USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 76
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148 | Part 149 | Part 150 | Part 151 | Part 152 | Part 153 | Part 154 | Part 155 | Part 156 | Part 157 | Part 158 | Part 159 | Part 160 | Part 161 | Part 162 | Part 163 | Part 164 | Part 165 | Part 166 | Part 167 | Part 168 | Part 169 | Part 170 | Part 171 | Part 172 | Part 173 | Part 174 | Part 175 | Part 176 | Part 177 | Part 178 | Part 179 | Part 180 | Part 181 | Part 182 | Part 183 | Part 184 | Part 185 | Part 186 | Part 187 | Part 188 | Part 189 | Part 190 | Part 191 | Part 192 | Part 193 | Part 194 | Part 195 | Part 196 | Part 197 | Part 198 | Part 199 | Part 200 | Part 201 | Part 202
service-pipes of the Boston Water-Works, in view of which the city of Boston presented him with a ser- vice of plate. He was appointed by Governor An- drew, soon after the opening of the late war, on the Commission for the Defence of Boston Harbor, and prepared the report of the plans to be pursued in the event of the approach of Confederate cruisers. He devised a marching ration for the army, reducing transportation to the simplest terms. Of this ration General Grant ordered and there were prepared half a million.
In 1873 he was a commissioner of the United States to the World's Fair at Vienna, and he pub- lished an elaborate report in connection with his of- ficial duties. In 1876 he was a commissioner at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia.
As the intimate friend of Henry F. Durant, Esq., the founder of Wellesley College, Professor Horsford has been the constant and munificent friend of that in- stitution. He has been from its organization the president of the Board of Visitors, and has devoted much time to the interests of the college. He has endowed the college library aud founded the system of the "Sabbatical Year," as it is called by which the professors are allowed the seventh year for rest and study in Europe, and a system of pensions for the professors.
Of late years he has given much time to geograph- ical studies. His attention was turned to New Eng- land Cartography and especially to the finding of the lost city of Norumbega. His investigation led him to believe that the ancient city was not in Maine, but in Massachusetts. His first research led him to the Old Fort of Norumbeg, at the mouth of Stony Brook, in the town of Weston. When he had decided from the literature and geography where its site must have been, he drove to the spot, but a few miles from his own house, and there found the remains of extensive ditches and walls. Five years later he announced the discovery of the site and walls of the ancient city of Norumbega at Watertown. It was a startling dis- covery. His conclusion was inevitable. The maps, the books, the ancient walls, the results of his studies in the field, combined to convince him that this was the place which had been named in history and song, but had long ago been lost to sight. In the summer of 1889 he erected a tower of stone to mark the site of the ancient fort, and commemorate the discoveries of Vinland and Norumbega. In connec- tion with this historical enterprise he found other ex- tensive remains of Norse settlements on the banks of Charles River. Following the old sagas, he found that Leif Erikson after his landfall on Cape Cod, sailed up the Charles, in the year 1000. The coinci- dences between the sagas and the river and its banks were striking, and as one point after another became clear to his mind he saw where Leif and his compan- ions had come ashore and where they had built their houses. He has issued monographs in which his in-
238
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
vestigations have been described at length with maps and photographs. When the statue of Leif Erikson was erected in Boston in 1887, the historical address on the day of its unveiling was given in Faneuil Hall by Professor Horsford.
In 1889 he gave a public address in Watertown, Massachusetts, before a large gathering, upon his dis- covery of Norumbega. The American Geographical Society was represented on the occasion.
"By the invitation of the authorities of Boston, he delivered the memorial address npon the life and work of Prof. Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the elec- tric telegraph.
In 1886 he gave an address in connection with the library festival at Wellesley College. He has for many years conducted, as an expert, investigations in chemistry and physics. He has published numerous chemical researches in the scientific publications of Europe and America.
Professor Horsford is still busily engaged in pro- fessional and philanthropic work whose influence is extended and helpful.
CHAPTER XV. ACTON.
BY REV. JAMES FLETCHER.
The hope of rescuing from the wreck of oblivion some of the precions relics of the past has been the solace of care in the preparation of this work. Hearty thanks are here expressed and acknowledgments made to those whe have contributed with the pen and the memory in aid of the sketch. William D. Tuttle, Esq., the town clerk, and his son, Horace F., have rendered important assistance io gathering facts from the town records.
The historical map prepared by Horace F. Tuttle for the history, and which it was hoped could be published in the same, is a valuable acquisi- tion for future reference. Its important items are given. It should be printed and doubtless will be soon. Rev. Dr. Knowlton, Rev. F. P. Wood, Rev. Mr. Heath, A. A. Wyman, Esq., Horace Hosmer and his daughter Bertha, Deacon Samuel Hosmer, Mrs. John Hapgood, Mrs. Lottie Flagg, Luther Conant, Esq., Moses Taylor, Esq., and Luke Smith have rendered essential service in gathering up the fragments that nothing be lost.
The Centennial address of Josiah H. Adams, Esq., Shattuck's " History of Concord " and the " Colonial History " of Charles H. C. Walcott have been freely consulted in the compilation.
The history of Acton seems to the writer in the review like a romance dropped freshly from the skies. It is in reality a plain tale of persons and events which have consecrated for all time this locality. JAMES FLETCHER.
COLONIAL PERIOD .- Acton, twenty-four miles northwest of Boston, has on the north Littleton and Westford : on the east Carlisle and Concord; on the south Sudbury, Maynard and Stow; and on the west Boxboro' and Littleton.
Acton at its incorporation, July 21, 1735, was bounded by Sudbury, Concord, Billerica, Chelmsford, Westford, Littleton and Stow, which then included Boxborough. The principal part of what is now Carlisle, then belonging to Old Concord, was set off as a part of the new town, Acton.
The Carlisle District of Acton was incorporated as a separate town in 1780; the easterly part of Old Concord was incorporated in the new town of Bed- ford in 1729; and the southerly part of Old Concord was incorporated in the new town of Lincoln in 1754,
so that from 1754 to 1780 the township of Acton was larger than that of Concord, though much behind in wealth and population. At the time of Concord's in- corporation, in 1635, what is now the Acton territory was not a part of Concord, but was granted to Con- cord a few years after by the name of the "Concord Village," or the new grant covering nearly the pres- ent boundaries of Acton. The Willard Farms in- cluded in the act incorporating Acton in 1735 had, previous to that act, been granted to Concord.
When Acton was made a town the statute bounded it on the east by " Concord old Bounds," from which it appears, as before stated, that it includes uo part of the original Concord and that the dividiog line be- tween the two towns is a portion of the old Concord . on that side.
The Acton boundary extended leads to a heap of lichen-covered boulders, surmounted by a stake.
This ancient monument is near the top of a hill in the southwesterly part of Carlisle, and undoubtedly marks the old northwest corner of Concord.
It was identified and pointed out to Chas. H. Walcott, of Concord, on the ground by Major B. F. Heald, of Carlisle, who says that he has often heard his father and other ancient men, long since deceased, speak of this bound as marking the old Concord corner.
Everything goes to corroborate this testimony. The place was commonly known by the name of " Berry Corner," and was the original northeast corner of Acton, but in 1780 (statute passed April 28, 1780) a portion of that town near this point was included in what was then constituted the District of Carlisle, and subsequently formed a part of the town of the same name (Carlisle did not acquire all the legal characteristics of a town until February 18, 1805-3 Special Laws, 497).
Thomas Wheeler and others who came to Concord about 1639, found the most convenient of the lands already given out, and in 1642 petitioned for a grant of land on the northwest, which was conceded on condition that they improved the grant within two years. Most of the lands were granted to Concord for feeding.
They were not very accurately defined, being found upon actual survey to contain a greater number of acres than nominally specified in the grants,
A settlement was begun on these grants as early as 1656 and possibly a few years earlier. The Shepherd and Law families were among the first settlers.
Many of the meadows were open prairies affording, with little or no labor, grass in abundance.
Some of the uplands had been cleared by the In- dians and were favorite places for feeding. In those days the " new grant " was familiarly called, and with some reason, " Concord's sheep pasture."
In 1666, in pursuance of an order from the General Court, Richard Beers, of Watertown, and Thomas Noyes, of Sudbury, laid out the new grant, or Con- cord Village, as it was called, comprising the present
239
ACTON.
territory of Acton and portions of Carlisle and Lit- tleton, and made their return in the following year.
On January 12, 1669, a lease was made by Con- cord to Captain Thomas Wheeler, for the term of twenty-one years, of two hundred acres of upland and sixty acres of meadow, lying west of Nashoba Brook, in consideration of which he agreed to pay a yearly rent of £5 after the expiration of the first seven years, and to build a house forty feet in length, eighteen feet wide and twelve feet stud, “ covered with shingles, with a payer of chimnes," also a barn forty feet long, twenty-four feet wide, and twelve feet stud. These buildings were to be left at the end of the term for the use of the town, with thirty acres of land in tillage and sufficiently fenced.
He agreed further, and this was the main pur- pose of the lease, to receive and pasture the dry cattle belonging to the town's people, not to exceed one hundred and twenty in number nor to be fewer than eighty.
The cattle were to be marked by their owners and delivered to Captain Wheeler at his house, and the price was fixed at two shillings a head, payable one- third in wheat, one-third in rye or pease, and one- third in Indian corn.
The owners were to "keep the said herd twelve Sabboth dayes yearly, at the appointment and accord- ing to the proportion by said Thomas or his heires allotted."
The number of cattle received under this agree- ment fell below the lowest limit, and, in January, 1673, the terms of the contract were so modified that Captain Wheeler was entitled to receive one shilling per head.
The town of Concord laid out a road to Thomas Wheeler's mill, the first grist-mill in Acton, located on the present site of Wetherbee's mill, as is proved by the foundations of the old mill found when dig- ging for the present mill.
The canal now used is essentially the same as then used.
The mill was tended for the most part by women. A Mrs. Joseph Barker had charge among the last.
Going up from that site to the present saw-mnill we find on the east side of the dam, near the road, the abutments of what were old iron works, called at the time a forge.
Here they had a trip-hammer and other implements and conveniences for working in iron. Joseph Har- ris made the latches and the iron-work from this forge for the first meeting-house.
The ore, which was surelted with charcoal, was bog iron ore found in the vicinity, some rods southwest. The building for the storing of the charcoal was a little distance up the old road going west, beyond the old walls. The charcoal bed is easily determined by striking a spade into the ground.
The old road went south of the present saw-mill and wound around near the old wall up to the brook
at the foot of the hill, and there followed up the stream on the right side.
Captain Thomas Wheeler's house, supposed to be the first dwelling-house deserving the name, was west of the brook, not far from the wall where the old lilac bushes still stand, which belonged to his garden plot.
The spring near the brook, now enclosed in a bar- rel, was Captain Wheeler's well. There are evidences of an old orchard opposite on the south side of the brook. The Canadian plum-trees near by are said to have come from the stones of plums which the sol- diers brought on their return from Canada in the French and Indian War.
Mrs. Joseph Barker, who tended the mill, lived at one time in Captain Wheeler's house. John Barker's house was a little to the right, on the east side of the stream, and farther west of Thomas Wheeler's house and barn.
Captain Thomas Wheeler died in 1676, from wounds received in his fight with the Indians at Brookfield. He was born a leader of men in war and peace. The narrative of the expedition of Cap- tain Edward Hutchinson, after hostilities had begun at Plymouth, written by Captain Thomas Wheeler, is the epic of Colonial times. He was so associated with the first start in the settlement and business ac- tivities of Acton, before its incorporation, that we give space to the excellent synopsis of his narrative, by Charles H. Walcott, the Colonial historian of Con- cord :
"Captain Hutchinson was commissioned by the Council at Boston to proceed to the Nipmuck coun- try, so called, in what is now Worcester County, and confer with the Indians there for the purpose of pre- venting, if possible, any extension of Philip's influ- ence in that direction.
"Captain Thomas Wheeler, of Concord, who was already advanced in years, and had commanded the western troop of horse ever since its organization, was ordered to accompany Hutchinson with an escort of twenty or twenty-five men of his company. Ac- cordingly they set out from Cambridge and arrived at Quabaug, or Brookfield, on Sunday, August Ist. Here they received information that the Indians whom they expected to meet had withdrawn to a place about ten miles distant towards the northwest. A detachment of four men was sent forward to assure them of the peaceable character of the expedition, and a meeting was agreed upon for the next morn- ing, at eight o'clock, on a plain within three miles of the town.
" There was some apprehension of treachery, but prominent citizens of Brookfield not only expressed confidence in the good intentions of the savages, but declared their own willingness to be present at the conference, and Hutchinson decided that the appoint- ment must he kept. The Indians, however, did not appear, and this fact, together with other suspicious
240
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
circumstances, led the sagacious Wheeler to think that to venture further would be unwise. But Hutchinson was unwilling to abandon his mission with nothing accomplished, and, in deference to his wishes, the order was given to advance towards a swamp where the savages were supposed to be lurk- ing.
" As they proceeded the narrowness of the path, with the swamp on one side and a rocky hill on the other, forced men and horses to march in single file.
"Suddenly the war-whoop resounded, and the ad- vancing column was assailed by a volley of arrows and bullets discharged from behind trees and bushes, kill- ing eight men, wounding five, and throwing the line into disorder, which was materially increased by the difficulty of turning about or passing by in the strait- ened passage-way.
" Captain Wheeler spurred his horse up the hillside, when, finding himself unhurt and perceiving that some of his men had fallen under the fire of the enemy, who were now rushing forward to finish their work, he turned about and dashed boldly forward to attack them.
" The movement separated him for a few moments from his men. A well-directed shot killed his horse and brought the old man to the ground wounded, and it would soon have been all over with the brave captain, had not his son Thomas, who was also wounded, come to his rescue.
"Quickly dismounting, he placed his father in the saddle, and ran by his side until he caught another horse that had lost his rider, and so the two escaped with their lives, but suffering severely from their wounds.
" This was merely the beginning. Hutchinson had received a wound that caused his death in a few days, and now the task of extricating the command from its perilous situation devolved upon Captain Wheeler. It was performed in masterly fashion. Keeping to the open country and avoiding the woods, they re- traced their way, with the assistance of friendly In- dian guides, to the village of Brookfield, took posses- sion of one of the largest and strongest houses, and fortified as best they could.
" They had not long to wait before the enemy ap- peared in superior numbers, and attacked the strong- hold with vigor.
" The captain's disability brought to the front Lieu- tenant Simon Davis, another Concord man, who fought and prayed with a fervor that reminds one of the soldiers of Cromwell. To him, associated with James Richardson and Jolin Fiske, of Chelmsford, the direction of affairs was entrusted.
" Two men, dispatched to Boston for assistance, were unable to elude the vigilance of the besiegers, and were obliged to return.
"The Indians piled hay and other combustibles against the side of the house and set fire to them, thus forcing the English to expose themselves in their
efforts to extinguish the flames. Their bows shot arrows tipped with 'wild fire,' which alighted on the buildings within the enclosure and set them afire.
"To get their combustible materials close to the walls, a remarkable engine, fourteen rods long, was constructed by the savages of poles and barrels, which they trundled forward on its menacing errand. For three days and nights this horrible warfare continued.
"The besieged were compelled to witness the mutila- tion of their dead comrades who had fallen outside, and to endure as best they could the jeers and taunts of the foe.
"Rain came to the assistance of the little band by putting out the fires of their assailants and rendering it difficult to kindle new ones. Davis, who is said to have been of a 'lively spirit,' exhorted his men to remember that God was fighting on their side, and to take good aim before firing.
" The prayers and hymns of the soldiers, borne out on wings of fire and smoke, were answered by cries of the unregenerate heathen, who gave utterance to hid- eous groanings in imitation of the singing of psalms.
"Twice did brave Ephraim Curtis attempt to make his way through the enemy's line to go for succor. Twice was he compelled to return baffled. The third time, by great exertion and crawling for a considera- ble distance on his hands and knees, he succeeded in reaching Marlborough, where he gave the alarm, and on the evening of the 4th the garrison was overjoyed at the arrival of their old neighbor and friend, Major Willard, with a force of forty-six soldiers and five Indians, who, hearing at Marlborough of their dis- tress, had altered his course to come to their relief.
"Towards morning the Indians departed, having set fire to all the houses, except that which sheltered the whites.
"It has already been stated that Captain Wheeler was severely wounded, and his son was detained at Brookfield for several weeks hy the injuries he had received.
" It is easy to believe that the Captain and the re- mainder of his troop received a hearty welcome on their return home. The town kept the 21st day of October, 1675, as 'a day of praise and thanksgiving to God for their remarkable deliverance and safe re- turn.' It was a battle in which Concord men were foremost in the display of courage and the rarer qual- ities that constitute good leadership.
" The Indians appear to have behaved very badly from the beginning. They were guilty of an unpro- voked and treacherous assault upon a party wbose purpose was one of peace and friendship. The mis- sion was an honorable one and faithfully discharged ; and Wheeler and his men are deserving of praise for . all time as brave soldiers who acquitted themselves nobly under the most trying circumstances."
Nathan Robbins appears to be the first owner of the land after Wheeler, and the land has passed from father to son ever since.
241
ACTON.
ACTS OF INCORPORATION .- An act to incorporate the town of Acton, passed July, 1735.
" Whereas the inhabitants and proprietors of the Northwesterly part of Concord, in the County of Middlesex, called the Village or New Grant, have represented to this court that they lahor under great difficulties by reason of their remoteness from the place of public worship and therefore desire that they and their estates, together with the farms called Willard Faris, may be set off a distinct and separate township for which they have also obtained the consent of the towo of Concord :
" Be it therefore enacted by his Excellency the Governor, Council and Representatives in General Court assembled. and by the authority of the same, that the said Northwesterly part of Concord, together with the said farms be, and hereby are set off, constituted and erected into a dis- tinet and separate township by the name of Acton, and agreeably to the following boundaries, namely, beginning at the Southwest corner of Concord old hounds, then Southwesterly on Sudbury and Stow line till it comes to Littleton line, then bounded Northerly by Littleton, West - ford and Chelmsford, then Easterly by Billerica till it comes to the Northwest corner of Concord old bounds and by said bounds to the place first mentioned.
"And that the inhabitants of the lands before described and bounded be and hereby are vested with all the town privileges and immunities that the inhabitants of other towns within this Province are or by law ought to he vested with.
" Provided that the said inhabitants of the said town of Acton do, within three years from the publication of this Act, erect and finish a suitable house for the public worship of God and procure and settle a learned orthodox minister of good conversation and make provision for his comfortable and honorable support."
This vicinity was called Concord Village in those days.
Here was a happy, independent, industrious com- munity, cwning their lands, worshiping God in their own way and educating their children.
For seventeen years all went well, till Sir Edmund Andros appeared in Boston and tried to overthrow the charter which was served by the people as their safeguard and protection.
He prohibited town-meetings except once a year to choose officers.
Puritan flesh and blood could not stand this. Their town-meetings meant business, and now they were ordered to give them up. Taxes were laid without consulting those who were to pay them, and, worst of all, Andros declared all land titles null and void.
When the people showed their deeds from the In- dians he said he cared no more for an Indian's signa- ture than he did for the scratch of a bear's paw.
Then they pleaded what we in late days have called squatter sovereignty. But he said that no length of possession could make valid a grant from one who had no title.
Then the people rose to defend their homes and the rights of Englishmen.
On the 19th of April, 1689, the Concord Company. commanded by John Heald, the first selectman of Acton after its incorporation, marched to Boston to assist in the revolt which overthrew the Andros gov- ernment.
In this way the men of Concord and Acton ante- dated the original 19th of April, which has since be- come the red-letter day in our history.
THE FIRST MEETING-HOUSE .- We will retrace our steps by the old Brooks tavern, to the spot opposite 16
where now stands the stately school building of the Centre District.
We will have to pause a long time here before com- prehending the situation. It is the spot where stood for seventy years that old landmark of the past-the first meeting-house of the town of Acton.
If you have seen the striking picture in the pamphlet of the centennial celebration, you will have been helped to an impression of the house and its surroundings.
You must stand yourself on that hill of Zion, for such it was to our early forefathers, and view the landscape o'er. On the south is the road that leads through the woods to the resting-place of the dead. On the east rises Annursneak Hill, hiding from view the peaceful homes of Mother Concord.
To the north of Annursneak is Strawberry Hill, whose brow strikes but eight teet below the brow of the former, having a view more commanding and more accessible. To the north and west are the delectable Hills, and towering above them all in the distance, Watatuck, Monadnock and Wachusett, old, familiar faces to every Acton boy and girl.
The building of this meeting-house is associated with the organization of Acton as a separate incor- porated town. (See act of incorporation.) The location and erection of a meeting-house soon began to agitate the people. In October of the year of incorporation it was voted not to build that year, but "to set the meeting-house in the Center." By the centre was meant the point of intersection of lines drawn to the extreme limits of the town. This decision was not satisfactory to all the inhabitants.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.