width. The boats coming to Chelmsford could carry twenty tons of coal, those going to Concord, N. H., from six to fifteen tons, depending on the height of the water in the river." The following are extracts from the "Regulations relative to the Navigation of the Middlesex Canal," dated 1830.
Passage Boats are to be drawn at the rate of four miles an hour.
Luggage Boats are to be drawn at the rate of two and an half miles an hour.
Rafts are to be drawn at the rate of one and an half miles an hour.
Passage Boats going the same way shall not pass each other. Luggage Boats going the same way shall not pass each other. Rafts going the same way shall not pass each other.
No Boat or Raft shall be passed through any lock after dark.
Travelling on the Canal being permitted on Sundays in con- sideration of the distance from home at which those persons using it generally are: It may be reasonably expected that they should not disturb those places of publick worship near which they pass, nor occasion any noise to interrupt the tranquility of the day.
Therefore, it is established that no Signal-Horn shall be used, or blown on Sundays: but if the approach to the Locks is not perceived, the Lock-Tenders must be personally notified.
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1817. A new hearse on an improved plan, at an expenditure. of $100.
The Town voted to give Rev. Wilkes Allen $500. for better- ments upon the ministerial land and depreciation in his salary, and he withdrew his request for a dismission.
1818. The Board of Selectmen for the previous year received a vote of thanks.
1819. This year was born in Chelmsford, Sophia Elizabeth, daughter of John and Scynthia Thoreau. She was baptized September 27, and was sister to Henry David Thoreau, the hermit, naturalist and poet of Concord, in which place he was born in 1817. The family lived in Chelmsford for three or four years prior to 1821, when they moved to Boston. Sophia, says San- born, had, along with her mother's lively and dramatic turn, a touch of art; and all of [the children] were superior persons. They were John, Helen, Henry and Sophia.
John, the English ancestor, their grandfather, was baptized in the Anglican Church of the parish of St. Helier, in Jersey, in April, 1754 and came to New England about 1773.
Dr. Ripley, for half a century the minister of Concord, wrote this certificate for John, Jr., son of the above named.
"Understanding that Mr. John Thoreau, now of Chelmsford, is going into business in that place, and is about to apply for a license to retail ardent spirits, I hereby certify that I have been long acquainted with him, that he has sustained a good character, and now view him as a man of integrity, accustomed to store- keeping, and of correct morals."
Sanborn says of Henry: "When he was three or four years old, at Chelmsford, on being told that he must die, as well as the men in the New England Primer, and having the joys of heaven ex- plained to him, he said, as he came in from 'coasting,' that he did not want to die and go to heaven, because he could not carry his sled to so fine a place; for, he added, 'the boys say it is not shod with iron, and not worth a cent.'"
In his "Week on the Concord and Merrimack" Thoreau says: Even we youthful voyagers had spent part of our lives in the village of Chelmsford, when the present city (Lowell), whose bells we heard, was its obscure north district only, and the giant weaver was not yet fairly born."
1820. Dec. 5. About half past six in the morning Messrs. Hale, Whipple and Tileston's powder factory took fire. The mill and corning house were destroyed. It is conjectured that it was caused by the friction of the pestle against the mortar. Four men were killed. About 2,000 lbs. of powder was destroyed. The report was distinctly heard 30 miles.
1821. June 5. Between 6 and 7 in the afternoon the powder mill took fire and exploded. Three persons were killed, Fitzgerald, Howard and Farr.
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HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
Dec. 11. About 4 p. m., the drying house of the powder factory took fire from the oven and exploded. Thomas Sullivan was killed. The other buildings were much injured. Windows and barn doors in the neighborhood were burst open and broken.
1821. The pound and land was exchanged for a strip of land belonging to Capt. Caleb Abbot between the pound and the meeting house.
1821. Note by Allen. This year a new canal half a mile in length was partly made, taking the water out of the Concord river at the bridge leading to Tewksbury and carrying it in a northwestern direction until it returns to the river with a fall of 20 feet.
1823. A statement of the expenditures of the Town was ordered to be printed.
1823. The new powder factory owned by Whipple, Hale and Tileston went into operation.
The above notes (1820-1823) are by the Rev. Wilkes Allen; of these Mr. Perham had a manuscript copy.
1824. Sept. 15, was organized the Beethoven Musical Society. 75 gentlemen and 53 ladies became members. The society dis- solved December 5, 1827. [For list of members, see Vol. III., Old Res. Contrib.]
1825. Note by Allen. The Classical School was opened Sept. 1, by Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who left Dec. 30. He was a very popular and useful instructor. He was bought off by some gentleman in Roxbury, who encouraged him to expect a profit of two thousand dollars per annum.
June 18, was incorporated the Middlesex Mechanics Associa- tion. [See Vol. VI., Contrib. to Old Res. Ass'n.]
1826. Dec. 22. Whipple's powder mill exploded. One man was hurt.
1830. Jan. 4. There was another explosion. The building was destroyed and Mr. Robinson was mortally injured.
1832. The selectmen with Charles Bent and John T. Torrey were constituted a Board of Health.
1835. Note by Allen. An inexhaustible bed of bog ore on the farm of Robert Richardson, late Mr. Andrew Spalding's. (Later Henry R. Hodson's.)
1840. There were 214 men in Chelmsford liable to be called upon for military duty. [Book X., p. 404.]
1843. A stage coach upset near the house of widow Olive Chamberlain. The Town paid Wm. A. Farrell $25 damages.
1861. The record of the Town in the War of the Rebellion was in the highest degree honorable. When President Lincoln issued the call for 75,000 men, a public meeting was called which was fully attended and all of the speeches expressed the most patriotic sentiments. Three thousand dollars was pledged by individuals present to encourage enlistments and aid the families of those who should enter the service.
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Every call for volunteers was responded to. The records kept by the selectmen show that the total number of men who had entered the service accredited to the Town was 229, which was eighteen in excess of all the calls which had been made by the government, and that the Town had incurred an indebtedness in consequence of the war amounting to $27,623. Every dollar of this honorable debt was paid.
The account of the selectmen is by no means a complete record of the services of Chelmsford soldiers. Some of the names of those who served for two different terms of enlistment, appear twice. In the "Record of Massachusetts Volunteers" by the adjutant-general, the names of Chelmsford men appear who are not upon the Town records. One of these, William R. Patch, was the first Chelmsford volunteer. He was not mustered in, but joined the ranks as they were marching to the defence of the capital, and was wounded at Baltimore upon the memorable 19th of April, 1861. In another case the same published records, by an unfortunate error, class Elijah N. Day, who sacrificed his life for his country, as a deserter, one whom his comrades know to have been as true a man as ever faced the enemy.
The following are the names of those who did not live to enjoy the gratitude of their countrymen :
Albert E. Pike, Albert S. Byam, Henry Spaulding, James H. Barton, died at sea, July 17, '64; James Jackson, John T. McCabe, Henry W. Davidson, Patrick Barrett, Thomas Cochran, George E. Reed, George B. Lamphire, Patrick Derry, killed at Gettys- burg, July 2, 1862; George Curtis, killed at Battle of Wilderness, Webster C. Decatur, Jonas V. Pierce, James Gray, Peter McEnany, killed at battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 11, '62; Henry H. Ingalls, Charity L. Dunn, Colman S. Farwell, Philip Whelan, Elijah N. Day, Michael Martin. [Hurd's Middlesex Co.]
In 1861 a voluntary military company was organized to drill two afternoons in each week for two months under a competent drill-master, and then offer their services to the Governor. The Town was to furnish each member of the company, who was an inhabitant of the Town, with the usual arms and equipment. $3,000 was appropriated for the relief of soldiers' families. A committee was appointed to procure enlistments: Royal S. Ripley, Christopher Roby and John W. Stearns. Enlisted men were to receive $5 a month each; $8, while in active service.
The selectmen, in their report for 1861, say in regard to the Volunteers:
To those who were mustered early into the service of the United States, extra clothing not provided by the Government, and in other cases where a due regard to the health and comfort of our Volunteers, seemed to demand such assistance it has been furnished * * Chelmsford has furnished 37 soldiers for the defence of the Constitutional authorities and liberties of
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HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
the land and we are happy and proud to know from the testimony of those qualified to judge, that they are all, so far as heard from, giving the Town an honorable distinction. * * * The names * of these are to be found on the rolls of seven different *
regiments. A considerable portion of these soldiers have left families which have claim on our regard, several of them numbering five to seven children each, and some in very straight- ened circumstances. *
* * Valentine P. Robbins in Co. A, 20th Regiment, who fought with the cool intrepedity of a veteran at Ball's Bluff, was carried a prisoner to Richmond, where he remained at a recent date.
There were 250 men enrolled in the Militia, whose names are recorded in the Town books.
In 1864 there were 268. Book Z. [See also Book A2, p. 1, 1865.]
1862, July 21 The selectmen were authorized to pay $125. to every person mustered into the service of the United States, as a part of the quota of this Town, not exceeding 25 persons.
Aug. 25 They were authorized to pay $150. bounty to volunteers to fill up the Town's quota of 9 months men, not exceeding 40 in all, $25. to be deducted "from all those who may so enlist after 12 o'clock at noon of Tuesday next."
Sept. 29. Another measure of the same import was passed in Town Meeting.
1863. Voted, as before, to grant aid to the families of soldiers, $1000. to be expended in aiding families of deceased or dis- abled Soldiers.
1864 Such aid continued.
April 11. $125. bounty to be paid to each volunteer mustered in to fill up the Town's quota under the requisition of the President dated March 14, 1864, and under any subse- quent call previous to March 1st, 1865.
August 15. Bounties to be paid in gold or silver if deemed necessary.
1865, November 7. Voted that the Town raise and appropriate such a sum of money as may be necessary to refund to individuals, the several amounts contributed by them for the purpose of filling the quotas of the Town under the requis- itions or calls of the President of the United States during the year 1864.
1875. The Village Improvement Association placed a num- ber of kerosene lamps upon the streets of Chelmsford. A citizen records the fact that he sat up all night to enjoy seeing the lights shine. In 1907 a surplus in the treasurer's hands, after the 4th of July Celebration (of the Committee of which Charles Nichols was chairman and Wilson Waters, treasurer), was devoted to the introduction of gas lights in the Centre Village, and a few years later the Town was lighted by electricity.
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ELECTRIC LIGHTS, 1916.
In the Centre Village there are 117 In the North Village there are 134
In the East Village there are 28
In the South Village there are 36
In the West Village there are 32
347
For which service in 1915 the Town paid the Lowell Electric Light Corporation $6,766.44.
1881. The Town voted to postpone indefinitely an article relating to woman suffrage.
The moderator of Town meeting, Edwin H, Warren, received a vote of thanks for the very satisfactory manner in which he performed the duties of the office.
1884. The Town accepted the gift from T. J. Adams and the heirs of Benjamin Adams of the vacant triangular piece of land situated in front of their residence in North Chelmsford to be used as a common only. The donors received the thanks of the Town.
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