History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 105

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 105

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On the farm of Asahel Balcom, Esq., at a place called Pond Meadow, various relics have been found, such as arrow heads, stone axes, etc .; relics have also been found on the Puffer lands, in the south part of the town. No distinct tribe is known to have occu- pied the place ; but as it was a point intermediate be- tween the Indian plantation of Occogooganset (Marl- boro'), and Nashoba (Littleton), and Musketaquid (Concord), it is probable that it was much traversed by the natives in their intercourse one with another ; and that the birch canoe glided frequently beneath the hemlocks overhanging the Assabet, as the swarthy occupant made his way to Concord to visit Tahatawan and his family. Comparatively little is known in detail of the character of the Indian proprietors of Isabaeth, but some fragments have come down to us which are full of interest. Tantamous, or Old Jethro as he was called in English, it is supposed in early life lived at Isabaeth. This supposition is based on his ownership of the land, as set forth in his trans- action with Garret. A deed dated July 12, 1684, of

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land two miles in width adjoining Sudbury on the west and Marlboro' and Stow on the east, Peter Jethro, son of Old Jethro, signed, in which he calls himself " one of the ancient, native, hereditary, Indian proprietors of the said land." The residence of the Jethros subsequent to their home at Isabaeth was at Nobscot Hill, which is partly in Sudbury, but more largely in Framingham. A large stone-heap on this hill, which it is thought may have been Jethro's lookout, is mentioned in the records as early as 1654; and it is said that until re- cently, at least, Jethro's " granery " was still to be seen there. (Temple's "Hist. of Framingham.")

Old Jethro was not a praying Indian. Gookin says of him that he had twelve members in his family and " they dwelt at a place near Sudbury, Nobscot hill, but never submitted to the Christian profes- sion (except his son Jethro)." He also says that the old man had the " repute to be a powwow," and he was held in great veneration by the natives. Drake says that at the time of Philip's® War he lived at Nobscot and was ordered by the Colony to Deer Isl- and, Boston Harbor, for security. Resenting the ill usage that was received from those conducting them there, Jethro and his family escaped in the darkness of night. He was betrayed, however, by his son, Peter Jethro, into the hands of the English, by whom, according to Hubbard, he was executed, September 26, 1676.

Peter Jethro was one of Mr. Eliot's converts to Christianity in 1650. Gookin characterizes him as "a grave and pious Indian." He was at one time a " min- ister and teacher" to the Indians at Weshakim, a place near Lancaster. His English name is attached to the deed of the New Grant. His Indian name was Hantomush and was sometimes written Ammatohu.

The Indians who lived about this vicinity probably belonged to the Nipnets or Nipmugs, who dwelt in the interior of Massachusetts, or in what was called the fresh water country, which the word Nipnet signifies. The characteristic, and modes of life of the aborigines were like those of other Indians in the near neigh- borhood, and these were not of a high standard before they were changed by the influence of Christianity. At Concord, where Tahatawan was chief, rules were adopted by the praying band that set forth the de- pravity that existed among them both in nature and practice. Johnson speaks of the Indians there in 1646 as "being in very great subjugation to the Divel;" and the pow-wows as being "more conver- sant with him than any other." They were given to lying, "greasing," "pow-wowing " and "howlings." But the light of the Gospel, as it radiated from the praying stations, fostered by such men as Gookin, Eliot and others, soon had a salutary effect upon them. Some of the chief men were reached and their lives and characters changed. A large share of the praying Indians were fast friends of the English, and aided them in the war with Philip. There is no evidence that the early English inhabitants ever came

into conflict with the aborigines of the immediate vicinity, nor that there was ever unfriendly inter- course between them.

King Philip's War was inaugurated by an invading force. The enemy for the most part came from afar, and the settlers defended their homesteads from those who never had a title thereto. It is supposed that a trail ran from the well-known missionary station at Natick northwesterly to Stow and Nashoba (Littleton); such a trail would probably pass through Assabet ter- ritory. The natives along its course would naturally make use of it, and have intercourse with these In- dian villages.

CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY .- The country at the time of its early occupation by the English was largely an unbroken wilderness. Pine trees are sup- posed to have grown there very abundantly. Johnson, in his " History of New England," dated 1654, speaks of the " heavy pine forests on the west side of Sudbury River." The Sudbury records state that in 1661 men were appointed " to agree with Richard Proctor, of Concord, about his trespass of burning up our pine for making tar." The committee were to sue him if they could not agree. The absence of extensive pine woodland to-day, and the existence of oak growth, is no evidence as to what these lands formerly produced ; for it is the nature of these lands to alternate between the growth of pine and oak. The broad acres that in the present may have a mixed growth of hard woods may two centuries since have been densely covered with pine. The forests of the primitive period were largely clear of brush. Johnson says, in the work al- ready referred to : "The forests, free from under brush, resembled a grove of huge trees improved by art." There may have been two causes for this freedom from underbrush-one, the natural tendency of the larger and stronger trees to crowd out the smaller and weaker ones, and the other, the forest fires set by the Indians, as supposed, for this purpose, that they might the easier capture their game. These fires were set in the autumn, after the equinoctial storm, that they might burn with less intensity. Whatever the cause, the primitive forests were so much like huge groves, that the early settlers could travel over portions of them on horseback, and a trail through the woods, where the country was free from streams and swamps, furnished quite a passable way. To- gether with these extensive forests were also broken spaces, open meadows, and sunny spots which kept the country from being one of continuous shade. Some of these places were kept clear by the Indians for corn-fields. Notwithstanding the plentiful timber growth, the settlers from the beginning were very watchful against waste ; and laws were enacted for its preservation. In 1646 the town of Sudbury ordered that " no oak timber shall be fallen without leave from those that are appointed by the town to give leave to fell timber that shall hew above eighteen inches at the butt end." Again, it was ordered that

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no man should have timber upon the commonage if he had a supply on his own land. In 1647 it was ordered that for that year the people should have timber " for every two shillings that they paid the ministry one tree." In 1671, John Adams was "to have liberty to feed his cattle on Sudbury bound, and to take old and dry wood that shall be upon the ground, the said Adams to prevent any trespass by Coneord hierds or cattle, also in our wood and timber, forthwith to give notice to the town."

Because of the extensive woodlands, it is supposed there were greater falls of rain and snow in former times, so that the little stream, which now has but small water-power, might then have been sufficient to grind the corn of a township. The Assabet may then have been a wild, dashing stream in the spring- time, overrunning its banks in a furious flood ; while so much of the country from which it drew its supply, being overshadowed in the summer by the outstretch- ing branches of the leafy trees, it may at that season also have been a considerable stream. But although the snow and rain were more abundant then, if tra- dition is trustworthy, the climate was not of necessity more severe. On the contrary, there are indications that the spring opened early, and that the frost was gone, and the fields ready for seeding at a very sea- sonable time. In the Sudbury Records it is stated that at one time the town ordered "that the fences should be set by the 1st or 10th of April"; and in 1642 it was ordered that no cattle were to be found on the planting fields, and all the fences were to be up by March 1st." Grass was to be cut in some of the Sudbury meadows by the 10th of July.

EARLY ENGLISH OCCUPANTS .- Maynard territory had but very few settlers prior to King Philip's War, and what few were there were driven out by the sav- ages on their devastating raids. On the Stow side of the river two men took up their abode about 1660. These were Matthew Boon and John Kettle, both of whom, it is said, came from Charlestown. Boon, it is thought, settled in the south or west part of the original Stow territory ; and Kettle in the vicinity of Pompas- siticutt Hill, on land now included in Maynard (Bal- com.) Kettle married for his first wife, Sarah Goode- now, of Sudbury, and by this marriage had three children-John, Sarah and Joseph. For his second wife he married Elizabeth Ward, by which marriage he had one child or more. When the Indians in- vaded the Stow territory, Kettle fled to Lancaster, where liis wife and some of his children were cap- tured.

Mr. Boon remained in the territory till the invasion by Philip, April, 1676. On the day before the attack on Sudbury, which was made April 21st, Mr. Boon and a son, while endeavoring to make their way with some of their goods to a place of safety, probably one of the Sudbury garrison-houses, were slain by the In- dians. They were escorted by Thomas Plympton, of Sudbury, who met with the same fate.

On the monument of the Plympton family, in the old burying-ground at Sudbury, is the statement that Thomas Plympton was killed by the Indians at Boon's plain.

We have found comparatively little by which to determine with certainty the names of those who first settled in the part of Mayhard that was once Sud- bury. The fact that the "New Grant " lands were allotted to certain individuals is no evidence that they were ever occupied by thein. It is probable, however, that some of the owners of the lots lived on them prior to Philip's War. The names of the following, as ac- tual settlers in those early times, have come down to us either by record or tradition-Smith, Wedge, Crane, Freeman, Carley or Kerley, Taylor, Rice, Brigham, Maynard, Wood and Skinner. Others, who settled later, are Jonas Balcom, Phineas Pratt, Jabez Puffer, Simon and Zacheriah Maynard, Arrington Gibson, John Jekyl and Marble. It is probable that such of these settlers as were occupying the ground at the breaking out of Philip's War were driven away by the savages, as it is supposed that every dwelling on the west side of Sudbury River, except such as were garrisoned, was destroyed in those dismal, distressing days. In a list of Sudbury inhabitants attached to a petition sent the General Court, purporting to con- tain " An Accompt of Losse Sustenied by Severall Inhabitants of ye towne of Sudbury by ye Indian En- emy, ye 21st Aprill, 1676," are the following names, which, with others in the list, may have been of the New Grant occupants: Joseph Freeman, loss £80; John Smith, £80; Thomas Wedge, £15; Corporal Henry Rice, £180; Thomas Rice, £100; Benjamin Crane, £20, and " Widdow " Habgood (Hapgood) £20. Mrs. Hapgood's husband was probably Shadrack or Sydrack Hapgood, who was killed near Brookfield in the Hutchinson expedition. A son, Thomas, settled in the northeast part of Marlboro'. Sydrack or Shad- rack, who may have been another son, was one of the settlers of Stow about 1778 or 1779. After the close of Philip's War we conjecture the settlement of the territory progressed slowly. The country had been so scourged by the torch and tomahawk that the frontier was somewhat shunned. Savage incursions were made at times for years, by small, predatory bands from the north and east, and life was imper- iled and property insecure. According to a map of Sudbury by John Brigham, bearing date 1708, which gives the squadrons of the New Grant, and also pur- ports to give the location of every homestead in Sudbury at that time, we find but fifteen dwellings designated in the second and third squadrons north of the "east and west thirty-rod highway," or the part which is now mostly in Maynard. It is true, that in some instances two families may have lived in one house; but still the fact remains that the territory was sparsely settled for over a quarter of a century after the conflict closed.

The same is true of the Stow side of the territory.

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Before Philip's War it was but sparsely peopled. Who was the first settler afterwards is unknown (Hist. of Stow). As before stated, December 4, 1672, a com- mittee was appointed to lay out twelve farms of fifty acres each, and "to cast lotts for them," yet as late as June 1, 1675, most of these lots had been forfeited by a failure of the owners to settle upon them. When the war closed desolation brooded over the lonely lands and men were slow to return. In 1681 a list is given of twelve allotments of land, which lots, it is supposed, were taken up by. 1678 or 1679. These were assigned to the minister and the following named persons : Boaz Brown, Gershom Heale, John Buttrick, Ephraim Heldieth, Thomas Stevens, Steven Hall, Samuel Buttrick, Joseph Freeman, Joseph Da- by, Thomas Gates and Sydrack Hapgood (Drake's "County Hist.")

It it stated that the country about Stow, being de- serted by its inhabitants during the war with King Philip, was quite a place for the Indians to gather before making their devastating incursions on the neighboring towns. "Tradition states that the In- dians once held a consultation on Pompasitticutt Hill, overlooking Concord and Sudbury, relative to which place they should destroy. Sudbury was de- cided upon because one of the leading warriors said, ' We no prosper if we burn Concord. The Great Spirit love that people. He tell us not to go there. They have a great man there. He great pray.' This allusion was to Rev. Edward Bulkley, the Concord minister. They feared his influence with the Great Spirit. Hence Concord was saved and Sudbury suf- fered." (Drake's "County Hist.")

In the Stow "Old Proprietors' Book," with date May 19, 1719, is the following record in relation to selections of land :

"Pitched on by Richard Temple between Plum Brook and Willard's Pond, Isreal Heald, senr., on Pompesiticut Hill, joining to Joseph Jew- ell's land, John Butterick, on Pompsiticut Hill, and on the north side of his ten acres of meadow. Jacob Stevens at the Oak swamp at his ten acres on Assabeth Brook and at Elbow meadow. Thomas Whitney, sen"., joining to his half-moon meadow and Mr. Googen's land. Eliza- beth Fairbank, on Pomipisiticut Hill and at great meadow. John Whit- aker, on Pompeiticut Hill and at green Meadow. John Eveleth, on Pompsiticut Hill. Joseph Daby, right across the Hill from his house- lot to Sudbury line Wetherby's line. Stephen Randall, four acres by his horne-lot and at his own meadow on Assabeth Brook."

" Stow, Oct. ye 30, 1738. Voted, on said day that Ephraim Gates have one acre and three-quarters of npland in the common land in Stow, lying on the westerly side of said Gates' House-lot, for consideration of ten Shillinge and one quart of Rome."

PHILIP'S WAR .- As we have reason for supposing that the part of Sudbury now Maynard was more or less occupied by English settlers when Philip swept the town with his besom of destruction, a few facts relative to that Indian invasion may be both inter- esting and important. The attack, as has been stated, was on the 21st of April, 1676. It was a large force that was led by Philip. According to some writers there were 1500 warriors and squaws. There was not a town to the westward of Sudbury to serve as a barrier to the conquering march of the chief.

Marlboro' had fallen, and her dwelling-houses, except the garrisons, were ash-heaps. A few weeks before this attack a repulse was given the enemy by men from Sudbury and Marlboro', who surprised them as they slept at night about their camp-fires, near the town's western boundary. This attack, though it may have hindered them from further depredations at the time, served only as a temporary check; and it is supposed that to retrieve the loss sustained at that time, and avenge the death of their slain, as well as to wipe out another settlement towards the seaboard, they rallied with a mighty force for the work. The west part of the town was to feel the first effects of the onslaught, and there was no resource left the in- habitants but to leave the farms they had cleared, and the humble dwellings they had erected by unremit- ting toil, and flee to the garrisons. The nearest of these was, so far as we know, the Walker garrison, which still stands in the "New Grant" territory, in the third squadron, and not far from the southern boun- dary of the Northwest District. It is a quaint old structure in the walls of which are upright plank to resist the force of balls. Another place of refuge was in the Pantry (Northeast) District of Sudbury. At this place was a small block-house, and, tradition says, a garrison-house. Another garrison, on the west of Sudbury River, was the Haynes garrison, near the Sudbury River meadows; and still another, the Browne garrison, at Nobscot, in the fourth squadron of the " New Grant." Probably within one or all of these, and other fortified farm-houses on the west side, of which we have no information, the inhabit- ants of the "New Grant" lands were sheltered by the night of the 20th of April. The case of Thomas Plympton and Boon, already mentioned as fleeing before the savages to a place of refuge, probably iudi- cates the movements of all the settlers in that ex- posed region at that time. Early on the morning of the 21st the enemy applied the torch to the deserted dwellings, having been distributed throughout the town during the night for the purpose, and the settlers saw, in the smoke borne aloft on the morning air, the last trace of their former dwelling-places. Around the garrison-houses was a scene of tumultuous con- flict. About the time of firing the deserted houses the enemy attacked the fortified places with great fury. The fight at the Haynes garrison lasted from morning till midday, when the savages were repulsed by the bold defenders who sallied forth, and, as the record informs us, drove them from their " skulking approaches." In all the sad scenes of those days --- the fight, the siege, the defense, the people of the "New Grant " lands doubtless had their share, and none more than they would be likely to experience their desolating effects. Relief was sent from neigh- boring towns, and from as far east as Boston. Twelve men came from Concord, eleven of whom were slain in the river meadow near the Haynes garrison-house. Another party came from Watertown, which then was

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the border town on the east. This was commanded or sent by Capt. Hugh Mason, and did valiant work in assisting to drive the Indians from the cast to the west side of the Sudbury River, and so saving the east side settlement. The other force was led by Captain Wadsworth, of Milton. Captain Wadsworth engaged the main force of the enemy at Green Hill South Sudbury. Hc was drawn into an ambush and fought bravely till the approach of night and a forest fire forced him from his position, when his ranks were broken and most of his command were captured or slain. A monument marks the spot where the slain soldiers were buried in one common grave, near where they fell. (For details of the Wadsworth Fight or Battle of Green Hill, see "History of Sudbury.") But though a part of the town received assistance, nothing could save the Northwest District, which, from its isolated condition, was doomed from the first approach of the savage.

LOCATION OF EARLY HOMESTEADS,-Tradition and record have located some of the early home- steads and given a few fragmentary facts concerning the early settlers.

Smith .- The lands at first possessed by the Smith family were situated on both sides of the Assabet River, and included all that now occupied by the As- sabet Manufacturing Company. An old Smith home- stead stood in the rear of Sudbury Street, on the island side of the river, and other homesteads of the family were scattered about the territory. The only person now left in town bearing the family name is Benjamin, who lives on the Stow side of the river Abraham and William built a family tomb on the William Smith place. On the Levi Smith place, now owned by the Levi Smith heirs, Jonathan kept a hotel about eighty years ago. John was at Sudbury in 1647. He may have been John Smith, an early settler of Watertown. His wife's name was Sarah. He had assigned him lot No. 29 in the Second Squad- ron of the "Two-Mile Grant." The names Thomas and Amos were early in the family.

There is a tradition that some time early in the set- tlement of the town, during a severe storm in the spring of the year, several persons came to and were quietly quartered in the barn of one of the Smiths, perhaps Thomas, near where Mr. A. S. Thompson now resides. The unknown visitors were afterwards sup- posed to have been pirates, from the fact that they were very free with their money, paying liberally for what they obtained from the family. It was said that they threw "pieces of eight" at the swallows for amusement, and before leaving procured from the house some clothing fitted for bags, and tools for dig- ging. The bags, being filled with something appar- ently heavy, were carried by them to the woods, northerly of the house, and probably buried. The suspected parties soon after left, no one knowing whither they went. Subsequently Mr. Smith re- ceived a letter from some pirates that had been cap-

tured, convicted, and were about to be executed, re- questing him to come and see them, and they would give him information that would be of value to him ; but Mr. Smith, with the feeling of distrust for crimi- nals common to those days, paid no regard to the re- quest, and, for aught known, the secret died with the writers and may never be revealed, unless some for- tunate person should discover the hiding-place.

Maynard .- It is supposed that Simon Maynard was one of the original settlers of the soil. Another who was there early was Zachariah. The Maynard home- stead was probably near "the Spring," a few rods east of the James McGrath, formerly the Otis Puffer place. Little or no trace now remains of this ancient homestead, and the household that dwelt in it were long ago gathered to their fathers. The first Maynard in Sudbury was John, who, it is supposed, brought with him to America a son Joseph, aged eight years. He married for his second wife Mary Axdell in 1646. By this marriage he had a son named "Zachery," born in 1647, and three daughters, one of whom mar- ried Daniel Hudson. Mr. Maynard was a petitioner for the Marlboro' Plantation, and died at Sudbury in 1672. Descendants of the family still live in Sudbury and Maynard, among whom are John A., of the for- mer town, and the Maynards of the latter, who are proprietors of the Maynard Mills, and from whom the town has received its name.

Rice .- It is supposed that Mathias was the earliest of this name in the territory. He married a sister of John and Joseph Balcom, and, it is supposed, owned a strip or range of land running parallel with the Balcom estate. The name of Jonathan has long been familiarly associated with the Rice taveru. The first to keep this old inn was Jonathan, Sr. It was opened probably in the early part of the eighteenth century, perhaps earlier, and was continued as an inn until about 1815. The brother of Jonathan was William. Jonathan, the successor of the first land- lord, was his nephew. He was a bachelor, and in stature tall and slim. He died about 1828, near the age of eighty. The Rice tavern was kept at the place now in the possession of John H. Vose.

Colonel Jonathan Rice was a prominent military man. He is mentioned on the Sudbury muster rolls as he passes through the various grades of office. In 1777 and 1778 he is mentioned as captaiu at Saratoga in a three-months' campaign. The lands connected with the Rice estate were conveyed by Benjamin Crane, of Stow, to Joseph Rice. of Marlboro', in 1685, and are described as follows :

"Six Stone and five acres of land that he purchased of John Woods, Seur., and John Rutter, Senr., and is bounded northward and westward with the land of Thomas Wedge, southward with the land of Sclomon Johnson, Jun' , eastward by a highway thirty rods wide, running between the squadron of lots in the New Grants of Sudbury aforesaid, to have and to hold the said tract of land, six stone and five acres .(be the same more or less) with the house thereon erected, and all the fences be- longing to the said tract of land, and all timber and firewood and the orchard thereon, with all the conveniency of water thereon, whether of Pond or Brook, and all profit and advantage."

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 105

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1226

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226