History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 65

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 65

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Captain Dallinger has given much attention to in- struction in rifle practice, and during one year, at least, every officer and man in the company was a qualified marksman.

It is but just to say that the Cambridge militia companies of to-day are both ably commanded.

An event of much interest to Cambridge people was the observance of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the departure of the company which Colonel Richardson raised for service in the War of the Rebellion. Com - mittees of the City Council and of the citizens at large united in preparations to make the day one long to be remembered by the present generation. A pro- cession passed through the streets headed by Major- General Hincks, himself a veteran of the war and an officer of high rank on the retired list of the regular army, as chief marshal, with a brilliant staff, and con- taining the two city militia companies, the posts of the Grand Army of the Republic and other veterans of the war, escorting about forty survivors of Richard- son's company. The tall form of their now venerable commander again appeared at their head, and the heroic figure of General Chamberlain, their first lieu- tenant, with his battle-scarred face, was seen once more in their midst. A perfect day and a route of procession lavishly decorated assisted the assembled thousands to greet the hero and his comrades who, a quarter century before, had been ready at the nation's call. Now there were but forty ; then there were ninety- five. Years before most of the absent had joined the shadowy army "on Fame's eternal camping-ground ;" but on this day none were forgotten, either living or dead. The company was banqueted in the afternoon, and in the evening appropriate exercises, presided over by the mayor of the city, were held in Union Hall, at which those present were privileged to hear

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

a short address from Colonel Richardson. An inci- dent of the banquet was the presentation of an excel- lent life size portrait of Lieutenant Richardson-the gift of Mrs. Richardson to her lamented husband's surviving comrades.

Four posts of the Grand Army of the Republic are established in Cambridge, and once a year through the city streets, escorted hy the military companies, march the members of this self-limited organization, whose purpose it is, while still its members live, to cherish the memory of their sleeping companions in arms. Nowhere in the broad land is Memorial Day ob- served with surroundings more impressive and amid associations more suggestive than in the cemeteries at Mount Auburn, at the Soldiers' Monument on Cam- bridge Common, and in the stately hall of Harvard University, where are recorded the names of those who, taught here in the classic tongue that it is sweet and honorable to die for country, showed to the world by their sacrifice how well they had learned the les- son of patriotism and of loyalty to the flag.

Later in the year the citizens of Cambridge are ac- customed to see His Excellency, the Governor of the Commonwealth, on his way to attend the Harvard Commencement, riding in an open barouche, drawn by four horses and escorted by the "National Lancers," now officially designated in the militia of the Com- monwealth as Company A, First Battalion of Cavalry, a number of whose members reside in Cambridge. The mounted trumpeters blowing martial music, the guard of honor flanking the carriage of His Excel- lency, the brilliantly-uniformed staff in carriages which follow, the scarlet coats and nodding plumes of the troopers with their pennoned lances glistening in the sunlight, all suggest the pomp of the royal gov- ernors of the eighteenth century, which custom has imposed upon their republican successors, some of whom, it must be confessed, if the spectators may judge from the expression of their countenances as they pass through Harvard Square, are in doubt whether to affect the solemnity of a funeral or the hi- larity of a pic-nic. But, distasteful or otherwise as the custom of taking escort may be to the eminent citizen selected for the time being to fill the execu- tive chair, it is to be hoped that it will long be ob- served when the official head of the Commonwealth pays his annual visit to the university upon which that Commonwealth bestowed so much assistance in the days of the generations long passed away, when per- haps the custom itself first arose; if, indeed, it be for no other purpose than to remind the public of the care which the fathers of our Commonwealth took to found a college ere scarce they had founded a state.

Within the past few years both of the regiments to which the Cambridge companies are attached have been called here to perform the mournful duty of an escort at the last sad rites paid to officers beloved in their respective regiments-the Fifth, in the spring of 1886, at the burial of Colonel Ezra J. Trull, an officer

of General Peach's staff, and captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, who commanded the regiment from 1875 to 1882, and the First, in the fall of 1888, at the burial of Colonel Wellington, stricken down while holding the commission as com- mander of the regiment, which he had received in 1882. Both colonels were veteran officers of the War of the Rebellion, active in business, social and politi- cal matters, and both had spent a score of the best years of their lives in the militia service. Both rest in Mount Auburn, where, a farewell salute, echoed the triple volleys of the regiments they had commanded, and where sounded, in the sweet notes of the bugle,' the soldier's good-night. The Fifth Regiment, in 1886, assembled in Cambridge for its annual drill. By permission of the authorities of Harvard College, tents were pitched on Jarvis Field, and a full day's duty was performed by the command, including guard mount and battalion drill in the forenoon, and after dinner, in the armory of Co. B, in the afternoon, a skirmish drill by bugle, in which blank cartridges were used, a review by the mayor of the city and a dress-parade, followed by muster for pay. The evolu- tions of the regiment were witnessed by thousands of spectators, to many of whom the sight was a novel one. The same regiment assembled here again in the fall of 1888, on the day of the mobilization of the entire State force, when five thousand men were con- centrated in Boston in a few hours' time, were put in motion on the minute previously ordered, were marched over a route of parade, and were dismiss- ed and sent to their homes as quickly as they had come together, without disorder, and with as much precision of movement as though it were a daily event of their lives.

CHAPTER XI.

CAMBRIDGE-(Continued).

CIVIL HISTORY.1

BY JOHN LIVERMORE.

LIKE most of the ancient townships of Massacbu- setts, Cambridge has had its boundary lines changed many times, both by enlargement and diminution.

1 In giving this sketch of the Civil History of Cambridge I am greatly indebted to the veteran historian of Cambridge, Rev. Lucius R. Paige, D.D., wbo has kindly assisted me in many ways, and without whose aid and encouraging words the writer would never have consented to ven- ture upon what to him was an untried field, and for the performance of which he would gladly have yielded the task to some one more fitted for the work. Dr. Paige has not only given much verbal information, but has permitted large quotations from his'elaborate and valuable work. I am also indebted to Walter W. Pike, Esq., the present City Clerk of Cambridge, for his assistance in enabling me to peruse the ancient records of the town, now in his custody. My only apology for what I have fur- nished for this work is my great interest, and affection for the place where I was born and where I have always resided.

Billerica.

CAMBRIDGE, AS BOUNDED IN

1644 -1655.

Bedford.

EXTENDING FROM DEDHAM TO MERRIMAC RIVER.

Lexington.

Arlington

Cambridge.

Brighton.

Newton

٠٠

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CAMBRIDGE.

Charlestown and Watertown had been already settled soon after the arrival of Winthrop in 1630. Between these two towns a place was selected which seems to have been designed as a "fit place for a fortified town," and what is now part of the city of Cambridge was the chosen spot. Houses were erected here in 1631 by Deputy-Governor Thomas Dudley and his associates. They called it New Towne, by which name it was known until May 2, 1638, when the General Court "Ordered that New Towne shall hence- forward be called Cambridge." No other act of incorporation is to be found on record, but the Court, March 3, 1635, agreed that "New Towne bounds shall run- eight miles into the country from their meeting-house," and an additional grant was made, June 2, 1641, of " All the lands lying upon Shawshine Ryver and between that and Merrimack Ryver are granted to Cambridge " This included the present town of Billerica, and parts of Bedford and Carlisle. The township had now attained its full size. In shape it was somewhat like an hour-glass, about thirty-five miles in length and wide at each extremity, and very narrow at its central part, where the original settlement was made, and where most of the inhabit- ants then resided.

Such was its shape and size in 1651, but, in 1655, Cambridge lost a part of its enormous length, for in that year an amicable arrangement was made between the town and those of its people who had erected houses at Shawshine for a separation, which was con -. firmed by the General Court, and Shawshine was in- corporated as a town by the name of Billerica.

In March, 1696, the "Farms," so-called, in the northwesterly part of the remaining territory, organ- ized a church and parish, and in March, 1713, they were incorporated as a separate and distinct town by the name of Lexington, upon terms already agreed upon with the town of Cambridge. From this period Cambridge lost none of its territory for nearly a cen- tury. The northwesterly part of what was left of the ancient town was made a separate precinct in 1732, and styled the Second Parish, or, more generally, Menotomy, and was subsequently incorporated, in 1807, as a town under the name of West Cambridge, which name was changed, in 1867, to Arlington.

At the same time that the Second Parish was made a township, the Third Parish, then called Little Cam- bridge, was set off from the parent town, by the name of Brighton, and is now the Twenty-fifth Ward of the city of Boston, having been annexed to that city by act of the Legislature, May 21, 1873, to take effect January 1; 1874. Since that time several attempts have been made for a further division, but its incor- poration as a city in 1846 has removed most of the difficulties which previously existed, and there is no reason to expect any further changes in its bounda- ries.

Cambridge, the original shire-town of Middlesex County, has been always a place of great interest, and

has played an important part in the history of our country. It is not too much to say that there is not, on this continent, a place of more historical interest, or one that has been the home of more illustrious persons, than this old town of Cambridge.

It was here that Harvard College, the first institu- tion of learning in the country, was founded in 1636, and it has maintained its high standing for more than two centuries and a half as the leading university of the land. Coming down to later days, we find that Cambridge has always borne an important part in the history of the nation. The limits of this article will not admit of more than a glance at the many inter- esting events that took place here during the Ameri- can Revolution. The march of both divisions of the Royal army on the memorable 19th of April, 1775, was through the limits of this town. In West Cam- bridge the Royal convoy of provisions was, the same day, gallantly surprised by the aged citizens, who stayed to protect their homes while their sons pursued the foe. Here the first American army was formed, and from this place was detached that Spartan band, on the 17th of June, that immortalized the heights of Charlestown, and consecrated that day with blood and fire to the cause of American liberty. The ven- erable elm still shades the south western corner of our Common, where Washington first unsheathed his sword at the head of an American army, and there are still standing, in a good state of preservation, some of the rural redoubts that formed the simple lines of circumvallation, within which a half-starved militia held the flower of the British army blockaded in Boston. But the plough has done what the Eng- lish batteries could not do, and leveled some of them to the earth ; but the ancient house where were Wash- ington's headquarters, and which was so long the home of the poet Longfellow, is still standing in all its ancient grandeur, and is held in high veneration at the pres- ent day.

Among the many distinguished persons who have had their residence in Cambridge, a few only can be named :

Elbridge Gerry, Governor in 1810-11, and Vice- President in 1813-14, resided in what is now called Elmwood (the home of the poet James Russell Low- ell), William Eustis, Governor in 1825, Richard Dana, Richard H. Dana, the poet, Richard H. Dana Jr., Margaret Fuller, (Countess D'Ossoli), George Liv- ermore, the merchant and scholar, Alvan Clark, Oli- ver Wendell Holmes, Thomas Dowse, James Russell Lowell, Alfred Lee, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Frederick Henry Hedge, D.D., and many others.

When General Burgoyne surrendered his army as prisoners of war, in October, 1777, they were ordered to Cambridge, where they arrived during the follow- ing month. Burgoyne was quartered in the Borland House, General Riedesel in the Lechmere House, and the soldiers occupied barracks on Prospect and Winter Hills, within a mile of Washington's head-

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

quarters. Here they remained as prisoners of war for more than a year, when General Burgoyne was sent to Rhode Island on the 5th of April, 1778, and the troops were marched to Virginia on the 10th of No- vember of the same year. While these troops were quartered in and about Cambridge, vexatious colli- sions were of frequent occurrence, and these two, of a serious character, produced painful excitement.

In January, 1778, Colonel Henry, who was in com- mand at Cambridge, being treated insolently by a British soldier, pricked him with a sword or bayonet. General Burgoyne presented a complaint against Col- onel Henry. A spicy correspondence ensued, and the case was duly examined by court-martial, and Colonel Henry was acquitted.

A British officer was shot by an American sentinel while attempting to pass contrary to orders. A jury of inquest, consisting of fourteen good and lawful men of Cambridge, was held, and rendered their ver- dict " that the said Richard Brown was shot with a firearm by a sentinel in attempting to pass the senti- nel with two women after being properly challenged by said sentinel, and so came to his death."

The War of 1812 was unpopular in Cambridge, as it was in New England generally. A certificate is on file that the Cambridge Light Infantry were in camp fifty-one days, commencing September 10, 1814. To Cambridge rightfully belongs the honor of organizing the first company of militia in the United States which was enlisted expressly for the defense of the government in the War of the Rebellion. Two days after the President's proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteers to serve for three months, and the next day after the Governor issued his orders, this com- pany responded on the morning of April 17, 1861, having in its ranks ninety-five men, some of whom, had joined on the march to Boston. It was under the command of Captain James P. Richardson, a great- grandson of Moses Richardson, who was slain on the day of the battle of Lexington-April 19, 1775.

As has been already stated, " The New Town," or Cambridge, was originally established for the purpose of building a fortified place, about six months after the arrival of Winthrop and Dudley with the fleet of emigrants in 1630. As early as February 3, 1631, it was ordered by the Governor and Assistants that " there should be three score pounds levyed out of the several plantations within the lymits of this pattent towards the makeing of a pallysade aboute the new 10 vne."

The line then established was substantially the same as that which now divides Cambridge from Som- erville. The line between Cambridge and Water- town was not definitely established until April 7, 1635, and, in the mean time, on complaint of "strait- ness for want of land," at the court held May 14, 1634, leave was granted for the inhabitants of "Newe Towne" "to seek out some convenient place for them, with promise that it shall be confirmed unto them,

provided they doe not take it in any place to preju- dice a plantation already settled." After examining several places, they accepted the territory which em- braced Brookline, Brighton and Newton. Brookline, then called Muddy River, was granted, on condition that Mr. Hooker and his congregation should remain there. They removed, however, to Connecticut, and this grant was forfeited, but the grant that was after- ward named Brighton and Newton beld good.

Newton was called Cambridge Village until the year 1679, when it was set off from Cambridge, and made an independent township. The doings of the Court are missing in this case, and, therefore, the con- ditions upon which the separation took place are unknown, but the town record is sufficient to estab- lish the fact of a separation. In 1691 Cambridge Village was given the name of Newton, twelve years after it had been made an independent town.

The " Newe Towne," as Cambridge, seems never to have been incorporated by specific act. The first transaction recorded bears date March 29, 1632, when the town book of records was opened, since which time an unbroken record has been preserved. The first record was the " agreement by the inhabi- tants about the paling in the neck of land." The next record in order, December 24, 1632, provided for regular meetings for the transaction of business, which were to be held "the first Monday in every month in the afternoon within the meeting-house, and within half an hour of the ringing of the bell, and that every one that makes not his personal ap- pearance and continues there until the meeting is ended shall forfeit for each default 12 pence, and if not paid before the next meeting, then to double it, and so on until it be paid." At the next meeting, January 7, 1633, several votes were passed to secure the beauty and safety of the town, to wit : " Ordered that no person whatever shall set up any house in the bounds of this town, without the consent of the major part thereof," and it was " Further agreed by joint consent that the town shall not be enlarged until all the vacant places be filled with houses ; " and " Further it is agreed that all the houses within the bounds of the town shall be covered with slate or boards and not with thatch," and " Further it is or- dered that all the houses shall stand and range even on each man's own ground, six feet from the street." After this meeting, January 7, 1633, no other is recorded until August 5, 1633, from which date there is a consecutive record of the monthly meetings, and a few selections from the orders which were adopted at these meetings may serve to illustrate the primi- tive condition of the town. August 5, sundry lots were granted for cow yards. September 2, it was "Ordered that whoscever hath a tree lying across a highway and doth not remove it within seven days, or whosoever shall hereafter fall any tree and let it lie across a highway one day shall for- feit the tree." November 3, 1634, it was " Ordered

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that every inhabitant shall keep the street clear from wood aud all other things against his own ground, and whosoever shall have anything lie in the street above one day after the next meeting shall forfeit five shillings for every such default."

Up to this time all the legal voters of the town had met from month to month to manage their public affairs. Power was now delegated to a few individuals, at first styled "Townsmen" and afterwards Select- men, to transact the whole business of the town until the next November, when a new election might be had. It was further " Ordered that whatsoever these Towusmen thus chosen shall do in the compass of their time, shall stand in full force, as if the whole town did the same, either for making of new orders, or altering of old ones," and it was "Ordered that whosoever they shall send for, to help in any business, and he shall refuse to come, they shall lay a fine upon him and have power to gather it."

At the annual town-meeting, November 20, 1648, it was "ordered that there shall be an eight penny ordinary provided for the Townsmen every second Monday of the month upon their meeting day, and that whoever of the Townsmen fail to be present at the ringing of the bell (which shall be half an hour after eleven of the clock) he shall lose his dinner and pay a pint of sack or the value to the Townsmen present, and the like penalty shall be paid by any that shall depart from the rest without leave. The charges of the dinner shall be paid by the Constable out of the town stock." This practice, thus inaugurated, of dining or partaking of other refreshments at the public expense, seems to have been very generally ob- served by the selectmen for nearly two hundred years, not indeed at every meeting, nor was the expense al- ways limited to eight pence each. In 1660 there came as passengers in a ship which arrived from London at Boston, Colonel Whalley and Colonel Goffe (two of the late King's judges). The next day, without trying to disguise themselves, they came and resided in Cambridge from July 28, until the 26th of the following February, when they went to New Haven where they arrived March 7. The particular reason why they selected Cambridge for their tempor- ary residence does not appear. A principal citizen of the town, Edward Goffe, was the namesake of one of the regicides, and it is presumed was a relative, but of this there is no positive proof.

At a very early period after the settlement of Cam- bridge the question of licensing taverns or ordinaries was as difficult to settle as it is at the present day. Great caution was manifested in the appointment of " grave and respectable persons to keep and sell in- toxicating drinks." The first person licensed by the General Court, September 8, 1636, to keep a house of entertainment at Cambridge was Thomas Chisholme, a deacon of the church, and afterwards steward of Harvard College. He was licensed to draw wine May 13, 1640, and his place of business was situated on the

corner of Winthrop and Dunster Streets, adjoining the lot where the first meeting-house was erected, so that the first church edifice and the first tavern in Cambridge stood side by side.

The first person allowed to sell wine and " strong water " in Cambridge was Nicholas Danforth, a select- man, a representative in the General Court and one of the most active and honored citizens. He died about a month after the date of his license.

The next year. Mr. Nathaniel Sparhawke was per- mitted to draw wine and strong water for Cambridge. He also was a deacon of the church and highly re- spected.

We come next to the establishment of an ordinary long known as the Blue Anchor Tavern, December 27, 1652. The townsmen granted liberty to Andrew Belcher to sell beer and bread for entertainment of strangers and the good of the town. Mr. Belcher was a trustworthy man and very respectably connected, and the General Court granted him a license June 20, 1654, to keep a house of public entertainment in Cambridge. Mr. Belcher was licensed for the last time in April, 1673. The same year he died and the fol- lowing year his widow was granted a license, which was continued from year to year until she died, June 26, 1680. She was succeeded by her son, Andrew Belcher, Jr., who continued the business until he sold the estate to his brother-in-law, Mr. Jonathan Rem- ington, who performed the duties of host until his death, in 1700. His widow, Martha Remington, car- ried on the business until 1705, when she sold out to Joseph Hovey the estate, commonly known as the Blue Anchor. In 1737 the sign of the Blue Anchor was transferred to an estate on the westerly side of Brighton Street, midway between Harvard Square and Mount Auburn Street. In 1796 it was sold to Israel Porter, who is well remembered by many now living, and who died May 30, 1837, aged ninety-nine years, according to the town records.

A part of the old tavern-house remains standing. At this house the selectmen met for the transaction of public business and probably paid for their room by their patronage of the bar. Among the bills remain- ing on file is the following :

" THE SELECTMEN OF THE TOWN OF CAMBRIDGE.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 65

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