History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 35

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 35

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of Mr. Joseph White. The front of this lot, on Centre Street, extended from this lane to a point about opposite Ward Street. This farm was there- fore near the centre of Newton, and included the ground on which the First Parish Meeting-house now stands. In 1702 lie gave to John Kenrick and others, selectmen of Newton, and their suc- cessors in office, " half an aere of his homestead," for the use and benefit of the school in the south- erly part of the town. It is supposed that he also gave most of the land which has long been known as the Common, at Newton Centre, as a training-field; but no record of this gift has been found. He was seleetman in 1691, and in his deeds was styled " Sergeant." He settled his own estate a few years before his decease, by deeds of gift to eleven of his children, conveying about four hundred acres, with several dwelling-houses thereon. The other twelve children had probably died before him, or had been otherwise provided for. His first wife died May 27, 1672, aged thirty-nine ; the second died Septem- ber 5, 1708. He died October 5, 1711, aged eighty-five, leaving numerous grandchildren.

Richard Park was a proprietor in Cambridge in 1636, and of Cambridge Farms (Lexington), 1642. In 1647 there was a division of lands, and he had eleven aeres, abutting on Mr. Edward Jackson's land, east and west, and the highway to Dedham (Centre Street) was laid out through it. His dwelling-house was probably erected on this lot, and stood within a few feet of the spot now oceu- pied by the Eliot Chureli. This ancient house was pulled down about 1800. This spot was near the four-mile line, or the division line between Cam- bridge and Cambridge Village. During the con- test between the Village and Cambridge in regard to being set off, he sent a petition to the General Court, praying to retain his connection with the Cambridge churelı.

He owned a large traet of land in the Village, bounded west by the Fuller farm, north by Charles River, east by the Dummer farm, and east and south by the Mayhew farm (Edward Jackson's), containing about six hundred aeres. By his will he bequeathed to his only son, Thomas, this traet of land with the houses thereon, after the death of his wife, Sarah. This only son, Thomas, married Abigail Dix of Watertown, 1653, and had five sons and four daughters, among whom this tract of land was divided in 1694 (Thomas having de- ceased), and the contents then were about eight hundred acres, -Thomas having added by pur-

chase about two hundred aeres, and built a corn- mill upon Charles River, near where the dam now is, in the North Village.

In 1657 Richard Park was one of a committee, with Edward Jackson, John Jackson, and Samuel Hyde, to lay out and settle highways in Cambridge Village. In 1663 he was released from training, and therefore past sixty years of age. He died in 1665, leaving a will, naming in it his wife Saralı, two daughters, and only son, Thomas. One of his daughters married Francis Whittemore of Cam- bridge. His widow was living at Duxbury in 1688.

Henry Parke of London, merchant, son and heir of Edward Parke of London, merchant, deceased, conveyed land in Cambridge to John Stedman in 1650. Edward may have been the ancestor of the first settlers of that name in New England, namely, of Deaeon William of Roxbury, Richard of Cam- bridge Village, Samuel of Mystie, and Thomas of Stonington, Conn.

Captain Thomas Prentice was born in England in 1621. He was in this country November 22, 1649, as shown by the record of the birth of his twin children, Thomas and Elizabeth. He was elected lieutenant of the company of horse in the lower Middlesex regiment in 1656, and captain in 1662. In 1661 he purchased three hundred aeres of land in the Pequot country, which was in Stoning- ton, Conn. Two hundred and thirty aeres of this land are appraised in his son Thomas' inventory at £109, in 1685. His grandson, Samuel, married Esther · Hammond, and settled upon this land in 1710. In 1663 he purchased of Elder Frost of Cambridge eighty-five acres of land in the easterly part of Cambridge Village, adjoining John Ward's land. This was his homestead for about fifty years. In 1705 lie conveyed it by deed of gift to his grandson, Captain Thomas Prentice. His house was on the spot where the Harback house now stands. He was one of the Cambridge proprietors, and in the division of the common lands he re- ceived a hundred and fifty aeres in Billerica in 1652, and nine aeres in Cambridge Village in 1664.

He was greatly distinguished for his bravery and heroism in Philip's War, which broke out in 1675. On the 26th of June a company of infantry under Captain Henchman from Boston, and a company of horse under Captain Prentice from Cambridge Village and adjoining towns (twenty from the Vil- lage and twenty-one from Dedham), marched for Mount Hope. In their first conflict with the In-

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dians, in Swanzey, William Hammond was killed, and Corporal Belcher had his horse shot under him, and was himself wounded. On the 1st of July they had another encounter, on a plain near Rehoboth, with the Indians, four or five of whom were slain. Among them was Thebe, a sachem of Mount Hope; another was one of Philip's chiefs. In this affair John Druce, son of Vincent (one of the first settlers of the Village), was mortally wounded. He was brought home, and died at his own house the next day.

On the 10th of December five companies of infantry and Captain Prentice's troop of horse marched from Massachusetts and from Plymouth Colony to Narragansett. On the 16th Captain Prentice received information that the Indians had burned Jeremiah Ball's house, and killed eighteen men, women, and children. He marched imme- diately in pursuit, killed ten of the Indians, captured fifty-five, and burned a hundred and fifty wigwams. "This exploit," says the historian of the day, " was performed by Captain Prentice, of the Horse."

On the 21st of January, 1676, Captain Pren- tice's troops, being in advance of the infantry, met with a party of Indians, captured two, and killed nine of them. On the 18th of April 2 following, the Indians inade a vigorous attack on Sudbury. Captains Wadsworth and Brockelbank fought bravely in defence, but were overpowered, and eighteen of their men took refuge in a mill. When notice of this attack reached Captain Pren- tice, he started immediately for Sudbury, with but few of his company, and entered that town with but six besides himself. The remnant of Captain Wadsworth's men defended the mill bravely until night, when they were relieved, and the Indians put to flight. All accounts agree that Captain Prentice rendered most invaluable service through- out the war. He was constantly on the alert, and by his bold and rapid marches he put the enemy to the sword or to flight, and made his name a terror to all the hostile Indians. After Philip was slain in July, 1676, terms of peace were offered to all Indians who would surrender. A Nipmuck sachem, called John, with a number of his men, embraced the offer, and by order of the General Court were given in charge to Captain Prentice, who kept them at his house in Cambridge Village.

Captain Prentice had been in command of the company of troopers fifteen years when Philip's

War broke out, and was then fifty-five years old. He was hardy, athletic, and robust, and capable of enduring great fatigue. He continued to ride on horseback till the end of his long life, and his death was occasioned by a fall from his horse.

Notwithstanding the fact that the Indian con- verts maintained unshaken their fidelity to the English, such was the prejudice against them and fear of them, that the General Court, on the break- ing out of Philip's War, ordered them to be re- moved to Deer Island, in Boston Harbor, and Captain Prentice, with his troopers, was charged with the execution of the order. Their number, including men, women, and children, was about two hundred.

Although Captain Prentice was a terrible enemy to the hostile Indians, and greatly feared by them, he was a warm friend and counsellor, and had the full confidence of the friendly tribes. General Gookin was for many years, by appointment of the General Court, the magistrate for managing, advising, and watching over the friendly Indians. After Gookin's death several of the bands united, in 1691, in a petition that Captain Prentice might be appointed their ruler.

Captain Prentice was appointed one of a com- mittee to proceed to Quinsigamond (Worcester), with the view of forming a settlement there. He was one of the owners of the first fifty-eight houses built there, and had a grant of fifty acres of land for his public services. He was a representative to the General Court in 1672, 1673, and 1674. Iu 1679 he was appointed chairman of a com- mittee for rebuilding the town of Lancaster, which . was destroyed by the Indians during Philip's War.

Captain Prentice and his wife, Grace, had four sons and four daughters. Two of his sons died in childhood ; the other two were married. Thomas, the eldest, had three sons, and died in 1685, and the old captain had the bringing up of the three grandsons, to whom he gave a good education and all his estate. Thomas, the eldest grandson, was a leading man in Newton, a captain of in- fantry, and died in 1730. The second grandson, John, married a daughter of Edward Jackson, and died without children, aged thirty-five. The third grandson, Samuel, married Esther, daughter of Nathaniel Hammond, and settled in Stonington, Con. From this marriage have proceeded numer- ous descendants. Captain Prentice's wife, Grace, died October 9, 1692. He died July 6, 1710, aged eighty-nine, and was buried under arms. He

1 This date, though often given, is erroneous. See Vol. I. pp. 87, 88. - ED.

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settled his own estate by deeds of gift to his grand- children. He was one of the most substantial men of his age, and enjoyed the unlimited confidence of his associates in the settlement of New Cambridge. Edward Jackson, in his will, made in 1681, inserts this clause, which is a contemporary testimony to his merits : " I bequeath to my honored friend, Capt. Thomas Prentice, one diamond ring."

John Parker was one of the earliest settlers of Hingham, Mass. He probably came over in the ship James, of London, in 1635, and had land granted him there in 1636 and 1640. He was a carpenter by trade, removed from Hingham, and bought a tract of. land in the easterly part of Cam- bridge Village in March, 1650, adjoining the lands of John Ward and Vincent Druce. By his wife Joanna he had five sons and five daughters, and died in 1686, aged seventy-one. His estate passed, soon after his death, into the hands of Hon. Ebenezer Stone, and is the same long owned and occupied by Mr. John Kingsbury.

The Parkers in Newton have descended from two distinct families, namely, John and Joanna of Hingham, and Samuel and Sarah of Dedham. Nathaniel Parker was a prominent man in Newton ; he was the son of Samuel and Sarah, born in Ded- ham, March 26, 1670. He owned the land on which the third meeting-house was erected, -the site still occupied by the First Parish Church. He sold this land, containing one and a half acres and twenty rods, for £ 15, and conveyed it to the select- men of Newton by deed, in August, 1716.

Thomas Hammond was one of the earliest set- tlers of Hingham ; he took the freeman's oath there March 9, 1637, and had land granted to him there in 1636 and in 1637. His children were born in Hingham. He sold his lands in that town in 1652, and his dwelling-house in 1656. In 1650 he and Vincent Druce bought of Nicholas Hodg- den land in Cambridge Village, and in 1658 they bought of Thomas Brattle and others six hundred acres, partly in Cambridge Village and partly in Muddy River (Brookline). They held this land in common until 1664, when a division was made between them. The dividing line was one hundred rods in length, running over the great hill. The pond was in Hammond's part, and has been called by his name ever since. He also bought in 1656 of Esther Sparhawk three hundred and thirty acres. By his wife, Elizabeth, he had two sons and two daughters. He died September 30, 1675, and left a will written by his own hand, but not signed, in

which he calls himself aged. His lands were di- vided among his children. He had upwards of twenty grandchildren.

Vincent Druce was one of the earliest settlers of Hingham, being there in 1636, and had land granted to him there in 1636 and in 1637. His son John was baptized in Hingham, in April, 1641. In 1650 Nicholas Hodgden, of that part of Boston now Brookline, conveyed to Thomas Hammond and Vincent Druce, of Cambridge, a tract of land in the easterly part of Cambridge Village, adjoining John Parker's land, which land was originally granted by the town of Cambridge to Robert Bradish. The highway from Cambridge Village to Muddy River (Brookline) was laid out through these lands in 1658. John Ward conveyed to Druce one hun- dred and thirty acres of land, bounded east by the Roxbury line and north by Muddy River line. His dwelling-house was near the spot afterwards occupied by the school-house in the east part of the town, not far from the mansion of the late F. M. Johnson, Esq. Of his two sons, Vincent and John, the latter was a soldier in Captain Prentice's troop of horse, and was killed in the war with King Philip at Mount Hope in 1675, aged thirty-four, and was probably the first victim who fell in that war from Cambridge Village. The former, Vin- cent, died in January, 1678.

Ensign John Ward was born in England, in 1626. . He was the eldest son of William Ward, who, with his second wife, Elizabeth, and other children, came from Yorkshire or Derbyshire, and settled in Sudbury, where he had lands assigned to him in 1640. John Ward married Hannah, the daughter of Edward Jackson, in 1650; was select- man nine years, from 1679, and a representative eight years, being the first representative sent from Cambridge Village. The first year, 1689, he served fifty-four days, and the Village voted " 1 s. 6d. per day for his serving." His dwelling-house was con- structed for a garrison-house about 1661, and used as such during King Philip's War. This ancient building stood on the ground occupied at present by the house of the heirs of Ephraim Ward, a descendant of John, and was demolished in 1821. This house and forty-five acres of land were con- veyed to John and Hannah by his father-in-law, Edward Jackson, by deed dated March 10, 1661. He owned about five hundred acres of land, which he distributed among his sons by deeds of gift in 1701. He was by trade a turner. He had eight sons and five daughters, and died July 1, 1708,

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aged eighty-two. His wife, Hannah, died April 24, 1704, aged seventy-three. There were twelve of this name among the early settlers of New England.

James Prentice and Thomas Prentice, Jr., both of Cambridge, purchased of Thomas Danforth four hundred acres of land in Cambridge, in March, 1650. In 1657 they purchased one hundred acres of Danforth, " being the farm that James Prentice dwells on, bounded N. E. by land of John Jack- son," part of which is now the ancient burial-place on Centre Street ; extending southwesterly, beyond the house now occupied by heirs of Marshall S. Rice, Esq. James and Thomas, Jr., or 2d, were probably brothers, and doubtless came into Cam- bridge Village the same year with Captain Thomas Prentice. The ancient Prentice house was demol- ished in 1800. It stood a few rods southeast of the house now occupied by the heirs of Joshua Loring, on Centre Street, opposite Mill Street.

James Prentice married Susanna, the daughter of Captain Edward Johnson, of Woburn, and had one son, James, and five danghters. Captain Johnson, by his will, dated 1672, gave his grand- son, James Prentice, £15, and also made a small bequest to Susanna aud Hannah Prentice, daugh- ters of his son-in-law, James Prentice. He was selectman in 1694, and died March 7, 1710, aged eighty-one. His son James, who was his adminis- trator, sold out his share in his father's estate for £60, in 1711, to his five sisters, "all single women," and probably left the town.

Thomas Prentice, 2d, with James, just mentioned, purchased four hundred acres of land in Cambridge, iu March, 1650, and one hundred acres in 1657. Both parcels were conveyed to James Prentice and Thomas Prentice, Jr., the one hundred acres being described as " the farm that James Prentice now dwells on." He married Rebecca, daughter of Edward Jackson, Sr., by his first wife, who was born in England about 1632, and had six sons and one daughter. There is no record of the births, marriages, or deaths of the parents or children of this family. Edward Jackson by his will gave him one hundred acres of land, called " Bald-Pate Meadow," near Oak Hill, and several other tracts of land, and to his wife, Rebecca, a gold ring, with the motto, " Memento morex " (mori ?).

When he came into the Village he was called Thomas, Jr .; when Captain Thomas Prentice's son Thomas was grown up, he was called Thomas, 2d ; when his own son Thomas was grown up, he was called Thomas ; while the captain was called and

widely known by his military title. Edward Jack- son, by his will, made bequests to both these Pren- tices in 1681; the one he styles Thomas Prentice, and the other Captain Thomas Prentice. In the latter part of his life, he was called Thomas, Sr.

In 1706 he conveyed land to his grandsons Thomas and Samuel, and in 1714 he conveyed land to his sons Thomas and John, iu which con- veyance he named his son Edward. There is an affidavit of his, signed Thomas Prentice, Sr., and dated 1713, recorded with the deeds, stating that " sixty years ago he held one end of a chain to lay out a highway over Weedy Hill in Cambridge Vil- lage." Supposing him to be twenty-one years old then, his birth would have been in the year 1632. He lived to a great age, but the date of his death is not known.

Thomas Wiswall was a prominent man among the first settlers of Dorchester. He came to this country about 1637. He was selectman in Dor- chester in 1644 and 1652, and highway surveyor in Cambridge Village in 1656, having removed into the Village in 1654. He was one of the signers of a petition for the support of a free school in Dorchester in 1641, took the freeman's oath in 1654, and was one of the petitioners to the General Court that the inhabitants of Cambridge Village might be released from paying taxes towards the support of the Cambridge church. In 1657 he and his wife conveyed to his son Enoch, of Dor- chester, his homestead iu Dorchester, which -for- merly belonged to Mr. Maverick. In 1664 he was ordained ruling elder of the church of Cambridge Village. His homestead in the Village consisted of three hundred acres, including the pond on Centre Street, which still bears his name. His house was on the east bank, the site of the dwelling of the heirs of the late Deacon Luther Paul. He had four sons and three daughters, and more than thirty grandchildren. His last wife was Isabella Farmer, a widow, from Ansley in England. He died December 6, 1683, aged eighty. He left no will and had no monument. His son Noah mar- ried Theodosia, daughter of John Jackson, and had two sons and six daughters. He was killed on Sunday, July 6, 1690, in an engagement with the French and Indians at Wheeler's Pond, after- wards Lec, N. H. His son Ichabod became min- ister of Duxbury.

John Kenrick was born in England in 1605, was in Boston as early as 1639, and then a member | of the church. He took the freeman's oath in

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1640. He owned a wharf on the easterly side of the town-dock, Boston, afterwards called. Tyng's Wharf, which he sold in 1652. He purchased two hundred and fifty acres of land in the southerly part of Cambridge Village in 1658. His house was near the bridge across Charles River, which has been called Kenrick's Bridge from that day to this. His first wife, Anna, died November, 1656. He died August 29, 1686, aged eighty-two. His second wife, Judith, died at Roxbury, August 23, 1687. He had two sons, John and Elijah, and one daughter, Hannah, who married Jonathan Metcalf of Dedham. John had nine daughters and two sons, and Elijah three daughters and three sons.

Captain Isaac Williams was the second son of Robert Williams of Roxbury, who came from Norwich, in England, the common ancestor of many distinguished men who have honored the country of their birth. Isaac was born in Roxbury, September 1, 1638. He married Martha, daughter of Deacon William Park, of Roxbury, about 1661, and settled in the west part of the village. His second wife was Judith Cooper. He owned five hundred acres of land adjoining John Fuller's farm on the east. Thomas Park, John Fuller, and Isaac Williams were the first, and probably at that time the only, settlers of West Newton. William's house was about thirty rods northeasterly of the West Parish meeting-house, near the brook, on land afterwards owned by Mrs. Whitwell. He was a weaver by trade, and represented the town in the General Court six years, and was a selectman three years. His farm was divided among his three sons; Isaac received two hundred and fifty acres, Eleazer one hundred acres, and Ephraim one hundred and fifty acres and the mansion-house. This land was granted by the town of Cambridge to Samuel Shepard in 1640. In 1652 Robert Barrington, Esq., obtained judgment against the estate of Sam- uel Shepard, and this traet was appraised at £150 to satisfy the execution. Deacon William Park of Roxbury, the father of Isaac Williams' first wife, paid the execution, and took this tract of land for his son-in-law. Captain Williams died February 11, 1707, aged sixty-nine. He had twelve children and upwards of fifty grandchildren. His son William graduated at Harvard University, in 1683, and became minister of Hatfield. His son Ephraim married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Jackson. Ephraim, the son of this last marriage, was the founder of Williams College.

Abraham Williams was not related to Captain Isaac Williams. He came from Watertown, where he took the freeman's oath in 1652. He purchased a dwelling-house and twelve acres of land of John Callon in August, 1654. In 1662 he purchased of William Clemens a dwelling-house and six acres of land in what was in later times Newton Corner, very near the Watertown line. He married Jo- anna, sister of John Ward, about 1660, by whom he had two sons and two daughters, and perhaps others, of whom two were born in Cambridge Vil- lage. He sold his place to Gregory Cooke, and removed to Marlborough, near Belcher's Pond, in 1668. He was a colonel in the militia, and repre- sentative from Marlborough in the General Court. He kept a public-house in that town, which was long known by the name of the Williams Tavern, where he died December 29, 1712, aged eighty- four. His widow, Joanna, died December 8, 1718, aged ninety.

James Trowbridge was born in Dorchester, and baptized there in 1638. His father, Thomas Trow- bridge, was one of the early settlers of Dorchester, a merchant, and engaged in the Barbadoes trade. The latter came from Taunton, England, where his father founded a large charity for poor widows, which is still administered for their benefit. Thomas went home to Taunton in 1644, leaving his three sons in charge of Sergeant Jeffries, of Dorchester, who removed with those sons to New Haven about 1648. Thomas, the father, died in Taunton, Eng- land, about 1670. James returned from New Haven to Dorchester about 1656, where he married Margaret, daughter of Major Humphrey Atherton, December 30, 1659, and had three children in Dorchester, and removed to Cambridge Village. His wife, Margaret, was dismissed from the church in Dorchester, to form the church in Cambridge Village, in 1664. After the death of John Jacksou, he became a deacon of the church. He was one of the first board of selectmen formed in the village in August, 1679, and continued in that office nine years. In 1675 he purchased of Deputy-Governor Danforth eighty-five acres of land, with a dwelling- house, which stood on the lot long occupied by the house of Mr. Nathan Trowbridge in later times, and outbuildings thereon, which he had occupied for some years, - bounded by the highways west and south, the narrow lane north, his own land east, the dividing line being straight through the swamp. He was a lieutenant, clerk of the writs in 1691 and 1693, and representative in the Gen-

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eral Court in 1700 and 1703. He had five sons and nine daughters, and upwards of eighty grand- children. His first wife died June 17, 1672; sec- ond wife, Margaret, daughter of Deacon John Jack- son, died September 16, 1727, aged seventy-eight. He died May 22, 1717, aged eighty-one.

Lieutenant John Spring was born in England in 1630. He was the son of John and Eleanor, and but four years old when he arrived in this country. His father settled in Watertown. John, Jr., mar- ried Hannah, daughter of William and Anable Barshane, of Watertown, in 1656. His house stood opposite the burial-place on Centre Street, and near to that owned and occupied by the late Gardner Colby, Esq. He was a selectman eight years, and representative three years. He had one son and eight daughters, and a multitude of grand- children. His wife died August 18, 1710, aged seventy-three. He died May 18, 1717, aged eighty-seven. He was a very active and useful man among the first settlers of the Village. On his gravestone he is styled Lieutenant. In 1688 he, with Edward Jackson, Abraham Jackson, and James Prentice, was a committee on the part of the Village to meet Old Cambridge about the sup- port of the Great Bridge.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 35

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