USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Chelmsford > History of Chelmsford, Massachusetts > Part 88
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The same year certain Indians, at Wamesit and Natick, gave a deed of sale of the township of Salem. [See Bentley's History of Salem. The Chelmsford or Wamesit Indians who signed this deed were David Nonnupanohow, Sam Wuttaannoh, John Jontoqunne, Cicily's son, grandchildren of George Sagamore; Cicily Petaghuncksg, Sarah Weittaquatinnusk, daughters of George Saga- more; and Thomas Wkqueakussennum, alias Captain Tom.] This was probably done to prevent any future evil that might arise from the Indians on the pretence of injustice on the part of the English in taking away their lands by force or fraud, and without compensation.
Allen (p. 157 ff.) mentions also the care which Lt. Hinchman and Goodwife Brooks bestowed upon an Indian girl who had been scalped, and who recovered after two years or more: and John Eliot's experience with an Indian woman and a brass idol.
CHELMSFORD, ENGLAND.
By an act of Parliament about three years ago, a new diocese has been erected in the County of Essex, England, and Chelmsford is the See City.
The old parish church of St. Mary is made the Cathedral of the "Diocese of Chelmsford." In England no town is designated by the term "city" unless it has a bishop's seat or cathedral. The limits of the new diocese are identical with those of the county, and Chelmsford is the shire town. In the same county, or nearby, are the towns of Ipswich, Framlingham, Billericay, Need- ham, Braintree, Maldon, Dunstable, Sudbury, Haverhill and various others whose names have been given to New England
834
HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
towns. Chelmsford is about 30 miles northeast of London, and has a population of about 14,000. It takes its name from the river Chelmer which flows through the town and is connected by a canal with the Blackwater. A more euphonious name for our Heart pond would be Chelmer Lake. The town is situated at the confluence of the Chelmer and the Cann. Its corn and cattle markets are among the largest in the county. As early as the year 1199 the bishop obtained a charter for a weekly market, and in 1227 the town became the regular seat of assizes and quarter-sessions. In 1377 Chelmsford was given the right to send representatives to parliament. Early in the 12th century a bridge was built over the Chelmer, which brought the road from London directly through the town, and much increased its im- portance. The Shire Hall, Edward VI grammar school, the Museum and other handsome buildings give dignity to the place.
But the church is the principal object of interest. Christian- ity had a considerable hold over that region at a very early day, and was more firmly established about the year 654 when Cedd was bishop of Essex, the country of the East Saxons. There is a small stone church still standing in the vicinity of Chelmsford which was built at about that date. It is probable that there was a Saxon church of wood at Chelmsford, replaced by a stone building, soon after the Norman Conquest in 1066, which was rebuilt about the year 1400. The lofty tower of the present parish church dates from 1427. In 1565 the church was somewhat damaged by a great storm, and in 1800, through the careless construction of burial vaults under the pavement of the church, the pillars of the nave gave way and almost the whole body of the church fell in a heap of ruins. It was soon rebuilt, and today is a fine example of an English parish church. The main portion of the edifice is 120 by 54 feet in dimension. It will, probably, be considerably enlarged to meet its new use. It has a ring of ten bells.
[See page 14.]
Cowley, in "Lowell, a city of Spindles," says that John Eliot, "the Apostle to the Indians," was baptized at Widford in the County of Hertford, England, August 5, 1604. He studied at Jesus College, Cambridge. "We next hear of him as a tutor [usher] in the school of Little Baddow near Chelmsford in the County of Essex, of which Rev. Thomas Hooker was master. The Rev. John Fiske, who afterwards became the first minister of Chelmsford, * * * was also a school teacher in [the English] Chelmsford. How many of the settlers of the American Chelmsford came from its English namesake we know not, but it probably owes its name to the connection of Eliot, Fiske, and Hooker with the English Chelmsford. Like nearly all the Puritans of that time, Eliot was a zealous member of the Church of England." Thomas Hooker was curate of St. Mary's Church,
835
NOTES AND CORRECTIONS
Chelmsford, but was silenced for his non-conformity; as Cotton Mather says in his Magnalia: Bonus vir Hookerus, sed ideo malus, quia Puritanus.
John Fiske, the first minister of this Town, was, like Hooker and John Eliot, ordained a priest in the Church of England. Fiske and Hooker and Eliot may have known each other at Cambridge, where the former two studied at Emmanuel, the great Puritan College, at which many of the early New England clergy were educated.
SAMUEL ADAMS'S GRANT.
his upland
12-11-1660 The Reccord of ye accomodation of upland and meddoe granted by the Towne of Chelmsford to Mr Samewell Adams with the bounds and but- ments of the same to him and his heyrs for euer. first his upland one which his Mills stand beeing granted at three severall tymes; the first grant being one hundreth acors in Consideration of his erecting and maintaining A corn Mill for the Towns supplye: the secont grant beeing fowr hundreth and fiuete Acors of upland only wthout any reservance to towne privelidges propr to his first grant as to other accomodations granted by the Towne the which fowr hundreth and fiuete acors was granted in consideration of the said Samuell addams his erecting of a Saw Mill one the said Land for the Towns suplye as is specefied in the Towne Booke page the 8th: the third grant was by way of recompence for sum deffitientcy which did appeare to bee in his meddoe the which third grant was the extending the Lyne of former grants from the Northeast Corner ouer About the middle of the medo: called Longe meddoe, granted by the Towne to William fletcher and so to Billerikaie Lyne allso the Continueing the South Lyne of the first grants from A Little swampe one the east side of his Mills ponde & so along in A watery Rundlet till it reach Biller- ikaie Lyne all which said Land beeing Layd out Conteyning by estemation About 8 hundreth Acors more or less beeing bounded East by Billerikaie Lyne: South by the Towne Common: westerle by the Land of John Adams & one the Northwest by the meddo of Land of James Blood North by the Land of James Blood Iszak Larned Joseph Parker Jacob Parker & John Nutting and prtly by the Towne Common.
836
HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
his meddoe 1 twelve Acors more or less Lying at the Mills tayle. 2 fourtene Acors .... Lying at the head of the Mills pond .
3 a meddo called springe meddo, conteyning fowr acors.
Addition
4 four acors .. . Lying at Great Tadmuck. the third addition proper to the first grant. Lying on the pyne playne ... . . conteining
sevente Eight Acors ... this is A true Record aproved As attests clerke by the Selectmen 24:12:60 Jacob Parker
PROPRIETORS IN THE NEW-FIELD.
[Feb. 1. 1667. N. S.] 12:1:6$ [O. S.]
Acres of Land. 214
Lenth of fence
foot of fence
Leftent ffoster. Daniell Blogged: Jacob Parker:
1
beeing A Comite ap- pointed by the Select- men to Rate to euery propriator in the New
feild there proportions of fence due to them 555 doe find the number of Acres & the Lenth of fence as in the margant
due to a Lott of :6: the names of the Seuerall propriators with acres: 2 pole & :10 the number of Acres now in there possestion wth the number of order as they Ly.
1 Mr John Webb:
2 John Batts 6
3 Henery Boutall . 12
4 Mineralls Lott mr Webb: 6
5 John wright 9
6 Henery ffarwell 6
7 Edward Spalding senr 6
8 Daniell Blogged 12
9 John Shiple Senr 18
11 Joseph Parkis. 12
12 Edward Spalding Jnr 6
13 Benjamin Butterfeld: 42
14 Edward Kempe
6
15 Jacob Parker
17
16 John Spalden 6
17 John Stephens 6
18 Mr ffiske 6
19 Josiah Ritchardson 6
20 Samuell ffletcher 6
21 John Burge. 6
22 John Perum 6
10 Solloman Keyes: 6
wch in order of
fence is the 10th Lott
B Butterfeilds fence Lyeth in to places in number 13 for one Lott and the rest Lyeth at the Loer end of the feild
m
8:Acres 7:12:59: William ffletcher Samuell ffoster Josiah Richardson
ware appointed A Comite to state the fence one the other parts of the said feild & they did find 2 pole and 6 foote to eury acre Lying in the same order that the other doth-only sum lots being sold have allowed som of them namely william ffletchers then beeing the 9th Lott: beinge John Shiple to bee 9 in this Last and so Daniell Blogged haueing his Lott:
NOTES AND CORRECTIONS
837
RECEIPTS.
These may Certifie the Selectmen of Chelmsford that Ebenezer parkhurst as he was Constable hath payd what he was ordered to Collect and Deliver to the Tresurer for the payment of my [annuity] from the North part of the Towne in ye year 1699. Thomas Clark.
Chelmsford.
2 January 1701.
August the 9 day 1705
Receued of Stephen perce the sume of nine pounds In Corne which the towne Bequethed to me
I say Receued By me
Elizabeth Clark
ITEMS FROM THE ACCOUNT BOOK OF OLIVER FLETCHER.
1750
To 2 dozen pigeons
£0: 4: 6
To Jenny the negro
0: 0: 8
To Ginger Bred sent to Putnam's children
0: 2: 0
To Chocolate .
0: 7: 6
To 7 yds Garlix wanting } Quarter
7: 5: 4
Gave the Girl for fetching wine
0: 0: 6
To a Pint & half of Madera wine
0:12: 0
The whole cost [of materials for 2 English checkt cotton shirts]
10: 7: 0
To making the 2 shirts
0:14: 0
To a Bilboa Handkerchief 1: 7: 0
For myself & Lydia my Brother's Daughter to see a sort of a monkey
0: 3: 0
May 22 I went to Salem on my Brother's mare, got there before the Sun Set the same Day.
May 29 I came from Salem got home to Chelmsford the Sun 1} hour high.
Paid Col Sampson Stoddard one milled Dollar which is 45 shillings old tenor 2: 5: 0
Nov. 15 I received my under stockings of Cousin Foster and paid her for spinning one pound of wool and knitting the stockings-old tenor
1: 1: 8
For the pound of wool
0:10: 0
To 2 flints
0:0: 8
1 1b of Powder & 1 lb Shott of Col Stoddard
0: 7: 0
To pd Col Stoddard for 1 lb Shott
0: 3: 6
To a worm for a gun stick
0: 1: 6
To 1 1b sugar
0: 4: 0
To paid Samuel Archer for making a wigg
5: 0: 0
To buy a small wigg Box to send it to me in
0: 4: 6
To paid Simeon Goold for his hair. old tenor 1:2:6-0:7:6 . To one Fish hook
0: 0: 5
To Fish lines
0: 1: 0
To a bunch of Dutch Quills
0: 6: 0
To a cord for pigeon net & smaller cord 0: 8: 0
0: 1: 0
To a pair of leather breeches 1: 5: 0
To half a pint sallad oyle
0: 5: 0
To a flat bottom tin Candle stick .
0: 9: 0
To a candle mould
0: 2: 0
To 2 lb Powder 6/ & 1 1b. shott 2/6
0: 8: 6
The Quails and Partridge fetched 10/6
To one mug of cyder to treat Capt. Butterfield
1:10: 0
To a Boy at a Gate
0: 0: 6
838
HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
Nov. 15 To 2 lb. of tobacco £0: 4: 0
To ferriage at Colo. Clarke's [Middlesex Village] 0: 1: 0
To pd John Parker for a Dram for James Tompson fetch- ing a Great Coat
To pd for blacking ball of Doct. Tucker 0: 2: 6
1751 3} yds broadcloth for great coate 10:11: 3
2 doz buttons 1: 2: 6
Sowing silk 0: 1: 6
3 yds shalloon 1 oz. English thread-2 skeins of mohair
0:14: 0
Joseph Pierce for making great coat 1:15: 0
Buckram and stay tape.
0: 5: 0
Paid Aunt Parker for knitting a pair of woolen stockings. Gave her son Moses the money 0:15: 0
Paid Aunt Foster in full
0:15: 0
September 14, 1752 New Style
Expenses to Concord at Brown's for cake and beer
0: 1: 3
1752 2 yds 7/8 Garlix 2: 7:0
To pd Lieut. Minott for combing 1 lb worsted 0: 6: 0
0:13: 0
To Dinner at Roes 9/ wine with Dinner 2/
0:11: 0
To Horse Keeping 3/ gave the Boy 10d.
0: 3:10
To wine 2/6 to cake to bring home 2/
0: 4: 6
At a Barbacew at Mr Parker's
Gave Jeremiah Butterfield for fetching mare
0: 1: 0
To Benja. Clarke for keeping mare & ferriage
0: 1: 8
Snuff
0: 1: 0
Paid Andrew Batties for Tobacco 2 1b
0: 4: 6
Town meeting night at Parker's 2 mugs of flip
0: 8: 0
Pd Andrew Battys for weaving 10 yds. } cotton & linnen at 3 pr.
1:11: 6
1 pair Jron snuffers
0: 3: 6
To 1 1b Duck Shott
0: 2: 6
To mending my bear skin coat
0: 6: 0
To Ink powder
0: 6:
To 6 Lemmons
0: 5: 0
For moving the mare's shoose
0: 4: 0
To pd for mug of flip in company with Maj. Read & Lieut. Spaulding
0: 4: 0
Andrew Batties bought me a pound of Virginia tobacco 8/ and I paid him 9/
0: 9: 0
To 2 sheep skins for lining breeches
1: 2: 6
A Christmas Box to Murray, the barber To an ink horn
0: 3: 0
May 19, 1755 To paid my Brother Robert for a salmon. 9 1b., of which I mad a present to Judge Sewall of Boston, 19/ & for carrying 6/ in all my said Brother delvd. at his House in Boston
1: 5: 0
June 9th To paid John Parker for a pint of wine to treat Hannah Parkhurst, Betty Richardson & others who carried me a letter down to Col. Alford
0: 7: 0
Shaving and dressing wiggs To paid for newspaper A Bushel of Turnips
0: 9: 0
I paid Mr Murry at Boston for making a wig 1 pistole
8: 5: 0
& one dollar & one pistereen 2:14: 0
& I paid Cogswell for his hair 1: 2: 6
The wigg cost me in all 12: 1: 6
Paid men at work at high ways
0: 1: 2
0: 5: 0
0: 3: 0
0: 2: 6
To pd Deborah Bates for spinning 1 lb. worsted
839
NOTES AND CORRECTIONS
July 7 Col Stoddard for a Testament for Olive I made a present of a loafe of white sugar to Mr Bridge 71b. @ 7/ p. 2: 9: 0
£0:16: 0
1 skein of mohair 1 pair of Temple spectacles
0: 3:1%
1758 June 3 Gave French Prisoners in Boston Gaol To my Clubb at Wethered's with General Peperell &c
2: 5: 0
0: 1: 8
0:16: 1
Oct. 18 I had Col. Stoddard's white mare and chair to Court, carried Mrs Stoddard with me. I paid all expenses. Sent her back by Eben. Foster's son.
I had Col Stoddard's white mare to bring me from Court Ebenezr Foster's son Ebenezer brought her down to me.
1758 At the May sessions I dined out 1 at James Bowdoin's Esq. Election Day 1 at Mr John Ting's
1 at Mr John Winslow's .
1 at Mr Speaker Hubbard's
1 at Thomas Hancock's Esq. 5 times this Court
1758 Absent from home May 15 to May 20 at night 6 days.
Absent from home at the General Court from May 31 to June 17 at night 19 days.
Absent from home at the Superior Court at Cambridge from July 31 to the 5 of August 6 days.
Absent from home at Concord Court from Sept 5 to 8th-at night -- 4 days
Absent from home at the General Court (2d Sessions) from Oct 3 to 18-16 days
At other times he dined at Mr. Boucher's, Mr. Joshua Henshaw's, Mr. James Russel's, Charlestown; at the Governor's (Thomas Pownal), Treasurer Gray's, Col. Wendall's, Mr. William White's, Mr. Thomas Fletcher's, Col. Brattle's, Judge Sewall's; at the Lieut. Governor's (Thomas Hutchinson), Mr. Irving's, Mr. Oliver's (the Secretary), Mr. John Bridge's, at his honour's, Ede's Printers, Royal Tylor's, Faneuil Hall, Mr. Osburn's, Mr. Wheelwrights; at young Mr. Quincy's, artillery election in Faneuil Hall, 1760, at the invitation of Col. Phillips, Mr. Cotton's, at his Excellency's, Mr. Dana's; at the Castle with Capt. Sheafe, T. Cushing's.
He reckons each year how much he has saved by dining out.
1760 At the January session of the General Court he records that he "dined out 22 times which saved me, 7/6 per, is £8:5:0. He was absent from home 52 days at this session and was sick at Mr. Loring's from Feb. 6 to 20.
Jan'y. 1760. My attendance this session was 43 days @ 4/ £8:12: 0 Travel 30 miles [4/ every ten miles] . 0:12: 0
Lawful money. £ 9: 4: 0
"I had Colo. Stoddard's mare down this time went by Cambridge to Sampson & he rid the mare home: he took her at Charlestown."
His itemized account of expenses while attending this session foots up £45:11:6. My whole wages this session £69: 0: 0 £23: 8: 6
Gained
840
HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
Feb. 19, 1760 Paid Mrs Polly who tended him while sick £ 2: 5:0 Paid for Dr. John Loring for medicine 1: 1:10 I gave Mrs Allen's negro for going arrants &c 0: 4: 6 I gave Battis, Mr Hancock's coach man, for driving me down to the ferry 0: 7: 6
Feb. 21, 1760 I paid old Mr Edes for a Chaise I hired of him that day from Charlestown to Chelmsford 2:10: 0 To paid him for his mare to draw the Chaise the same journey 3: 0: 0
I paid him the sd. Edes for his servant man Baker to drive me to Chelmsford for two days 1:14: 0
TAVERNS MENTIONED IN OLIVER FLETCHER'S ACCOUNTS.
Billerica : Osgood's.
Wilmington: Hathorn's.
Bedford: Pollard's.
Woburn: Richardson's.
Reading: Damon's, Bryant's.
Lyn End: Newhall's.
Salem: Cutler's, Putnam's, Flint's, Manning's.
Concord: Rope's, Brown's, Minot's, Roe's, Hubbard's, Jones's.
Lexington: Raymond's.
Charlestown: Abraham's, Steadman's.
Cambridge: Bowers's, Bradish's.
Boston: Boyleston's was on the site of the Parker House, Adams's, Bracket's, Wethered's, Capt. Day's, Silsby's, Bowers's, Brown's, Stone's, Flint's, Ridgeway's, James Fowle's (Charlestown ?), Black Horse. The Lamb was kept by Col. Doty on the site of the present Adams House on Wash- ington Street.
841
NOTES AND CORRECTIONS
ADDITIONAL NOTES AND CORRECTIONS.
Page 90. H. S. P., in the Chelmsford Eagle, stated that there was in the early days a garrison or block house on the high ground where All Saints' Church now stands, and also one where Thomas Moore once lived, towards West Chelmsford. Page 302. Admos, William is the same as Adams, William.
Page 306. John Bridge engaged April 24, 1775, not 1776.
Page 318. This Record should be added:
Fletcher, Benjamin. Capt. 1st Co. 7th Middlesex Co., Regt. of Mass. Militia; list of officers, commissioned July 13, 1780. See also page 362.
Page 350. This Record should be added:
Warren, Isaac. 1st Lieutenant, Capt. John Minot's (1st) Co. (South Co. in Chelmsford), Col. Simeon Spaulding's (7th Middlesex Co.) Regt. of Mass. Militia; list of officers chosen by the several companies in said regiment; ordered in Council May 31, 1776, that said officers be com- missioned May 31, 1776; also, 1st Lieutenant, Capt. Stephen Russell's Co., Col. Samuel Bullard's Regt., Gen. Warner's Brigade; engaged Aug. 14, 1777; discharged Nov. 30, 1777; service, 3 mos., 29 days, at the Northward, including 12 days (240 miles) travel home; also, same company and regt .; pay abstract for retained rations; rations allowed said Warren from Aug. 14, 1777, to Dec. 11, 1777; credited with 120 rations.
Page 353. For Clark, Col. Jonas, read Clark, Ist Lieut. Timothy. Page 355. Third line from bottom.
Foster, Ebenezer, born in Chelmsford, enlisted for Westford, so his record is not given. His death is recorded here. Probably there were numerous other natives of Chelmsford whose names do not appear here, although they served in the Revolution.
Page 398. A few old Chelmsford families still live upon their ancestral acres: The Parkers and Bowers of Lowell; the Parkers, Perhams and Warrens of the Centre Village; and, until within a few years, branches of the Byam, Chamberlain, Emerson, Fletcher, Richardson, and Wright families, and perhaps others.
Page 408. Seventh line from bottom. For John W. Wilson, read John H. Wilson.
Page 445. Pigeon feathers constituted an article of commerce in 1787 at the store of James Robbins, South Village. John Mansfield had five pounds, ten ounces, to return as many of the same kind of feathers when called for.
In 1824, a man and four oxen would do a day's plowing for $1.75. A man received 50 cents for a day's work.
Potatoes were from 25 to 33 cents a bushel in 1830. In 1837, $4 would buy 100 lbs. of beef.
Page 447. Sewall Parkhurst teamed the lime, made on Robin's hill and used in building the first mill in what is now Lowell.
James Robbins also carted lime in ox-carts to the "Corpor- ation," and wood and hogsheads to the lime kiln for Artemas Parker in 1826.
Page 456. Twenty-first line. For shirts read skirts.
Page 569. Total Valuation of Chelmsford Schools, 1916, $154,568.45. Town Appropriation for Schools, 1916, $34,875.74.
842
HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD
LIST OF TEACHERS IN CHELMSFORD SCHOOLS DURING THE YEAR 1916.
*Alberto W. Small ¿Charles A. Holbrook ¡Arthur W. Trubey +Evan W. D. Merrill Edith L. Hart
Genevieve E. Jantzen
Martha G. Roark
Catherine E. McDermott
Katherine M. Quinn
Mary A. Underwood
Alice M. Pease
Margaret C. Gookin
Neda B. Freeman Edna Currier
Bertha H. Long
Gladys A. Merrill
Catherine E. Dunn
Susan S. McFarlin
Kathryn E. Howarth
Dora M. Wentworth
Sara D. Ivers
Eva F. Ladd
Esther A. Reid
Helena B. Lyons Eva M. Godfrey
Ruth D. Crawford
Florence M. Stites
Gladys Jenkyn
Clara E. Macomber
Elsie S. Wilder
Helen M. Robinson Ellen E. Coles
Jessie M. Agnew
Eleanor Berg
Hazel R. Knowlton
Gertrude A. Jones
Almira Fuller
Laura B. Desmarais
Mary D. Sleeper
ĮM. Marion Adams $ Jessie Atwood
MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, 1910-1916.
George F. White
John J. Monahan
William H. Hall Charles H. Crowell
John E. Harrington Herbert E. Ellis
Celia B. Park
Page 591. Ninth line from bottom. For H. P. read B. P. Hunt. Page 638. Twelfth line. Dele Naticot.
Page 719. The names of Moses Davis and Hezekiah Thorndike should be added to the list of Revolutionary soldiers buried in Forefathers' Burying Ground, making the whole number 47. Moses Davis's grave is about 12 feet north of the Fiske monument.
Hezekiah Thorndike's grave is close to the Chamberlaine headstone of 1692, on Plan 21.
Page 721. These records of Interments in Forefathers' Burying Ground, obtained after the others were printed, are here given for the sake of completeness.
The Record here printed is supposed to end with 1913. Sarah Jane Bent. Dec. 31, 1913. Age, 83 yrs., 5 mos., 15 d.
Frank W. Jenkins. May 13, 1893. Age, 47 yrs., 6 mos., 10 d.
Sarah Tarbel Park. Dec. 26, 1913. Age, 80 yrs., 10 mos., 7 d. Henrietta M. D. Parkhurst. Dec. 13, 1913. Age, 80 yrs., 1 mo. Lucy Haywood Worthen. Oct. 12, 1898. Age, 2 yrs., 3 mos., 4 d. Page 752. Fourth line under W. For 1760, read 1769.
*Superintendent of Schools. +Principal.
#Supervisor of Music. § Supervisor of Drawing.
Mabel E. Haggerty
Regina B. Frappier
Ella A. Hutchinson
M. Grace McCue
843
NOTES AND CORRECTIONS
Pages 588 and 832.
THE REVOLUTIONARY MONUMENT.
(From the Chelmsford Memorial, May 2, 1859.)
"The design for the Monument, submitted to the consideration of the Directors of the Association, is intended to be characteristic of the Men and Times of the Revolution ;- plain, massive, and in keeping with the material, the native granite of Chelmsford, in its rough state.
From a slight mound rises a terrace of three broad granite steps, square in plan, and intended to elevate the whole structure above the general surrounding level; above it is a square Base, supporting the Main Shaft, the lower part of which is squared to give space for tablets on each side,- the upper part rising in octagonal form. The Cornice is heavy and over- hanging, with arched brackets, common to the warlike towers of the middle ages, and producing a battlemented aspect.
Above the Cornice, and crowning the entire monument, rises an octagonal block, supporting a bold and simple chaplet of oak leaves.
The architect, Mr. Greely S. Curtis of Boston, has endeavored to express in this design, a rough, rugged strength, with solidity and simplicity, avoiding elaborate decorations and highly finished surfaces, as inappropriate in a memorial of the men to whom the monument is to be raised.
It is entirely different in design,-as it is in character,-from any of the Revolutionary monuments yet erected; and from its originality, completeness, and dignity, has been much admired by those who have seen it.
Its extreme height, if the full design shall be carried out in the construction (and this only depends upon the liberality of the members of the Association,) will be about twenty-seven feet, with a terrace of thirty feet square in plan, and the main shaft four feet in diameter."
A writer in the same sheet hoped to see, on that venerated spot (the site of the Monument) hallowed by the associations of former days, an appropriate, tasteful monument, dedicated to the memory of those who were wont to assemble there* in "the time that tried men's souls," to counsel and encourage one another, and to consecrate to the sacred cause to which they had pledged themselves a liberal share of their scanty substance.t
Let us do something worthy of our relation to a town which, in its generous sympathy and appropriations for the public welfare and patriotic supply of the sinews of war, in the eventful period of our country's struggle, was equalled by few and surpassed by none.
Another item from the same paper:
Dr. Matthias Spalding of Amherst, N. H., in his ninety-first year, and one of the few remaining links, connecting the present time (1859) with the infancy of our country, as a nation, still retains a vigorous memory and hearty interest in all that relates to his native town. He writes, "I am interested to learn that a meeting of the residents of Old Chelmsford is to be held this week, to provide means and measures for the erecting of a monu- ment, commemorative of those patriot citizens who lost their lives in defense of their country's freedom, during the Revolutionary war. The infirmities of four-score and ten years have not effaced from my recollection, the scenes and feelings of that eventful period. Though but a small boy when the Battle of Bunker's Hill was fought, I remember the anxiety and alarm which it excited, for we children all expected to be Killed. My father, Col. Simeon Spalding, was summoned home, I think from the General Court, to join the forces at [Cambridge]. My [step-] brother Wilson was in the battle, and I have heard him often say, that he fired till the gun was so hot that he could only hold it by the stock. There were frequent consultations at my father's, Col. Parker's, Capt. Walker's, and other resolute and patriotic men. The report of the cannon was heard distinctly at Chelmsford, and we children, left alone with our mother, were glad to learn before my father's return, that the battle was *Within a few feet of the spot on which it is proposed to erect the monument, stands an ash tree, which was there in 1775, beneath the branches of which the Chelmsford patriots of that day were accustomed to assemble for consultation on matters pertaining to the public welfare.
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