History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 26

Author: Drake, Samuel Adams, 1833-1905
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriat
Number of Pages: 650

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II > Part 26

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" Sudbury, December 1, 1729. . At a meeting of the present owners of the New Grant lots and, as appears by the Indian purchase the Proprie- tors of the Two Miles of land last granted to the town of Sudbury . ... Chose Jonathan Rice, Moderator to carry on the work of said day . . . . Chose Impowered and Imployed Mr. Jolın Parmen- ter of Framingham and Mr. Daniel Woodward of said Sudbury, to act and do any legal act or acts or whatsoever may be needful and lawful to defend in the law their right and title and interest in and unto the said two miles, &c. . . likewise ad- journed their meeting."

After thirteen meetings without doing any busi- ness, September 6, 1731, they "Chose Josiah Richardson to go to the Country and County Records to take copies, and Oct. 18, 1731, chose John Balcom, clerk."

At a meeting held March 3, 1731, " Voted that they will discontinue of the thirty Rod Highway or land, so called, twenty six rods wide throughout the said highway." It was also " Voted to give and grant to every Proprietor owner one and one half acre of meadow and swamp land in the lands called the New Grants, thirty rod highway, also two acres of vpland, January 23rd 1732, let out to Jonathan Rice all the highway meadow from the Long Pond to Concord Road and to Marlborough Road, for five shillings."

Very little is known of the first settlers of May- nard. Some of the lands now held by Jonathan R. Vose were conveyed by Benjamin Crane of Stow to Joseph Rice of Marlborough in 1685, and are described as follows : " Six Stone and five acres of land that he purchased of John Woods, sent, and John Rutter, sen', and is bounded northward and

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MAYNARD.

westward with the land of Thomas Wedge, south- ward with the land of Solomon Johnson, Jun", eastward with a highway thirty rods wide running between the squadron of lots, in the New Grants, of Sudbury, aforesaid. To have and to hold, the said tract of land six stone and five acres (be the same more or less) with the house thereon erected, and all the fences, belonging to the said tract of land and all timber and firewood and the orchard thereon, with all the conveniency of water thereon, whether of Pond or Brook and all profit and ad- vantage." The family of Rices were long lived, and it is found that Jonathan Rice and Jonathan Rice, Jr., kept an inn at this place for about one hundred years.

The land above described was conveyed by Jona- than Rice to William Rice, his son, and described as bounded by land now in possession of Ephraim Pratt, etc., in A. D. 1733. The Wedge-Pratt farm was sold to Jabez Puffer of Braintree in 1743, and the house now standing was supposed to have been erected prior to that date. Ephraim Pratt removed to Shutesbury, where he died in 1804, at the great age of one hundred and sixteen years and some months. The following account of Mr. Pratt is from Dr. Dwight's Travels.

"He was born at Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 1687, and in one month from the date of our arrival (Wednesday, November 13, 1803), would complete his one hundred and sixteenth year. He was of middle stature ; firmly built ; plump but not encum- bered with flesh ; less withered than multitudes at seventy ; possessed of considerable strength, as was evident from the grasp of his hand and the sound of his voice, and without any marks of extreme age. About two months before his sight became so impaired that he was unable to distinguish persons. His hearing, also, for a short time had been so imperfect, that he could not distinctly hear common conversation. His memory was still vig- orous ; his understanding sound, and his mind sprightly and vigorous.

" The principal part of the time which I was in the house he held me by the hand ; cheerfully answered all my questions; readily gave me an account of himself in such particulars as I wished to know, observed to me that my voice indicated that I was not less than forty-five years of age, and that he must appear very old to me; adding, however, that some men who had not passed their seventieth year, probably looked almost or quite as old as himself. : The remark was certainly just ;

but it was the first time that I had heard persons who had reached the age of seventy considered as being young. We were informed, partly by him- self and partly by his host, that he had been a laborious man all his life; and, particularly, that he had mown grass one hundred and one years successively. The preceding summer he had been unable to perform this labor. During this season, his utmost effort was a walk of half a mile. In this walk he stumbled over a log and fell. Imme- diately afterwards he began evidently to decline, and lost in a considerable degree both his sight and hearing. In the summer of 1802 he walked without inconvenience two miles, and mowed a small quantity of grass. Throughout his life he had been uniformly temperate. Ardent spirits he rarely tasted. Cider he drank at times, but spar- ingly. In the vigorous periods of life he had accustomed himself to eat flesh, but more abste- miously than most other people in this country. Milk, which had always been a great part, was now the whole of his diet. He is naturally cheerful and humorous, and not much inclined to serious thinking. According to an account which he gave his host, he made a public profession of religion near seventy years before our visit to him; but was not supposed by him, nor by others acquainted with him, to be a religious man. He conversed easily, and was plainly gratified with the visits and conversations of strangers. When he was ninety- three years old, he made a bargain with his host (who told us the story), that he should support him during the remainder of his life for £20.

" He was never sick but once, and then with fever and agne. It is scarcely necessary to observe that a man one hundred and sixteen years old, without religion, was a melancholy sight to me."

The Rev. Reuben Puffer, D. D., was a son of Jabez Puffer, a noted divine, graduated at Har- vard College in 1778, settled and ordained as pas- tor at Berlin, Mass., in 1781, and died in 1829, aged seventy-three.

Other of the earlier settlers of Maynard were Hezekiah Taylor, John Taylor, Thomas Smith, Amos Sınith, William Skinner, William Carly, Zacharialı Mayuard, and John Brigham, and some of the settlers on the Stow side of the river may be found in the proceedings of the proprietors at their meeting held May 19, 1719, when, as appears from Stow Old Proprietors' Book, a selection of lands was made, as follows : ---

" Pitched on by Richard Temple, between Plum

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

Brook and Willard's Pond. Israel Heald, sent, on Pompsiticut Hill joining to Joseph Jewell's land. John Butterick, on Pompsiticut Hill, and on the north side of his ten acres of ineadow. Jacob Ste- vens at the Oak swamp at his ten acres on Assabetli Brook and at elbow meadow. Thomas Whitney, sen" joining to his half moon meadow and Mr. Goo- gen's land. Elizabeth Fairbank, on Pompsiticut Hill, and at great meadow. John Whitaker, on Pompsitieut Hill and at green Meadow. John Eveleth, ou Pompsiticut Hill. Joseph Daby, right across the Hill from his house lot to Sudbury line and to Wetherby's line. Stephen Randall four aeres by his home lot and at his own meadow ou Assabeth Brook."

" Stow Oet ye 30, 1738. Voted, on said day that Ephraim Gates, have one aere and three quar- ters of upland in the common land in Stow lying on the westerly side of said Gates' House lot, for con- sideration of ten Shillings, and one quart of Rume."

The tract of land called the Brown farm, consist- ing of some one hundred and fifty acres, situate in the northerly part of Maynard, was conveyed by Edmund Brown of Sudbury to Josiah Brown in 1735 for £1,500, lawful money.

From a perusal of the Old Proprietors'. Books of Stow, I am led to believe that the stream now ealled Assabet River was known one hundred and fifty years ago as the Elzibeth River, and the Assabeth Brook was a tributary brook run- ning into the Elzibeth River just above where the river now runs into the town of Maynard. Mr. William H. Wood, on his map of Sudbury, pub- lished in 1830, uses the name Elzibeth. It is sometimes spelled Elzabeth.

Other inhabitants of the town previous to 1800 were Jabez Puffer, Jr., Phineas Pratt, William Rice, Phineas Rice, Matthias Rice, Jonas Balcom, Amos Smith, Benjamin Smith, Joshua Maynard, Marble, Arrington Gibson, John Jekyl, and Heze- kiah Smith.

There is a tradition that some time early in the settlement of the town, during a severe storm in the spring of the year, several persons came to and were quietly quartered in the barn of one of the Smiths, perhaps Thomas, near where Mr. A. S. Thompson now resides. The unknown visitors were afterwards supposed to have been pirates, from the fact that they were very free with their money, paying liberally for what they obtained from the family. It was said that they threw " pieces of eight " at the swallows for amusement, | Cochituate, for the citizens of Boston.

and before leaving procured from the house some clothing fitted for bags and tools for digging. The bags, being filled with something apparently heavy, were carried by them to the woods, north- erly of the house, and probably buried. The sus- pected parties soon after left, no one knowing whither they went. Subsequently Mr. Smith re- ceived a letter from some pirates that had been captured, convicted, and were about to be exe- cuted, requesting him to come and see them, and they would give him information that would be of value to him; but Mr. Smith, with the feeling of distrust for criminals common to those days, paid no regard to the request, and for aught known the secret died with the writers, and may never be re- vealed, unless some fortunate person should dis- cover the hiding-place.

The area of the town of Maynard is composed of hills and dales traversed by numerous brooks ; and the Elzibethi River, now called the Assabet, runs through the town, furnishing a water-power that, being assisted by steam, is made to do the most prominent work of the town, being aided by the helpers located there. On this stream, above where the mills are now built, were formerly grain-mills, known as Jewell's mills, and later as Smith's mills; and about the year 1821 or 1822 a part of the water-power was rented to James and William Rice, two young and skilful mechanies, for the manufac- ture of spindles and other factory machinery for Smith's mills at Peterborough, New Hampshire, and also for the mills then being built at Waltham, Massachusetts. But finding that there was not sufficient power to carry on so much business, the manufacture of mill machinery was discontinued here, and removed elsewhere. At a later day ma- chinery for wool-carding was introduced, thus re- lieving the wives and daughters from the carding by hand, leaving the spinning and weaving for the occupation of their leisure hours. But the march of improvement was still onward ; and in 1845 the water-rights that in 1821 or 1822 were deemed insufficient to run a grain-mill with two or three run of stones, and a small trip-hammer for the forg- ing of spindles and the manufacture of other ma- chinery employing two men, were purchased by Mr. Amory Maynard, William H. Knight, Esq., of Saxonville, a carpet manufacturer, being associated with him. Mr. Knight had sold- his water-rights to the city of Boston for a valuable consideration, thereby securing the water of Long Pond, or Lake

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MAYNARD.

The works now constituting the Assabet Mills were commenced in July, 1846, all the water- rights supposed to be necessary having been se- cured the preceding season. The dam was built, and a canal dug, turning the water from its regular channel into its present reservoir. The dam and superstructure where the mills now stand were com- pleted, so that buildings were erected and work commenced in the mills in the spring of 1847, car- pets and carpet yarns to the value of $110,000 being manufactured the first year.

The water privileges of the Assabet Mills, in- clude, besides some two hundred acres on the river, four hundred aeres at Fort Meadow Reser- voir in Marlborough, and three hundred aeres at Boon's Pond and Ram's-horn Meadow, in Stow and Hudson ; and the works have in use and hold in reserve steam-power estimated at 4,350 horses.

Additions and improvements have been made continually to the present time. In 1852 Mr. Knight, being quite advanced in years, retired from the firm, and Mr. Maynard carried ou operations alone, gradually changing the machinery to the manufacture of blankets and flannels, until in 1862, steam-power having been added, a stock company was formed, with a capital of $200,000, that has been increased as occasion required. At present uo carpets or blankets are made, and the productions are flannels, cassimeres, and eloths, to the value of $1,800,000 per year. The mills have now sixty sets of woollen machinery, consuming 3,500,000 pounds of wool per year.

The number of employees is about five hundred and forty males and three hundred and thirty fe- males, with a pay-roll of $275,000 per year. The mills rank the third in size and capacity in the state, and are said to equal any in New England in the quality of their productions. The present capital stoek is $600,000.

Other industries of the town are the paper-mills, first built by William May, for the manufacture of paper by hand, about the year 1820. After- wards they passed into the hands of John Sawyer,

who introduced some new machinery ; but he was not very successful, and the mills soon passed into the hands of William Parker, Esq., of Boston, and at his decease his son, William T. Parker, suc- ceeded him. The mills have been burned some three or more times, and, owing to the depression of that branch of industry, have lain idle a large proportion of the time for several years. They are now manufacturing wall-paper, employing some tell persons, and making about one ton per day, of the value of $40,000 per year.

There are two cider and vinegar manufactories, making about two thousand barrels per year.

The staple production of the farmers of the town is milk, a large proportion being sold in the vil- lage, and some forty thousand cans sent to the Boston market yearly.

The first church in the town was organized with ten members, September 23, 1852, and called The Evangelical Union Church. Mr. George W. Frost, a lieentiate of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was aeting pastor until May, 1854, when Rev. J. K. Deering succeeded him. In May, 1856, Rev. A. Morton was installed. He was dismissed in May, 1859, and was, in turn, succeeded by Rev. E. P. Tenney, Rev. F. Wallace, Rev. A. H. Fletehier, Rev. Thomas Allender, and Rev. O. Hall as acting pastors until October, 1867, when the Rev. T. D. P. Stone was installed, and dismissed in June, 1870. Since then Rev. Webster Hazlewood, Rev. E. S. Huntress, Rev. B. P. Sheire, and Rev. S. S. Mathews have been acting pastors. At present Rev. C. E. Milliken, lately from Littleton, New Hampshire, fills the place. The Methodists have a convenient chapel, with the Rev. A. C. Godfrey as pastor. The Catholic society have a neat church, St. Bridget's, with Rev. M. J. MeCall as pastor.

Glenwood Cemetery was laid out in 1871, and by the united efforts of the ladies of the town it has been beautified by the" planting of a variety of trees and flowering shrubs, a good well of water, and a neat artistie covering for the same. The Catholics also have a pretty cemetery of their own.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

MEDFORD.

BY W. H. WHITMORE.

IKE most of our towns, the outline of Medford on the map is quite irregular. Its greatest length is about three miles and a half, and its greatest width is about the same. Its northern boundary line, inclined some- what to the northwest and southeast, is upon Stoneham. Its eastern boundary is upou Somerville, and reaches to Mys- tic River. Its southern line, very irregular in form, tending always towards the northwest, crosses the river at a point about a mile from its mouth, then continues on the Somerville line, and crosses again to the north bank near the crossing of the Boston and Lowell Railroad. It then follows the east bank of the river (here flowing south) with Arlington opposite, till it reaches Mystic Pond. The east shore of the pond is Medford's west boun- dary to the line of Winchester, when the line turns and runs due east for nearly a mile and then north- east to Stoneham line again.

Substantially, these have always been the bounds of the town ; Stoneliam was a part of Charlestown until December 17, 1725, as was Somerville until March 3, 1842. Arlington, formerly West Cam- bridge, was formed from Cambridge and Charles- town.

In 1754, according to Brooks, Medford peti- tioned for and obtained an enlargement both at the north and the south, at the expense of Charles- town. The river seems then to be the south bound of Medford, and the land then added seems to have comprised the farms of Mr. Smith, James Tufts, Jonathan Tufts, and Colonel Royal ; and probably it embraced all of Medford now lying south of the river. Medford then contamed only about 2,000 acres. In 1817 some land was set off from Mal- den to Medford. In 1875 a part of Everett was annexed, and in 1877 a part of Medford was given to Malden.

Medford has no ponds within its limits ; and the

river receives but two or three little tributaries, as Whitmore's Brook, Meeting-house Brook, Winter Brook, etc. The most noted hill is Pine Hill, near Spot Pond, though the surface is very much diver- sified, and numerous ranges of hills abound.

The origin of the name of Medford is unknown. No town or hamlet of the name appears in the English gazetteers now. In Dudley's letter to the Countess of Lincoln, dated March 28, 1631, he states that the new-comers were obliged to " plant dispersedly . . . . some of us upon Mistick, which we named Meadford." It seems, however,1 that Governor Cradock was a cadet of the family at Caverswall in Staffordshire, and that very near there was a hamlet called Mayford, but formerly spelt Metford. Cradock's widow and daughter describe their lands in New England as " in our manor of Metford in New England." Again we notice 2 that the parish of Maidford, now Towcester, in Northamptonshire, England, was called Med- ford in the seventeenth century. Either of these may have given a name to our town, especially as Dudley was born in Northampton.

The town is first mentioned in our records of the General Court, September 28, 1630, when Meadford is taxed £3. It is accordingly consid- dered as the seventh town in the state in chrono- logical order.

Brooks states that about 1680 the inhabitants petitioned for an act of incorporation and were answered by the General Court that the town had been incorporated under a general act in 1630, and could at any time organize and choose a representa- tive. He adds that Stephen Willis was elected rep- resentative February 25, 1684. But the printed records of the legislature contain no such answer, nor is any deputy recorded from Medford during the time of the first charter, that is, until 1686.

The General Court did pass a vote,3 October 15, 1684, as follows: " In answer to the petition of

1 See N. E. Historical and Genealogical Register, X. 231.

2 Our authority is The Genealogist (London, 1879), III. 332. 3 Printed Records, V. 456.

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MEDFORD.

Mr. Nathaniel Wade and Peter Tuffts, in behalf of | the inhabitants of Meadford, the Court judgeth it meete to grant the petitioners request, and declares that Meadford hath been and is a peculiar, and hath power as other towns, as to prudentials, &c."

In fact, the views expressed by Frothingham (History of Charlestown, 70- 92) seem entirely cor- rect. Medford was a plantation rather than a town until the date of the new charter. Its records be- gin with the first Monday of February, 1677, when "Joseph Wade, John Hall, and Stephen Willis were chosen selectmen for ordering of the affairs of the plantation for the year ensuing." 1

It is indisputable that the first establishment of Medford came from the grant in 1634, by the General Court to Matthew Cradock.2 He is thought to have owned some 3,500 acres; and though he never came to New England, he sent his servants and supplied them with money to build a house, a ship-yard, a bridge, and to make other improve- ments. Wood writes to this effeet in 1634. After Cradock's death, his widow and daughter, in 1652, sold their land to Edward Collins. In 1656 Col- lins sold the house and 1,600 acres of the land to Richard Russell of Charlestown ; and in 1661 the latter sold the house and 1,200 acres to Jonathan Wade. In 1677 the Russell heirs sold 350 acres to Peter Tufts. Collins seems later to have sold a farm of 500 acres, one eighth going to Caleb Ho- bart of Braintree (who sold, in 1678, to his brother- in-law, John Whitmore of Medford), and other parts to Stephen Willis or Willowes (another brother- in-law), John Poulter (step-son of Whitmore), Thomas Willis, and John Hall. Thus a family settlement sprang up at this point. In 1660 Col- lins sold 400 acres to Thomas Brooks and Timothy Wheeler.

The following extracts will give some idea of the early settlement at Medford. Wood's New Eng- land's Prospect (Prince Society edition, p. 43) has the following descriptions, which we modernize in copying.

"Towards the northwest of this bay is a great creek, upon whose shore is situated the village of

1 Brooks, p. 97.

2 That Governor Cradock's plantation was established prior to September 28, 1630, is evident from the proceedings of an in- quest taken from the colony records of that date : -

" A jury impanelled to inquire concerning the death of Ansten Bratcher . ... dying lately at Mr. Cradock's Plantation," ad- judged Walter Palmer guilty of manslaughter. The date of this occurrence is thus fixed between the courts of September 7 and September 28. - ED.

Medford, a very fertile and pleasant place, and fit for more inhabitants than are yet in it."

Again, p. 44, he writes : -

" The next town is Mistiek, which is three miles from Charlestown by land, and a league and a half by water. It is seated by the water's side very pleasantly ; there are not many houses as yet. At the head of this river are great and spacious ponds, whither the alewives press to spawn. This being a noted place for that kind of fish, the English resort hither to take them. On the west side of this river the Governor has a farm, where he keeps most of his cattle. On the east side is Mr. Crad- dock's plantation, where he has impaled . a park, where he keeps his cattle, till he can store it with deer. Here, likewise, he is at charges of building ships. The last year, one was upon the stocks of a hundred tons; that being finished, they are to build one twice her burden. Ships, without either ballast or loading, may float down this river; other- wise, the oysterbank would hinder them which crosseth the channel."

In Winthrop's Journal, page 74, Vol. I., of the edition of 1853, we find the following passage : -

" The governor, being at his farm-house at Mis- tick, walked out after supper, and took a piece in his hand, supposing he might see a wolf, (for they came daily about the house, and killed swine and calves, etc .; ) and, being about half a mile off, it grew suddenly dark, so as, in coming home, he mistook his path, and went till he came to a little house of Sagamore John, which stood empty. There he stayed, and having a piece of match in his pocket, (for he always carried about him match and a compass, and in summer snake-weed,) he made a good fire near the house, and lay down upon some old mats, which he found there, and so spent the night, sometimes getting wood, but could not sleep. It was (through God's mercy) a warm night ; but a little before day it began to rain, and having no cloak, he made shift by a long pole to climb up into the house. In the morning, there came thither an Indian squaw, but perceiving her before she had opened the door, he barred her out ; yet she stayed there a great while essaying to get in, and at last she went away, and he returned safe home, his servants having been much perplexed for him, and having walked about, and shot off pieces, and hallooed in the night, but he heard them not."

Again, under date of February 7, 1631 - 32, we find :

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

" The governour, Mr. Nowell, Mr. Eliot, and others, went over Mistick River at Medford, and going N. and by E. among the rocks about two or three miles, they came to a very great pond, hav- ing in the midst an island of about one acre, and very thick with trees of pine and beech ; and the pond had divers small rocks, standing up here and there in it, which they therefore called Spot Pond. They went all about it upon the ice. From thence (towards the N. W. about half a mile,) they came to the top of a very high rock, beneath which, (towards the N.) lies a goodly plain, part open land, and part woody, from whence there is a fair prospect, but it being then close and rainy, they could see but a small distance. This place they called Cheese Rock, because, when they went to eat somewhat, they had only cheese, (the govern- our's man forgetting, for haste, to put up some bread)."

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 26

Author: Drake, Samuel Adams, 1833-1905 Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriat Number of Pages: 650

Author: Drake, Samuel Adams, 1833-1905
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriat
Number of Pages: 650