History of Framingham, Massachusetts, early known as Danforth's Farms, 1640-1880; with a genealogical register, Part 12

Author: Temple, J. H. (Josiah Howard), 1815-1893
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Framingham, Pub. by the town of Framingham
Number of Pages: 822

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Framingham > History of Framingham, Massachusetts, early known as Danforth's Farms, 1640-1880; with a genealogical register > Part 12

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I 14 I

I 9 To Paul Awassamug 26s. 5d. .

2 9

To Nanehunto 15s. Iod. Jno. Pakenumpamitt 18s. 3d.

O 19

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History of Framingham.

allowance from any of them. Besides many a journey by my Fathers order and at Mr. Eliot's request who promised large allowance, but their death prevented the performance £ 5 o 0 To several journeys about the land and money expended 3 O Besides the above said sum, I paid several widow squaws per

order of my Father, to the best of my remembrance about

2 IO O

Samuel How expenses and time spent about the premises 8

o C

£SI II 6

Signed SAMUEL GOOKIN.

After a hearing of the case and a survey of the land in question, the committee report : "We have measured said land, and we find of the land which said Gookin and How have sold and disposed of to sev- eral persons 1700 acres full measure, which by information that we have had the said Gookin and How have sold to the value of 156 pounds, which we account the full value of the said land. We have also measured the land betwixt the aforesaid land and Sherborn line, which we have been informed has been claimed by said Gookin and How, and not disposed of, which we find to measure 1000 acres, which we value to be worth 60 pounds. We have set out to the said Gookin and How 200 acres, according to the Court's order, adjoining to Sudbury river at a place called Indian Head.

"We have also propounded to the several persons that have pur- chased land of said Gookin and How to pay something to the Indians for a confirmation of their title, but they refuse to do any thing because they have paid to the full value already, as their deeds will show." Dated Feb. 11, 1696.

As there was no evidence of bad faith on the part of either buyer or seller ; and as the account of moneys paid the Indians, and expended by order of Maj. Gookin and Mr. Eliot was not questioned ; and as the purchasers under Messrs. Gookin and How were in . peaceful possession of the lands, the Court, by an order dated Nov. 20, 1696, confirmed to Messrs. Gookin and How and the tertenants hold- ing under them, 1700 acres of the lands in question, which embraced the tract lying north of the old Worcester turnpike. The claim to the 1000 acres lying east of the Eames land and south of the turnpike, was not allowed, but remained in possession of the Indians at Natick and became an important factor in the subsequent controversy between Sherborn and Framingham, as will appear in the next chapter.

This tract thus confirmed to Gookin and How included the cele- brated Indian Head Farm, which they had sold Feb. 11, 1694, for £52 to Matthew Rice. The farm as laid out by the committee contained 200 acres, but as previously deeded to Mr. Rice, 300 acres, the

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Land Grants.

northerly and southerly bounds being different. The south half, 150 acres, of this farm was sold by the heirs of Mr. Rice, May 19, 1719, to Joseph Stone for 270 pounds New England currency ; the north half was purchased by John and David Bent, Eliezer Kendall and others. The tract comprised the lands now owned by A. S. Lewis, the Kendalls, F. A. Billings, W. H. Mellen, J. L. Wilson, E. A. Wyeth, the Joseph Sanger heirs, etc.

Samuel Gookin was son of Maj. Gen. Daniel Gookin, the Indian Commissioner, and friend and coadjutor of Eliot, in all his plans and labors for the good of the natives. The son, like the father, resided in Cambridge. He was sheriff of Middlesex County, and a man largely engaged in public affairs.

Samuel How was of Sudbury; a man of energy and public spirit. He was father of John, Samuel and Daniel, who settled in Framing- ham, and whose descendants now live in town.

Besides these public grants, there were other tracts of land, set apart by, or given by lease or otherwise to individuals or the town by Mr. Danforth, which became historic, and deserve mention in this connection.

THE COMMON. - This large tract of land was reserved by Mr. Danforth in his lease to Joseph Buckminster, and set apart to public uses, in the following terms : "One Neck of land bounded by Sudbury river southerly, southwesterly and southeasterly, and a branch of said river northerly, and Marlborough line is the west bounds thereof ; which said Neck of land the said Danforth reserveth to lye in common for the accommodation of those that do or shall occupy other the lands of the said Danforth, as for the tenants and farms of him the said Joseph Buckminster, in manner as he the said Danforth shall appoint and order." And a highway twenty poles wide was reserved, for conveniency of passage of cattle to the said neck.

The west bound of this common land was Marlborough, now Southborough line ; the north bound was Stoney Brook; and it was bounded on all other parts by Sudbury and Hopkinton rivers. The purpose of Mr. Danforth in reserving and setting apart this tract was plain, viz., to furnish wood and pasturage for all his and Mr. Buckminster's tenants; thus offering a strong inducement to settlers, and enhancing the value of the remaining lands. How his purpose was frustrated, will appear in the course of our narrative in a future chapter.

THE SIX HUNDRED ACRES ON NOBSCOT AND DOESKIN HILL. - This reservation is thus described in Mr. Danforth's lease to Buckminster: " Also the said Danforth reserveth 600 acres of land

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History of Framingham.

to be laid out adjoining to Sudbury line, containing Nobscot and Doeskin Hill, to be laid out in one entire piece and to bound southerly upon the path leading from Deacon Stone's to Marlbo- rough." This 600 acres is named in a schedule annexed to Mr. Danforth's will, to be disposed of for the benefit of his heirs at law. It was the occasion of an interesting episode in our town history, to be detailed hereafter.

MINISTERIAL LAND. - This tract was laid out by Mr. Danforth and Mr. Buckminster, in conjunction, before the lease to Buckminster was executed, and is thus named and reserved in said lease : " Also for the accommodation of the Meeting house and settlement of the Minister, said Danforth reserveth 140 acres, and is laid out in two or more places as they the above named Danforth and Buckminster have ordered and appointed." This land was located east and south of the centre village. The west line was identical with the present west bounds of I. S. Wheeler's farm (the original Parson Swift place). From the summit of Bare hill the line ran northeastly, to a point on the banks of Sudbury river " about due north " from the old cemetery, and then followed the river to the southwest corner of the Swift farm. It was called 140 acres, but contained about 175 acres. The south part was set apart for the "settlement of the ministry," and the northerly part, thirty-five acres, for the "accommodation of the meeting house." How it was in part diverted from its consecrated uses will appear in a subsequent chapter.

THE HALF-MILE SQUARE. - In a lease of a farm of 300 acres to Messrs. Winch and Frost, Mr. Danforth reserved to himself and his heirs a tract, " to be laid out, half a mile square." This was laid out, under Mr. Danforth's direction, to the east of Nobscot, bounded on the north by Sudbury line, the northeast corner bound being the famous "T. D. Oak " then standing where the railroad crosses the town line (and destroyed by the company when they built the road) ; and the southwest corner bound was a walnut now standing on land of Moses Ellis. This 160 acres was leased by Mr. Danforth to George Walkup, who built a house on the westerly part. Jan. 10, 1704-5, Samuel Sparhawk and wife Sarah, heirs of Mr. Danforth, sold the entire piece to Mr. Walkup for thirty pounds. Mar. 10, 1705-6, Walkup sold the east half of the tract to Jonas Eaton, for twenty pounds New England currency.

THE COLLEGE LANDS. - In a codicil to his will, Mr. Danforth, under the heading " Deeds of gift," specifies : "To the College three

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Land Grants.

tenements on lease to Benjamin Whitney, John Whitney, Isaac Bowen, situate at Framingham, on such conditions as I shall name." These three tenements were the sixty acres granted to Richard Wayte, and purchased of him by Mr. Danforth, lying northeast of Waushakum pond, and extending to the Beaver dam. This tract was leased by Mr. Danforth to the parties above named, who built three houses near each other, on the road northeast from the pond. The Sturtevant house occupies the place of Benj. Whitney's, which was the middle one of the three. After Mr. Danforth's decease the lessees paid the rents to Harvard College. Mr. Bowen sold his lease to Moses Haven, who (or his sons) bought out the Whitneys. Prof. Pierce, in his History of Harvard College, states that the College sold its Framing- ham lands to Mr. Haven for £100 in 1764. But in the valuation of 1771, Dea. Moses Haven is taxed £3 on College land ; and in 1772 the town voted that the constable be directed not to distrain those persons that occupy College land for their Province tax levied on said lands, till further orders from the town. This vote was reversed at the May meeting same year.

THE CENTRE COMMON. - This was laid out in 1735 for a meeting- house site and training field. In this year William Pike sold "for £14, to Joseph Buckminster, Isaac Clark, John Gleason, Jeremiah Pike, Jr. and Caleb Bridges, feoffees in trust for the whole town of Framingham, four acres of land, including the spot whereon the said town, on the 25th day of March 1734, voted to erect a new meeting house ; bounded northerly, easterly and westerly by lands of said Pike, and southerly by land of Benj. Treadway, lying in a trapezia or four-sided figure, having for boundaries at the N. E., N. W., and S. E. corners each a pine tree marked, and at the S. W. corner a stake and stones ; reserving eight of the largest pine trees standing thereon." This four acres comprised the east central part of the present Common ; the northeast corner was at a point in Elm street westerly from Mr. Boynton's northwest corner; the southeast corner (which was a sharp angle) was on the east line of the street between the house of Mrs. Cyrus Bean and the parsonage of the First Parish. The meeting-house stood near the northeast corner ; the training-field was at the west side in front of the present school buildings.

But the Common of 1735 bore little resemblance to the present one. In 1771, Joseph Buckminster, who had purchased the Treadway land, deeded to the town "for good will and five shillings in money," a half- acre of land at the southerly end of the original four acres. This half-acre was in the form of a triangle, the long point being at the east end. In 1796, the town bought of Thomas Buckminster one acre

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History of Framingham.

lying easterly of the original four acres, extending from the old south- east corner bound, northerly as the house-lots now front, to the turn of the street near the house of John Cloyes. In 1800, Abner Wheeler and John Houghton sold the town five-eighths of an acre which lay at the present southerly part of the Common. The land which now forms the southwesterly part, was bought by the town of Eliphalet Wheeler in 1818. The northwesterly part of the present Common was land owned by the proprietors of the Framingham Academy, which was cut in twain when the road was laid out in 1819-20.

This description and history does not include the spot where the Unitarian meeting-house stands ; this and the Academy land will be treated of in their proper order of time.

When the Common was laid out, all this land, and, indeed, the whole village site, was covered with a heavy growth of wood, mostly pine. The spaces for the meeting-house and sheds, and training-field were partially cleared ; as was later the spot where the work-house was placed (a little to the northwest of the present town hall).

May 6, 1800, the town voted that all persons be prohibited from tying horses to the trees upon the common field around the public meeting-house, or in any way damaging said trees, under the penalty of one dollar. Aug. 9, 1808, Capt. Richard Fisk, Eli Bullard and Abner Wheeler were chosen a committee to dispose of as many of the trees now standing upon the public common as they may think proper ; and also the manure where the old meeting-house stood ; and expend the proceeds in setting out ornamental trees in such places as said committee may think proper. In 1820, John Ballard, 2d, who had built a house where Mrs. Cyrus Bean now lives, was agreed with to subdue bushes on the east side of the common. April 4, 1825, the town authorized the selectmen to appoint a committee to get the common fenced. Two sets of fences have been built since that date, and been removed or have gone to decay. And not less than $1,000, about $700 of which was raised by private subscription, has been expended in planting trees, and making improvements on the common, till now it is an ornament to the village, and the pride of the town. To Maj. Benjamin Wheeler and his brothers Abner and Eliphalet, Josiah Adams, Esq., and Nathan Stone, the town is largely indebted for their public spirit, good taste, and persistent efforts in securing the improvements on the common, and the planting of shade trees along our streets.

The Centre Common fund of $450 is the proceeds of the sale by the town to Lothrop Wight, April 20, 1850, of the strip of land where now are the homesteads of Henry W. Allen, Mrs. Julia Wight and Mrs. Louisa Shaw. This was a part of the land purchased of

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Land Grants.

Eliphalet Wheeler in 1818, the deed of which contained the restriction that no building should ever be erected thereon ; which restriction Mr. Wheeler released, "on condition that the said $450 shall be and remain a perpetual Fund, the income of which shall be used for repairs and improvements of the Centre Common and for no other purpose whatever." [Midd. Deeds, DLXXXV. 247-50.]

THE SOUTH COMMON .- An article in the town warrant, Aug. 1820, "to see if the town will purchase a piece of land by the South Meeting house in this town, to be used as a Common," was referred to Jona. Maynard, Benj. Wheeler and Luther Belknap, who reported Nov. 6, in favor of the project, "on Mr. Abel Adams making a deed of sale of about three-fourths of an acre of land to the town for the aforesaid purpose." This report was accepted. The next year the town voted to buy the whole of the land intended for a common at Park's Corner, to be used as a common forever, reserving the privi- lege of selling shed lots, and granted $100 to pay for the same. Mr. Adams' (and wife Mary) deed to the inhabitants of the town is dated May 14, 1821, and conveys three-fourths of an acre of land, bounded on the west and south by the two highways, east on land of the First Baptist Society, north on said society's land and land of said Adams to the highway, giving to the town the right to sell shed lots on the northerly side for a distance of eight rods from the northeast corner, and contains the condition, "provided said premises shall forever be used as a common, and shall never be incumbered with lumber or any materials that shall be inconsistent with the decent appearance of a meeting house Common."

The Boston and Albany railroad now runs through the said common.

FIRST SETTLERS. - Only a part of the men who received grants of land within our territory became actual settlers. The first man to build upon our soil was John Stone, who removed from Sudbury (now Wayland), and put up a house at Otter Neck on the west side of Sudbury river, in 1646 or 1647. By what right he held or claimed the land here is not known - probably that of squatter sovereignty, - but so far as appears no one questioned his title.

The next settler was Henry Rice, who received a deed and built a house on his father's grant in 1659. John Bent bought land of Henry Rice, came on in 1662, and built near the fordway over Cochituate brook, on the west side of the Old Connecticut path. Thomas Eames settled near Mt. Wayte in 1669. Joseph Bradish was here at this date, but his location is unknown. Two of John Stone's sons, Daniel and David, settled near their father as early as 1667. And these

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History of Framingham.

were probably all the inhabitants living within our limits when Philip's War broke out and put a stop to settlements. These families were all from Sudbury, and are denominated in deeds and other official documents, "Sudbury Out-Dwellers," or "Sudbury Farmers."

The first recognition of the place by the colonial government as in a sense a distinct plantation, is in 1675, when Framingham was taxed a country rate of one pound, and was required to furnish one soldier for the country's service.

The death of King Philip in 1676, and the killing in battle or hanging of the principal hostile chiefs, and the destruction of the Indian villages and strongholds, gave assurance of a permanent peace, and settlers began to come on in considerable numbers. But for twelve years the new-comers were Sudbury people, and (except the Stones) located on the east side of the river. and on the Eames, Rice, and Gookin and How grants. John Death bought one-half of the Benj. Rice land in 1673, but did not build till 1677. His house stood near the Beaver dam. Thomas Gleason had bought the north half of the same land in 1673, and located near the pond which bears his name, in 1678. In 1677 or 1678 John Eames and Zacheriah Paddle- ford took up lots on their father Eames' grant, and with their father became inhabitants. John Pratt and Thomas Pratt, Jr., settled on Pratt's plain at the same date; and in 1679 Isaac Learned settled south of Learned's pond.

About 1687, when Mr. Danforth had matured and made known his plans for disposing of his lands by long leases, settlers began to locate on the west side of Farm pond, and on the west side of Sudbury river. The Whitneys and the Mellens, from Watertown, settled on Danforth land in 1687 or 1688; George Walkup, Stephen Jennings and John Shears were in possession of lands near Nobscot in' 1689 ; the Havens, from Lynn, came on in 1690; Samuel Winch was here at that date ; Thomas Frost built south of Nobscot as early as 1693 ; the Nurse, Clayes, Bridges, Elliot and Barton families settled at Salem End in the spring of the same year. All these located on Danforth land.

And these last named, as well as the settlers for the next ten years, came on largely in groups. The Salem End families came from Salem Village (Danvers) ; the Pikes, Winches, Boutwells and Eatons came from Reading ; Bowen, the Hemenways, Seaver, Pepper, Heath, etc., came from Roxbury. John Town, the first to locate near the Centre village, was from Essex county, and was allied by marriage to the Salem End families.

John Stone, and the settlers on Rice, Gookin and How, and Eames land, took deeds for titles ; while all who settled on Danforth land took leases running 999 years from date.

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Land Grants.

Several of the men who at this date and a little later, became inhabitants of Framingham, were grantees of a new plantation at Quinsigamaug (Worcester), before 1674; but were turned from their purpose of building a town there by the Indian troubles. Among these grantees were Simon Mellen, Thomas Pratt, Jona. Treadway, Thomas Brown, and John Provender.

The following Framingham names are found on the rolls of the expedition to Canada in 1690 : John Jones, Francis Moquet, Daniel Mack Clafelin, Joseph Trumbull, Caleb Bridges, Daniel Mixer, Daniel Stone, Jr., Samuel Wesson, Jacob Gibbs. They enlisted in the Sudbury company, and were sharers in the grant known as the Sudbury Canada Grant of 1741, which was located in Maine, embrac- ing the present towns of Canton and Jay. The survivors of this company, while prosecuting their claim in 1741, met several times at Mr. Moquet's Tavern in Framingham. 1

EARLY PATHS. - The particular location of these early settlers was largely influenced by the early bridle-paths and roads, which followed the Indian trails. The Old Connecticut path, which traversed our territory from N. E. to S. W., has been already described. And up to about 1690, the great majority of settlers built on or near this path.

The next line of travel to be opened to our lands was a path which struck off from the Old Path in "Happy Hollow" (Wayland), and ran a little to the north of west to the fordway some distance below John Stone's old house, and so on nearly the same course past the house of Dea. Eben Eaton, to the north side of Nobscot, where it joined the road from Sudbury to Marlborough. This was laid out from Watertown on the line of the Connecticut Path to Mr. Dunster's Farm in 1649, and was opened as a highway to Nobscot and beyond in 1674, when a cart bridge was built over the Sudbury river to take the place of the old horse bridge. "At a County Court holden at Charlestown Dec. 23, 1673, John Stone Sen. of Sudbury, John Woods of Marlborough, and Thomas Eams of Framingham, together with John Livermore of Watertown (or any two of them) were appointed and impowered to lay out an highway for the use of the country leading from the house of said Livermore to a Horse Bridge (then being) near the house of Daniel Stone Jun. and thence the nearest and best way to Marlborough and thence to Quaboag." The road was laid out and built that winter, and the return made to the next Court, Oct. 6, 1674.2 The bridge was built by Samuel How, who lived on Lanham, and has since been known as the "New Bridge." In the County records, under date of April 7, 1674, is the following : "In

1 Gen. Reg., XXX. 192-4. 2 Court Files.

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History of Framingham.

answer to the petition of Samuel How, referring to some allowance to be made him for his expenses about the bridge he had lately erected upon Sudbury river, above the town, he is allowed to take toll of all travellers, for a horse and man 3 d., and for a cart 6 d., until there be an orderly settling of the Country highway, and some provision made for repayment to him of his disbursements." A fork from this path was very early constructed on the south side of Nobscot, which met the other above the old Nixon place. John Shears went this way to his house on Doeskin hill.

Before 1662 a road was marked out, leaving the Connecticut path near the present house and store of John Hamilton, and running northwesterly, crossed the bluff just south of J. R. Entwistle's, and so over the river at the well-known fordway at the foot of Mechanic street in Saxonville, and so by the Falls to Brackett's Corner and west to Marlborough. This is referred to in the laying out of Mr. Danforth's farms as " the highway leading from John Stone's house to Marlbury," showing that Mr. Stone had at this date built near the Falls. This road was known as the "South path to Marlborough." It accommodated the Stones, and the Winch, Frost, Boutwell, Walkup, Buckminster, Lamb, Clark, Trowbridge, Heath and other families, and also for a distance the Pikes, Belknaps and Wrights, who struck off to the southwest through Pike Row. This branch was ultimately continued to Charles Capen's and the town farm, and so to South- borough. The Bruce, Hemenway, Waite, How, and Mixer families followed this path.

The Mellens and Collar, in 1687, took the path which was an Indian trail, and left the Connecticut path on Pratt's plain, and ran past the site of the old Eames house, to their farm. This path extended across the river by the fordway west of Joseph A. Merriam's, and by Addison Dadmun's, and so over the common to Hopkinton.

About 1692, a path was opened from the north end of Pratt's plain, following Sucker brook, crossing Sudbury river on a bar where is now Warren's bridge, and so following nearly the present way round the south side of Bare hill, and from Charles J. Frost's westerly to the fordway where is now the bridge over Reservoir No. I, and so to Salem End. A branch left this path at the north end of the bridge and ran northwesterly, following the gravelly ridge and crossing Stoney brook at the northeast corner of J. H. Temple's original farm, running west through said farm, and so to John R. Rooke's and the brick-yard. John Singletary, Jonathan Rugg and Samuel Lamb located on this path.

The cross highways were laid out after the meeting-house was built and the town incorporated.

III

No Village-Site.

NO CENTRAL VILLAGE-SITE. - A peculiarity of our town is, that there is no central point marked out by nature, as the village-site, to which all material and social interests easily gravitate. The geo- graphical centre was broken, swampy land, inconvenient for roads and uninviting for settlement. The original meeting-house site, in the old cemetery, was pitched upon, because it accommodated the more thickly settled out-districts, viz., Rice's End, Pratt's Plain, Park's Corner and Salem End; and because it was nearer to Sherborn Row (now South Framingham) than the Sherborn meeting-house was, and thus would bring these families within the statute which required all settlers to seek civil and religious privileges in the town to whose meeting-house their residence was nearest. The site of the present Centre village was selected as a compromise of conflicting interests, with which nobody was quite satisfied. The lands most eligible for homesteads and for cultivation were distant from this point, and were distant from each other. And what added to the difficulty of centralizing and uniting our early population, was the fact that these detached clusters of settlers were each a little centre of its own in previous associations and social ties. The Stones were a power by themselves, and were given places of honor in Sudbury church and town, to which they were strongly attached. The same was true of the families at Rice's End. The Pratt's Plain settlers had received like favor from Sherborn church and town. The Bigelows, Learneds, Whitneys and Mellens had common associations formed while they lived in Watertown. The Havens were large land-holders, and were somewhat isolated. The Salem End families had been mutual sufferers from the witchcraft delusions and judicial trials at Danvers, and had taken refuge and found a peaceful home in this then wilderness land. The Reading-and the Roxbury colonies, which located in the northerly part of the plantation, had each its separate interests and ties. The selection by Col. Buckminster of his home- stead farm in the upper valley of Baiting brook, naturally brought his old neighbors to locate near him, and to consult his wishes and follow his lead.

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History of Framingham, Massachusetts, early known as Danforth's Farms, 1640-1880; with a genealogical register, Part 12

Author: Temple, J. H. (Josiah Howard), 1815-1893 Publication date: 1887 Publisher: Framingham, Pub. by the town of Framingham Number of Pages: 822

Author: Temple, J. H. (Josiah Howard), 1815-1893
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Framingham, Pub. by the town of Framingham
Number of Pages: 822