History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 29

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 29

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In 1875 there were in Medford seventeen manu- facturing establishments, producing goods valued

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MEDFORD.

at $536,400 on an invested capital of $393,500. | In other occupations $151,695 worth of goods were produced. Of these products the most im- portant were brick, $122,500; rum, $64,000; carriages, $80,000; carpets, prints, etc., $95,000; buttons, $40,000; bread, $45,000; gold-leaf, $45,000. Of the trades, carpentry produced $30,620, and butchering, $52,000. The total product was $688,095 ; the workers employed were 452 males and 88 females.

TUFTS COLLEGE.1

TUFTS COLLEGE is situated on an eminence for- merly known as Walnut Hill, now College Hill, in the southerly part of Medford, near the boundary line of Somerville ... The grounds comprise about one hundred and twenty acres, lying in convenient shape, and ample for all present and future needs of the college. The buildings consist of a maill hall in which are recitation-rooms and laboratories, with chapels and library, and three halls used chiefly as dormitories, and containing between sixty and seventy suites of rooms for students. These buildings occupy the summit of the hill, and command a view which in variety, interest, and beauty is rarely surpassed.

Tufts College owes its existence to a conviction in the minds of influential Universalists that the usefulness and prosperity of their denomination re- quired the establishment of higher institutions of learning. Nearly fifty years ago several academies were created in New England and New York under the control and patronage of the denomination, and the experience of these schools showed that the college is indispensable to the scheme of education. The movement that resulted in the founding of Tufts College began in 1847. Rev. Thomas J. Sawyer, D. D., had then recently left the church over which he had been settled, in the city of New York, to accept the principalship of the Clinton Liberal Institute in the same state. Here, seeing still more clearly the necessity of higher institu- tions, he in April, 1847, issued a call through the denominational papers for an educational conven- tion to be held in the city of New York on the 18th of May following. This convention was largely attended by representative men of the de- nomination from New England as well as New York, and as the result of its two days' session measures were inaugurated for raising by subscrip-

1 Communicated by Professor W. R. Shipman, of Tufts Col- lege. - ED.

tion $100,000, which sum, it was agreed, would be necessary to found a college. The following autumn Rev. Otis A. Skinner of Boston was ap- pointed general agent for raising funds, and in the spring of 1848 entered upon what proved a most difficult task. It was a very large sum to be raised at that time in a small denomination little accus- tomed to giving, and witli no general interest as yet in the cause of education, and the subscription was not completed till the spring of 1851. On the 16th of September in that year the subscribers to the fund inet in Boston, and elected trustees representing all the New England states, with New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

The original convention had expressed the opin- ion that the college should be located in the valley of the Hudson or the Mohawk; but the board of trustees, to whom the question of location had been referred, found that the principal part of the sub- scriptions to the fund had been obtained in Massa- chusetts, and that the promise of pecuniary support would be greatest in the vicinity of Boston. Very advantageous offers of land and money were made by Dr. Oliver Dean of Franklin, Mass., on condi- tion that the college should be located in that town; but after mature consideration the present site was chosen. Twenty acres of land, afterwards made up to about one hundred acres, were given by Charles Tufts of Somerville, and the institution located upon it received his name, in accordance with what has been a very common custom in the founding of American colleges. Other prominent benefactors of the college at the outset or during its earlier years were Silvanus Packard and Thomas A. Goddard of Boston, Dr. Dean of Franklin, Dr. William J. Walker of Newport, R. I., Mr. Wade of Woburn, and Timothy Cotting of Med- ford. While the first subscription of $100,000 for building purposes was raised only by the ut- most exertion, probably no other college in the country has received during its early years, for current expenses and permanent funds, so large an amount from so many donors as Tufts College.

The question of location having been decided early in January, 1852, application was immedi- ately made to the legislature of Massachusetts for a charter, which was granted in the usual form and with all the usual privileges, April 21, 1852. The charter authorized the conferring of all except medical degrees, and this restriction was subse- quently removed. The first board of trustees, after incorporation, consisted of twenty gentlemen,

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

of whom Dr. Oliver Dean was president, Rev. Thomas Whittemore vice-president, Rev. Otis A. Skinner secretary, Benjamin B. Mussey treas- urer. These offices have subsequently been held by Rev. Thomas Whittemore, D. D., Dr. Dean (re-elected), and Hon. Israel Washburn, Jr., LL. D., presidents ; Silvanus Packard and Hon. Charles Robinson, Jr., vice-presidents ; Rev. A. A. Miner, Rev. Lucius R. Paige, D. D., and Hon. Newton Talbot, secretaries ; Thomas A. Goddard, Hon. Richard Frothingham, LL. D., and William H. Finney, treasurers.

The presidency of the college, that is, of the Board of Instruction and Government, was first tendered to Rev. Thomas J. Sawyer, D. D., but he declined the position, and Rev. Hosea Ballou, 2d, D. D., was made its first president. He held the office until his death, in 1861, and in the following year Rev. A. A. Miner, D. D., LL. D., was elected as his successor. Dr. Miner, resigning in 1875, was succeeded by Rev. Elmer H. Capen, D. D., the present incumbent.

The erection of the main college building was commenced in the spring of 1853, and the corner- stone was laid by Dr. Ballou, president elect, in the presence of a large gathering of people, on the 19th of July following. The address on this occa- sion was delivered by Rev. Dr. Mincr. This build- ing was completed in the summer of 1854. The three dormitories have been erected later, the last in 1871.

The college was informally open for freshmen and sophomores in September, 1854, seven students being in attendance, and instruction given by the president and three professors. The formal open- ing of the college and installation of the president took place August 22, 1855. The first class ad- mitted after the formal opening numbered twenty -. one.

The course of instruction was, in general, the same as that of other New England colleges, but only the degree of A. B. was given till 1866. Since that year the degree of B. Pl. has also been given on the completion of a course the requirements of which were changed from time to time, but in 1875 were made to coincide with the A. B. course, with the exception of Greek, for which additional French

and German and certain optional studies are sub- stituted. A department of civil engineering was opened in 1867, in which the degree of C. E. is conferred on the completion of a three years' course. The object of this department is to give professional instruction in connection with such studies of the regular course as can properly be pursued. The regular course, which includes about four fifths of the whole number of students, prescribes the stud- ies of the first two years, but in the last two years admits elective studies to the extent of one third the entire requirement, with additions according to the desire and ability of each student.

The board of instruction consists of the presi- dent, ten professors, and one special instructor. The physical and chemical laboratories are provided with all that is necessary to give extensive and thorough practical instruction in these departments. There is also a cabinet of ample size, and admira- bly selected, for the purpose of illustration in the several branches of natural history, in which de- partment practical instruction is given, as well as in those previously named. The library contains 18,000 volumes and 5,000 pamphlets. The whole number of students graduated from 1857 to 1879, inclusive, is two hundred and seventy-nine.

In 1869 a divinity school was opened, which is under the same board of trustees and the same presidency, and at present occupies a part of one of the college halls, but is in charge of a distinct faculty, consisting of three professors, one in- structor, and one non-resident lecturer. At the lead of the school is Rev. Thomas J. Sawyer, D. D., whose connection with the founding of Tufts Col- lege has already been mentioned, and who after more than half a century of active labor in behalf of manifold denominational enterprises is still rendering efficient and most honorable service. The course of study in the school occupies three years for college graduates, or four years for those who enter without such preparation. The degree of B. D. is conferred upon those who complete the full course of studies. In special cases students are also received to partial courses, and may receive diplomas certifying to such attainments as they have made. The degree has been conferred upon forty graduates.

175

MELROSE.

BY ELBRIDGE H. GOSS.

M ELROSE was incorporated May 3, 1850, and is one of the youngest of the towns in old Middlesex. It is situated seven miles from Boston, directly north, on the line of the Boston and Maine Railroad, on which it has three depots, - Wyoming, Melrose, and the Highlands, or Stoneham ; from the last of which a horse- railroad connects with the town of Stoneham, two miles distant. Previous to its incorporation most of the territory now Melrose was known as North Malden ; a small portion, now forming the north- western corner of the town, being set off from the eastern part of Stoneham, March 15, 1853. It was named after Melrose, Scotland, at the sugges- tion of Mr. William Bogle, having, it is said, great similarity in its natural features with the renowned seat of Melrose Abbey.

Melrose contains a superficial area of about 2,900 square acres, 2,720 of which are taxable. It is two and one eighth miles in length, and has an average width of two miles. It is bounded on the north by Wakefield, on the east by Saugus, on the south by Malden, and on the west by Stoneham and a corner of Medford. It has four villages : Wyoming, at the south part of the town ; the Cen- tre ; the Highlands, at the north ; and Norrisville, in the northeastern part. Its surface is charmingly diversified with hill, valley, pond, and stream. From the summits of a number of its elevations - particularly Boston Rock in the south, Barrett's Mount in the centre, and West Rock, or Vinton Hill, in the north - extensive views of the sur- rounding country and of the ocean may be had. L Pond, situated in the centre of the town, so named from its shape, contains about thirty acres, and upon its borders are many of the finest resi- dences. This pond received its name as early as 1638, nine years after the settlement of Charles- town, in whose records it is then mentioned ; and it was so called in many other early documents.

It is often spelled "Ell," an undoubted misap- prehension from its sound. It has recently been stocked with black bass and alewives by a fishing association under the protection of state law. Long Pond, in the eastern portion of the town, part of which is in Melrose and part in Saugus, is the source of the Saugus River. This and Swain's Pond, in the southeastern part of the town, were named as early as 1660, being then referred to in the Charlestown records. Dix, formerly Little, Pond, near the centre, is small, but it is the legen- dary pond of Melrose, rumor giving it a fathomless bottom from time immemorial.

L Pond and Spot Pond brooks, outlets of their respective ponds, are the only streams, and both unite a little below Wyoming, and run into the Malden River, an affluent of the Mystic.

Melrose was once a part of Charlestown. Early differences concerning boundaries were settled by the General Court, which passed several orders re- lating to the domain now Malden and Melrose. July 2, 1633, Mystic Side, now Malden, was granted to Charlestown, when it was ordered that the " grounde lyeing betwixte the North Ryv"1 and the creeke on the north side of M' Mauacks (Mave- rick's) and soe vpp into the country, shall belong to the inhabitants of Charleton." " Up into the country " not proving sufficiently definite, another order was passed, March 3, 1636, as follows : " That Charles Town bounds shall run eight myles into the country from their meeting-howse, if noe other bounds intercept "; and the Charlestown records of 1638 say that, "the Gen" Court had setled theire Bounds, by granting eight miles from the old Meeting-house into the Contry Northwest Northrly." At about this time some of the in- habitants of Charlestown crossed over and settled on the north side of the Mystic River, and Thomas Coitmore had built a mill near Mount Prospect, or Waite's Mount, as early as 1640. May 11, 1649, Mystie Side was set off from Charlestown by the General Court, with this brief act of incor-

1 Sometimes called " Three Myle Brooke."

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

poration : " In answer to the peticon of seūll in- habitants of Misticke side, their request is granted, viz., to be a distinct toune of themselves, & the name thereof to be Maulden," -- thirty words in all : the act of the same General Court, May 3, 1850, two hundred years afterwards, incorporating Mal- den's fair daughter, Melrose, contains seven sec- tions, with six hundred and forty-eight words.

When Malden was incorporated nearly all of its territory above the settlement, a tract of 2,300 acres of undivided land, covering what was after- wards North Malden, now Melrose, was a dense forest " full of stately timber," and " indeed gen- erally all the conntry round about was an nncouth wilderness." In time it came to be known as the " common lands," or " the commons," becoming valuable as woodland and pasturage; and various votes were passed by the town for its preserva- tion and utility. The Malden Records, March 26, 1694, contain the report of a committee "to rnn lines between the Common and proprietors' lands, as follows : Run ye bounds Round Reedy pond ye bounds are first a great buttenwood tree before Joseph Lines dore - and so bounded Round with senerall trees marked with letter C next common." November 20, of the same year, it was " Voted, That ye common shall be divided : bottom and top, yt is, land and wood "; and six days afterwards, a committee of three, Major William Johnson, Cap- tain Jolin Brown, and Captain John Smith, re- ported to the town the manner in which it should be done, giving to every freeholder in the town a proportion according to his ratable estate. A committee of seven was then appointed to proceed with the division, and it was ordered that they " employ an artis to lay out the lots." Every lot was to " run 82 poles in length," and there was to be allowed "two poles in breadth between every range of lots for highways. .... Every proprietor's name to be written distinctly, and ye lots be well shuffled together, and one man chose by the town to draw them out of a bag. The first name drawn to have the first lot." This division was thus made in 1695, when seventy-four freeholders, then in Malden, received their respective allotments.

Melrose had been occupied several years before " the commons" were divided. The Spragues, Lyndes, and Greens had possessions here before then, and at about that time or a little later came the Barretts, Uphams, Howards, and Vin- tons. Some of these families have been here over · two centuries, and the descendants of all of them

are among onr citizens to-day. There are some of the old homesteads now standing, portions of which are at least two hundred years old; such is the case with the Jabez and Jonathan Lynde honses on Washington Street, and the Joseph Lynde house on Main Street, near Malden line. The Lyndes once owned nearly all of the southern part of Mel- rose, and several of the old homesteads are still occupied by members of this numerous family. They are all descendants of Ensign Thomas Lynde, who settled in Malden very soon after its incor- poration in 1649, and who was the eldest son of Thomas, who came from England, settled in Charles- town, and became a freeman in 1634.

In the "Possesion of Richard Sprague in Charltowne limites," in the Charlestown land records of 1638 the twelfth item is, " Sixtie acres of land by estimation, more or lesse, scituate in pond fielde, bounded on the one side by Ralph Sprague, on the northeast by ell pond and the river that comes through the meadow into Ell pond, and on the northwest by the comon." Richard Sprague was one of the three brothers, Ralph, Richard, and William, who came to Charlestown in 1629. The Spragues of Melrose are descendants of Ralph, the oldest of the three. His son John early settled in Malden, and his son Phineas came to what is now Melrose abont the year 1700. A grandson of this Phineas, also named Phineas, was the Revolution- ary patriot of whom many interesting anecdotes have been told. His farm was on the plain, and his homestead on Foster Street, where now stands the residence of Mr. Liberty Bigelow. He kept a diary, and his account of the ever-memorable Dark Day is worthy of record.

"Friday May the 19th 1780. - This day was the most Remarkable day that ever my eyes be- held the air had bin full of smoak to an uncommon degree So that wee could scairce see a mountain at two miles distance for 3 or 4 days Past till this day after Noon the smoak all went off to the South at sunset a very black bank of a cloud appeared in the south and west the Nex morning cloudey and thundered in the west about ten oclock it began to Rain and grew vere dark and at 12 it was all- most as dark as Nite so that wee was obliged to lite our candels and Eate our dinner by candel lite at Noon day but between 1 and 2 oclock it grew lite again but in the Evening the cloud caimn over us again the moon was about the full it was the darkest Nite that ever was seen by us in the world."

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MELROSE.

The various families of Greens descended from Thomas Green, who settled in Malden about the year 1651. He early owned a farm of sixty- three acres at the Highlands, which was exempted when the commons were divided, according to a vote passed in town-meeting May 18, 1694, " that Samuel Green [son of . Thomas] shall Injoy his hous and ye land yt stands on and so much land

about It as ye Commite shall se eause to lay to It "; and the records, in referring to lot number 64, say "part east against Redding Rhode and part on ye west of ye Greens farm." Portions of this same farm are in the possession of the descendants of Thomas Green to-day.

The Uphams, of whom we still have many fami- lies, descended from John Upham, who was ad-

Old Lynde House, Washington Street.

mitted freeman in 1631, and settled in Malden about the year 1650. His son, Lieutenant Phin- eas Upham, took a prominent part in King Philip's War, being severely wounded at the battle of Nar- ragansett Fort, December 19, 1675, from the effects of which wound he died the year following. Phin- eas, the grandson of Lieutenant Upham, was the first to come to Melrose, and settled on Upham Hill, where there are still living several families of descendants on the old homesteads, on one of which, that of George Upham, is still seen the old- fashioned well-sweep with its " iron-bound bucket."

The Barretts are descendants of James Barrett, who settled in Charlestown in 1635, and who after- wards came to Malden, where his son James was born in 1644. His son, Deacon Jonathan Barrett, came to Melrose about the year 1705, and built his

homestead on Barrett Lane, now Porter Street. Captain Jonathan Barrett, a great-grandson of Deacon Jonathan, was the first manufacturer of shoes in Melrose, commencing at his homestead on Vinton Street, at what is now known as the Mountain House. In " ye olden time" this lo- cality was called The Village, where the people from different parts of the town used to congregate for social chat and pleasure. Captain Barrett died November 18, 1821, and his funeral sermon, delivered in Malden, November 25, 1821, on " the Lord's Day after the Interment," by Rev. Aaron Green, was published in a pamphlet. His shoe business was continued by the late Mr. George Emerson ; and in later years shoe-manufacturing has been quite an extensive branch of industry in Melrose.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

Thomas and Benoni Vinton, direct descendants of John Vinton, of Lyun, who came to this country not far from 1643, settled in that part of Melrose called the Highlands, then a part of Stoneham, about the year 1742. Thomas left three sons, Thomas, Timothy, and Ezra, all of whom had farms at the Highlands ; the old homesteads are yet standing. These three brothers joined Captain Sprague's com- pany of minute-men which marched from Stoneham, to Lexington when the Revolutionary alarm was sounded. During the latter part of the eighteenth century a number of other families came to Mel- rose, among them the Howards, the Emersons, Pratts, Grovers, Edmundses, Larrabees, Boardmans, Hemenways, Tainters, Goulds, Coxes, Eatons, and Fullers.1

At a session of the General Court held Septem- ber 10, 1653, a committee of three, Thomas Mar- shall, John Smith, and John Sprague, was " chosen to lay out the country high way between Reddinge and Winnesemett." This was the first and only road through Melrose for many years. The various bounds were given by the committee, beginning at Reading, until it reached Melrose, and then they say it is to run " along on the east side of Thomas Coytmores lott, by Ele Pond, in the old way, to Thomas Lynds land, then through the first field, and so by the field by his howse, from thence, on the old way, by Maldon meeting howse, through the stony swampe, etc. . . . the šd way to be fower pole broade in good grounde, and six or eight where need requires." " The old way " here referred to means the old, crooked Indian path, or trail, in use before this date, winding hither and thither, going around this hill, shunning that swamp or bog, and over which the early traveller wended his way between Reading and Chelsea. On a plan of Malden sur- veyed by Peter Tufts, Jr., of Medford, in 1795, the only roads laid down in what was then North Mal- den are the main road, called the Reading road, and a Stoneham road, which leaves this near the corner of what are now Wyoming Avenue and Main Street, where stands the Masonic Hall. There is one essential change between the main road as laid out in 1653 and that on this plan ; it then went to the right of Boston Rock, in going north from Malden, and at the time the plan was made it passed to the left. The old-time residents of North Malden had to wend their way down this old road

1 Other details concerning the old families and homesteads are given in the Historical Address delivered at Melrose, July 4, 1876.

to " middle-town " whenever they attended divine worship, or when they wished to vote on election- days, or take part in any of the town-meetings. The present Main Street was built in 1806. A short time previous to this, in 1798, a two-horse stage, the first public conveyance through Melrose, commenced running between Boston and Reading, driven by Mr. Farwell Brown; and after the new road was built stage lines between Boston, Ando- ver, and Haverhill were established, which also carried the mails.

The first preaching service in what is now Mel- rose was in the year 1813, and was held in the little old district school-house which was situated near the corner of the old road, now Lebanon Street, and Upham Lane, now Upham Street, which led up to the hill on which lived so many of the Uphams. This school-house was the only one then in North Malden. From these meetings the Meth- odist Episcopal Church was organized in 1816, which continued to hold its services in this house until 1818, when a small meeting-house was built on the green at the junction of Main and Green streets. This was occupied until 1842, when it was removed, and a larger edifice built on the same spot, and dedicated November 30, of that year. In this the society worshipped until 1857, when it was sold, moved to the corner of Main and Essex streets, became Concert Hall, and was burned No- vember 30, 1875, just thirty-three years from the day it was dedicated. The society then built the church now used by them on Main Street, which was dedicated April 1, 1857. Wright says in his Historical Discourse, preached at Malden on Thanks- giving Day, December 1, 1831, " Two individuals, formerly members of this church, are now success- fully engaged in publishing the tidings of salva- tion to their fellowmen." This refers to Rev. Frederick Upham and Rev. Warren Emerson, both born in Melrose, and both still preaching, - the former in Fairhaven, Mass., and the latter in West Thompson, Conn. The present pastor of this church is Rev. Isaac H. Packard.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 29

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