History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 4

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 4

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" There shall be for great Quarter Conrts kept yearly in Boetou by the Governor aod the reet of the magietrates: the firet, the first Tuesday in the fourth mouth, called Jnne ; the second, the first Tuesday in Sep- tember; the third, the first Tuesday in December ; the fourth, the first Tuesday in the first mouth, called March."

It must be remembered that the assistauts were called magistrates, and therefore still retained after the above enactments judicial power. On the 25th of May, 1636, the following magistrates and other per- sons were appointed by the General Court to hold the courts referred to in the above enactment of the pre- vious March, to wit: For Salem and Saugus, John Humphrey, John Endicott, magistrates or assistants, Capt. Turner, Mr. Scruggs and Mr. Townsend Bis- hopp, associates ; for Ipswich and Newbury, Thomas Dudley, Richard Dummer, Simon Bradstreet, magis- trates, and Mr. Saltonstall and Mr. Spencer, associ- ates ; for Newtown, Charlestown, Medford and Con- cord, John Haynes, Roger Harlakenden, Increase Nowell, magistrates, and Mr. Beecher and Mr. Peakes, associates ; for Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Weymouth and Hingham, Richard Bellingham, Wil- liam Coddington, magistrates, and Israel Stoughton, William Hutchinson and William Heath, associates.

On the 6th of June, 1639, it was enacted that "for the more speedy dispatch of all causes which shall concern strangers who cannot stay to attend the ordi- nary courts of justice, it is ordered that the Governor or Deputy, being assisted with any two of the mag- istrates (whom he may call to him to that end), shall have power to hear and determine (by a jury of twelve men or otherwise, as is used in other courts) all causes which shall arise between such strangers or wherein any such stranger shall be a party, and all records of such proceedings shall be transmitted to the secretary (except himself be one of the magistrates who shall assist in hearing such causes), to be entered as trials in other conrts at the charge of the parties. This order to continue till the General Court in the seventh month come twelve month aud no longer."

These various enactments show the condition of governmental affairs and the distribution of judicial powers at the time of the division of the Massachu- setts Colony into counties in 1643. On the 10th of May in that year it was enacted " that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction is divided into four shires.

"Essex shire-Salem, Lynn, Enon, Ipswich, Row- ley, Newbury, Gloucester and Chochicawick.

"Middlesex-Charlestown, Cambridge, Watertown, Sudbury, Concord, Woburn, Medford, Linn Village.

"Suffolk-Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Dedham, Braintree, Weymouth, Hingham, Nantasket.

"Norfolk-Salisbury, Hampton, Haverhill, Exeter, Dover, Strawberry Bank."

In order that the reader may not be misled it is proper to state that the Norfolk County as above formed was extinguished by the General Court on the 4th of February, 1679-80, after New Hampshire, be- came a royal province, and its Massachusetts towns were annexed to Essex County. In Middlesex County the towns forming it were incorporated or founded as follows: Charlestown, June 24, 1629; Cambridge, Sept. 8, 1633; Watertown, Sept. 7, 1630; Sudbury, Sept. 4, 1639 ; Concord, Sept. 2, 1635 ; Woburn, May 18, 1642; Medford, Sept. 28, 1630; Linn Village, which was incorporated as Reading after the county was formed, May 29, 1684. Of these, Charlestown was incorporated as a city February 22, 1847, and annexed to Boston May 14, 1873 ; and Cambridge was incorporated as a city March 17, 1846.

In Essex County, Salem was incorporated June 24, 1629, as a town, and as a city March 23, 1836; Lynn (formerly Saugus), Nov. 20, 1637, as a town, and as a city April 10, 1850 ; Enon (now Wenham), was incor- porated May 10, 1643; Ipswich, Aug. 5, 1634; Row- ley, Sept. 4, 1639 ; Newbury, May 6, 1635; Glouces- ter, as a town May 22, 1639; as a city May 26, 1871 ; and Chochicawick (now Andover), May 6, 1646.

In Norfolk County, Salisbury was incorporated Oct 7, 1640 ; Haverhill as a town in 1645, and as a city March 10, 1869. Hampton, Exeter, Dover and Strawberry Bank (now Portsmouth), were included within the limits of New Hampshire.

· In Suffolk County, Boston was incorporated as a town Sept. 7, 1630, as a city Feb. 23, 1822 ; Roxbury, as a town Sept. 28, 1630, as a city March 12, 1846, annexed to Boston June 1, 1867 ; Dorchester, Sept. 7, 1630, annexed to Boston June 4, 1869; Dedham, Sept. 8, 1636; Braintree, May 13, 1640; Weymouth, Sept. 2, 1635 ; Hingham, Sept. 2, 1635 ; and Nantas- ket (now Hull), May 29, 1644.

When the present Norfolk County was incorpor- ated, March 26, 1793, all the towns above mentioned in Suffolk County, except Boston, were included in the new county. Hingham and Hull, being dissatisfied with their new connection, were subsequently, at the same session of the General Court, exempted from the act of incorporation, and were finally annexed to Plymouth County.

In addition to the towns above mentioned as a part of Middlesex Conuty, Acton was incorporated July 3, 1735; Arlington, February 27, 1807 (name changed from West Cambridge, April 30, 1867) ; Aslıby, March 5, 1767 ; Ashland, March 16, 1846 ; Ayer, Febuary 14 1871 ; Bedford, September 23, 1729; Belmont, March 18, 1859 ; Billerica, May 29, 1655 ; Boxborough, Feb ruary 25, 1783 ; Brighton, February 24, 1807 ; Bur-

MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

lington, February 28, 1799; Carlisle, April 28, 1780 ; Chelmsford, May 29, 1655; Dracut, February 26, 1701 ; Dunstable, October 15, 1673; East Sudbury, April 10, 1780 (name changed to Wayland, March 11, 1835); Everett, March 9, 1870; Framingham, June 25, 1700 ; Groton, May 25, 1655; Holliston, Decem- ber 3, 1724; Hopkinton, December 13, 1715; Hud- son, March 19, 1866; Lexington, March 29, 1712; Lincoln, April 19, 1754; Littleton, November 2, 1714; Lowell as a town, March 1, 1826 (as a city, Angust 5, 1836) ; Malden as a town, May 2, 1649 (as a city, March 31, 1881); Marlborough, May 31, 1660 ; Maynard, April 19, 1871; Melrose, May 3, 1850; Natick as a district in 1762 (as a town February 10, 1781) ; Newton as a town, January 11, 1688 (as a city, June 2, 1873); North Reading, March 22, 1853; Pepperell, April 6, 1753; Sherborn, May 27, 1764; Shirley, January 5, 1753; Somerville as a town, March 3, 1842 (as a city, April 14, 1871); South Reading, February 25, 1812 (name changed to Wake- field, June 30, 1868) ; Stoneham, December 17, 1725 ; Stow, May 16, 1683; Tewksbury, December 23, 1734; Townsend, June 29, 1732; Tyngsborough as a dis- trict, June 22, 1789 (as a town, February 23, 1809) ; Waltham as a town, January 4, 1737 (as a city, June 2, 1884) ; Wayland, April 10, 1780; Westford, Sep- tember 23, 1729 ; Weston, Jannary 1, 1712; Wilming- ton, September 25, 1730 ; Winchester, April 30, 1850.

The town of Acton contains a part of Concord ; Ar- lington of Cambridge ; Ashby of Townsend, Fitchburg and Ashburnham; Ashland of Hopkinton, Framing- ham and Holliston; Ayer of Groton and Shirley ; Bedford of Billerica and Concord ; Belmont of Arling- ton, Watertown and Waltham ; Boxborough of Stow, Harvard and Littleton ; Brighton of Cambridge; Bur- lington of Woburn. Cambridge has had annexed to it parts of Charlestown and Watertown ; Carlisle of Concord, Acton, Chelmsford and Billerica. Charles- town hashad annexed to it part of Medford ; Dun- stable of Groton ; Everett of Malden ; Framingham of Holliston ; Groton of Pepperell; Holliston of Sherborne ; Hudson of Marlboro', Bolton and Stow ; Lexington of Cambridge and Burlington ; Lincoln of Concord, Lexington and Weston ; Lowell of Chelms- ford, Tewksbury and Dracut; Malden of Medford ; Marlborough of Framingham and Southborough ; Maynard of Stow and Sudhury ; Medford of Malden and Everett ; Melrose of Malden and Stoneham ; Natick of Sherburne; Newton part of Boston; North Reading of Reading; Pepperell of Groton; Shirley of Groton ; Somerville of Charlestown ; Stoneham of Charlestown ; Tewksbury of Billerica; Tyngsborough of Dunstable; Wakefield of Reading; Waltham of Watertown and Newton; Wayland of Sudbury ; Westford of Chelmsford; Weston of Watertown ; Wilmington of Woburn and Reading; Winchester of Woburn, Medford and West Cambridge.

A large part of Middlesex County in the earliest colonial times was occupied by two Indian nations :

the Pawtuckets and the Massachusetts. The Massa- chusetts, whose chief sachem was Chikataubut, had been a powerful nation and occupied a territory ex- tending from Charles River on the north and west to Weyworth and Canton on the south and east. At the time of the arrival of Winthrop its numbers had much diminished, having suffered from the same scourge which had carried off the tribes in and about Plym- outh in 1616, and from the effects of which it had never recovered. The Pawtuckets extended from Charles River as far as Piscataqua on the east, and Concord, New Hampshire, on the north. Their nation included the Pennakooks or Concord Indians; the Agawomes or Ipswich Indians ; the Naumkeeks about Salem ; the Pascatawayes and Accomentas at York, and along the coast of Maine. The sachem of the Pawtuckets was Nanepashemit, or the New Moon, who lived in the neighborhood of what is now Lynn. In 1637 the squaw sachem or widow of Nanepashemit, who had continued his government, conveyed to the English a large tract of land, and in 1639 a tract ot land, which is now within the limits of Charlestown and Somerville, was conveyed by her to the town of Charlestown. In 1644 she, with other sachems, sub- mitted themselves to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts.

Since the incorporation of the county the following changes in the county lines have been made : The in- corporation of the town of Ashby, March 5, 1767, took a portion of Ashburnham and Fitchburg, in Worcester County ; the incorporation of Boxborough, February 25, 1783, took a portion of Harvard, in Wor- cester County. The annexation of Charlestown to Boston, May 14, 1873, and the annexation of Brighton to Boston, May 21, 1873, added those places to Suffolk County ; the incorporation of Harvard, in Worcester County, gave a portion of Groton and Stow to Wor- cester ; a part of Holliston was annexed to Milford, in Worcester County, April 1, 1859 ; the incorporation of Upton, in Worcester County, June 14, 1735, gave a part of Hopkinton to Worcester ; the incorporation of Bolton, June 24, 1738, Northborough, January 24, 1766, and Southborough, July 6, 1727, gave a part of Marlborough to Worcester. There were some defini- tions of town boundaries which may have slightly changed the county lines. These were the lines between Holliston, Hopkinton and Medway, March 27, 1835; between Natick and Wayland, April 20 I850; between North Reading and Lynnfield, May 27, 1857; between Wakefield and Lynnfield, April 2, 1870.

Middlesex County, of which Cambridge and Lowell are the shires, is situated in the northeast central part of Massachusetts, and has an area of a little more than eight hundred square miles. It is bounded on the north by Essex County and the State of New Hamp- shire, on the east by Essex and Suffolk Counties, Ou the south by Norfolk County, and on the west by Worcester County. It is watered by the Charles, Concord, Merrimack and Nashua Rivers and several

xii

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

smaller streams, and is so thoroughly intersected by railroads as to make Boston easily accessible to almost every town. The business of the county is chiefly manufacturing and agricultural, though the latter interest is showing symptoms of a positive decline. Market gardening has largely increased in the towns near Boston, and this branch of agricultural industry never was more prosperons than to-day. The field of its activity has been pushed, however, farther from the city as the city grows and available lands near its limits become needed for residences of city business- men. The conversion of farms into town lots has largely enhanced their value and made owners who for many years struggled for a livelihood men of wealth and ease. The following list shows the popu- lation and property valuation of each town accord- ing to the census of 1885 :

POP.

VAL.

POP.

VAL.

Aeton

1785

$1,372,254

Maynard

2703

$2,013,578

Arlington

4673

5,136,780

Medford

9042

8,850,274

Ashby

871

481,079

Melrose

6101

4,920,673

Ashland

2633

1,370,165

Natick

8460

5,140,735

Ayer .

2190

1,209,608

Newton . 19,759

32,349,754

Bedford

930

$51,155

North Reading

878

500,894

Belmont

1639

3,444,399

Pepperell . . 2587

1,497,561

Billerica

2161

1,835,481

Reading

3539

2,431,283

Boxborough

348

260,091

Sherborn

1391 874,009

Burlington

634

486,844

Shirley

1242

734,134

Cambridge

. . 59,658

59,523,260

Somerville

. . 29,971

25,395,291

Carlisle .

526

397,260

Stoneham ..

5659

3,198,070

Chelmsford . .

2304

1,721,680

Stow

976

1,035,833

Concord

3727

3,595,461

Sudbury

1165

1,109,347

Draent

1927

1,223,957

Tewksbury

2333

1,376,782

Dunstable .

431

332,302

Townsend . 1846

1,051,323

Everett. .

5825

5,406,319

Tyngsborough . 604

363,736

Framingham

8275

6,617,691

Wakefield

6060

4,027,866

Groton

1987

3,138,42%

Waltham

14,609

11,538,861

Holliston

2226

1,757,973

Watertown .

6238

7,007,681

Hopkinton

3922

2,200,238

Wayland

1946

1,298,326

Hudson .

3968

2,102,450

Westford

2193

1,131,069

Lexington

2718

3,015,773

Weston

1427

2,431,035

Lincoln .

901

1,291,173

Wilmington . . 991

570,700

Littleton

1067

818,633

Winchester

. 4390

4,474,736

Lowell .

64,107

54,356,503

Woburn

. 11,750

8,186,121

Malden .

. 16,407

14.019,929

Marlborough . 10,941

4,435,327

357,311 315,911,919

In 1643, at the time of the incorporation of Middle- sex County, as has been stated, the judicial power was vested in the General Court, the Court of Assist- ants (or Great Quarter Court), the Quarter Courts and the Stranger's Courts. After the formation of the county the above courts continued, though the Stran- gers' Courts were modified, and the Quarter Courts in their respective counties were called County or Inferior Quarter Courts. It had also been provided before the above date, by an act passed September 9, 1639, that records be kept of all wills, adminstrations and inven- tories of every marriage, birth and death, and of all men, houses and lands. It had before the last date been provided, by a law passed April 1, 1634-

" that the constable and fonr or more of tho chief inhabitants of every town (to be chosen by all the freemen thore at some meeting there), with the advice of some one or more of the next assistants, shull make a surveying of the houses, backsides, cornfields, mowing ground, and other lands improved or inclosed or granted by special orders of the

court, of every free inhabitant there, and shall enter the same in a book (fairly written in worde at length and not in figures), with the several bounds and quantities by the nearest estimation, and shall deliver a tran- script thereof into the court within six months now next ensuing, and the same so entered and recorded shall be a sufficient assurance to every sneh free inhabitant, his and their heirs and assigns, of such estate of in- heritance or as they shall have in any such houses, lands or frank ten- ements. The like course shall be taken for assurance of all houses and town lots of all such as shall be hereafter enfranchised, and every sale or grant of such houses or lots ae shall be from time to time entered into the said book by the said constable and four inhabitante or their suc- cessors (who shall be still supplied upon death or removal), for which entry the purchasers shall pay sixpence and the like sum for a copy thereof under the bands of the said surveyors or three of them."

A further provision of law concerning lands and titles was made on the 7th of October, 1640, as fol- lows :

" For avoiding all fraudulent conveyances, and that every man may know what estate or interest other men may have inany honses, lands or other hereditamente they are to deal in, it is there- fore ordered that after the end of the month no mortgage, bargain sale or grant hereafter to be made of anyhouses, lands, rents or other hereditaments, shall be of force against any other person, except the grantor and his heirs, unless the same be recorded as is here- after expressed ; and that no such bargain, sale or grant already made in way of mortgage where the grantor remains io possession, shall be of force against any other but the grantor or his heirs, except the same shall be entered as is hereafter expressed within one month after the end of this court, if the party be within this jurisdiction, or else within three months after he shall return. And if any such grantor, etc., be re- quired by the grantee, etc., to make an acknowledgment of any grant, etc., by him made, shall refuse so to do, it shall be in the power of any magistrate to send for the party so refusing and commit him to prison, without bail or mayneprise, until he shall acknowledge the same.

" And the grantee is to enter his cantion with the recorder, and this shall save his interest in the meantime ; and if it be doubtful whether it be the deed or grant of the party, he shall be bound with sureties to the next court and the caution shall remain good as aforesaid.

" And for recording of all such hargains, etc., it is further ordered that there shall be one appointed at Ipswich, for which Mr. Samuel Sy- monds is ehosen for that court to enter all such bargains, sales, etc., of all lands, etc., within the jurisdiction of that court ; and Mr. Emanuell Dowing is chosen in like part for the jurisdiction of the court of Salem ; and all the rest to be entered by Mr. Stephen Winthrop, the recorder of Boston."

This condition of things of course ceased on the for- mation of counties in 1643, and then the clerk of the court in each county became the recorder of deeds.

After the incorporation of the counties it was pro- vided by law that " there shall also be county courts held in the several counties by the magistrates living in the respective counties, or any other magistrates that can attend the same, or by such magistrates as the General Court shall appoint from time to time, together with such persons of wealth, where there shall be need, as shall from time to time be appointed by the General Court (at the nomination of the free- men of the county), to be joined in commission with the magistrates so that they may be five in all, three whereof may keep a court provided there be one magistrate ; every of which courts shall have full power to hear and determine all canses civil and criminal not extending to life, member or banishment (which, with canses of divorce, are reserved to the Court of Assistants), and to make and constitute clerks and other needful officers and to summon juries of inquest and trials out of the towns of the county." These

xiii

MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

County Courts, besides the jurisdiction given to them in the preceding law, retained that which had been held by the Inferior Courts before the formation of counties.

On the 6th of September, 1638, another class of courts was established which continued after the counties were formed. At that date it was ordered "that for avoiding of the county's charge by bringing small eauses to the Court of Assistants that any mag- istrate in the town where he dwell may hear and de- termine by his discretion all causes wherein the debt or tresspass or damage, etc., doth not exceed twenty shillings, and in such town where no magistrate dwells the General Court shall from time to time nominate three men; two thereof shall have like power to hear and determine all such actions under twenty shillings; and if any of the parties shall find themselves grieved with any such end or sentenee, they may appeal to the next Quarter Court or Court of Assistants.

"And if any person shall bring any such action to the Court of Assistants before he hath endeavored to have it ended at home (as in this order is appointed), he sball lose his action and pay the defendant's co-ts."

It was further enacted in 1647 and 1649, for the purpose of more clearly defining and enlarging the jurisdiction of this petty court, that "any magistrate in the town where he dwells may hear and determine by his discretion (not by jury), according to the laws here established, all eauses arising in that county wherein the debt, trespass or damage doth not exceed forty shillings, who may send for parties and witnesses, by summons or attachment directed to the marshal or constable, who shall faithfully execute the same." And " that in such towns where no magistrate dwells the Court of Assistants or County Court may from time to time, upon request of the said town signified under the hand of the constable, appoint three of the freemen as commissioners in such cases, any two whereof shall have like power to hear and determine all such causes wherein either party is an inhabitant of that town, who have hereby power to send for par- ties and witnesses by summons or attachment directed to the constable, as also to administer oaths to wit- nesses and to give time to the defendant to answer if they see cave; and if the party summoned refuse to give in his bond or appearance, or sentenced refuse to give satisfaction where no goods appear in the same town where the party dwells, they may charge the constable with the party to carry him before a magis- trate or shire court (if then sitting), to be further proceeded with according to law, but the said com- inissioners may not commit to prison in any ease, And where the parties live in several towns the de- fendant shall be liable to be sued in either town at the liberty of the plaintiff."

commissioners, that in such cases the selectmen of the town shall have power to hear and determine the same, and also to graut execution for the levying and gathering up such damages for the use of the person damnified as one magistrate or three commissioners may do. And no debt or action proper to the eog- nizanee of one magistrate or the three commissioners as aforesaid shall be received into any county court but by appeal from such magistrate or commissioners, except in cases of defamation and battery."

The selectmen were also authorized to try offences against their own by-laws where the penalty did not exceed twenty shillings provided the offence was uot, as it was called, a criminal one.

Up to the year 1685 the judicial system of the Province of Massachusetts continued as has been above narrated. First, there was the General Court, with legislative powers and a limited appellate juris- dietion from the Court of Assistants; second, the Court of Assistants or Great Quarter Court, with ex- clusive jurisdiction in all criminal cases involving life, member or banishment and concurrent jurisdiction with the County Courts in civil cases involving not more than one hundred pounds and appellate juris- diction from the County Courts; third, the County Courts or Inferior Quarter Courts, with jurisdiction in civil and criminal eases, except eases of divorce and cases involving life, member or banishment, having power to summon grand and petit jurors and to appoint their own clerks and other necessary offi- eers, to lay out highways, license taverns, see that a proper ministry was supported, and have general control of probate matters, prove wills, grant admin- istration, record deeds and mortgages and have ap- pellate jurisdiction from the Commissioners' Courts ; fourth, Strangers' Courts held at first by the Governor or Deputy-Governor and two magistrates, or in the absence of the Governor and Deputy, by three magis- trates, with the same jurisdiction as the County Courts so far as strangers were concerned, and whose judg- ments were final; fifth, Commissioners' Courts, and sixth, Selectmen's Courts.

On 18th of June, 1684, a judgment vacating the char- ter of the Province of Massachusetts Bay was issued, and a copy was received by the Colonial Secretary, Edward Rawsou, on the 2d of July of the next year. Joseph Dudley was thereupon appointed by the King, President of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hamp- shire and the Narragansett country, and received his commission May 15, 1686. The King also appointed as members of the Council, Simon Bradstreet, Robert Mason, John Fitz Winthrop, John Pynchon, Peter Bulkley, Edward Randolph, Wait Still Winthrop, Richard Wharton, John Usher, Nathaniel Saltonstall, Bartholomew Gedney, Jonathan Tyng, Dudley Brad- street, John Hineks, Francis Champernon and Ed- Nathaniel Saltonstall and Francis Champernon de- clined. The President and Council possessed no leg-

And "that in all small causes as aforesaid, where only one magistrate dwells in the town and the cause ' ward Tyng; of whom Simon and Dudley Bradstreet, concerns himself, as also in such towns where no mag- istrate is, and the eause concerns any of the three

xiv

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

islative power, except to establish such courts as might be necessary. They were a court of them- selves and had authority to appoint judges. They established a Superior Court with three sessious a year at Boston, and "Courts of Pleas and Sessions of the Peace " in the several counties. The President as- sumed probate jurisdiction, but in some counties ap- pointed judges of probate. William Stoughton was appointed to preside in the County Courts of Middle- sex, Suffolk and Essex, and John Richards and Simon Lynde were appointed assistants. The appointments were made July 26, 1686, and appeals could be had from these courts to the President and Council. Be- fore the year 1686 had expired, Edmund Andros ar- rived in Boston, on the 19th of December, and, as Governor, assumed jurisdiction over the whole of New England, including the Plymouth Colony, which was not included in the commission of Dudley.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 4

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034