History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 106

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 106

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A. Manare

447

MAYNARD.

This land was conveyed by Jonathan Rice to Wil- liam Rice, his son, and in 1733 described as bounded br land now in possession of Ephraim Pratt.

Edmund Rice was one of the early grantees of Sud- bury, and one of the petitioners for the plantation of Marlboro' in 1656. His son Henry came with him from England, and had assigned him lot No. 31 in the third squadron of the " New Grant."

Brown .- The Brown farm, which consisted of two hundred acres allowed to William Brown by the General Court, was situated north of the Assabet River, mostly on the bend running westerly. It lies on both sides of the road to South Acton, and its north- ern boundary reaches nearly to the Acton town bound. The Marlboro' Branch of the Fitchburg Railroad passes through a part of it. We are informed by a deed dated 1739 that it was conveyed by Edmund to Josiah Brown, of Sudbury, for the sum of £1500.

The following is a partial copy of the deed, dated, Sept. 3. 1739 :

"To all people to whom these presents shall come, Greeting: Know ye that I, Edmund Brown, of township of york, in the Province of ye Mas sachusetts Bay, in New England, yeoman, for and vpon consideration of ye sum of Fifteen Hundred Pounds to me in hand well and truly paid before the insealing hereof, by Josiah Brown, of Sudbury, in the Connty of Middlesex. &c .. . a certain tract of land Cytuate, Lying, and Being in Stow in the County of Middlesex, and Province aforesaid, containing by estimation Two hundred acres, be the same more or less, bounded as followeth, viz. : Beginning at ye Northwesterly corner of the premises, at a Stake & Stones thence, running easterly one mile to a thirty.rod highway-thence torns and runs southerly on said highway seventy-seven rods, or near thereabouts to lands in the possession of Edward Fuller, and thence rons westerly one miile to lands in the posession of Amos Brown -thence northerly to the Stake & Stones where we began. Also, one other piece of land lying in Shrws- bury, &c. EDMUND BROWN.

The Brown farm has since been divided up, and is now to an extent possessed by the Brown beirs. Fifty acres belong to George Brown and another sec- tion to Henry Fowler, who married into the family.

Rev. Edmund Brown was the first minister of tbe Sudbury Church and died in 1678; William was the first deacon. They both came from England and were of the town's original grantees.

· Puffer .- Jabez and James, the first of this family in Sudbury, came from Braintree in 1712. Capt. Ja- bez married Mary Glazier in 1702. He had seven children and died in 1746. Jabez (2d) married Thankful Haynes, of Sudbury. A son of Jabez (2d) was Rev. Reuben Puffer, who graduated at Harvard College in 1778. He afterwards resided at Berlin, and became somewhat distinguished in his profession. He received the degree of D.D. from his Alma Mater. The Puffer farm was in the southerly part of the "New Grants," and was formerly the Wedge-Pratt farm. In this vicinity were extensive woodlands, which were the favorite resorts of wild pigeons. These birds were caught in abundance by means of a net; and to such an extent was this done on the Puffer place, that one of the late proprietors was familiarly known in the neighborhood as "Pigeon- Catching Puffer."

The process of capturing these birds was to spread grain over the ground in some favorable place in the woods for the space of a few feet or rods and thus entice the birds to a spot where a net was so arranged that it could be sprung by a person concealed in a bow-house. Due precaution was taken by the pro- prietor to prevent the firing of guns in the near neighborhood, and the birds, for a time undisturbed, lingered about the place until allured to the net. This skillful pigeon-catcher once took thirty-nine dozens and eleven birds at one draw of his net; the twelfth bird of the last dozen was also captured, but escaped before being taken from the net.

Freeman .- The mark of Samuel Freeman, with the name of John Balcom, is attached to the Indian deed of the " New Grants," testifying that John Boman, one of the Indian proprietors of the land, signed the deed in their presence. We have no definite knowl- edge of the exact place of the Freeman homestead. The name of Joseph is among the eleven Stow set- tlers who had lots assigned them in 1678 or 1679; and the same name is among the Sudbury petitioners for relief because of loss in King Philip's War. John Freeman was one of the original Sudbury grantees. His wife's name was Elizabeth, and they had one cbild named Joseph, born March 29, 1645.

The name of Joseph Freeman is among the names given in the Indian deed of the " New Grant."

Gibson .- The Gibson family early and for a long time lived on the Stow side of the river, on what is now known as the Summer Hill farm, on the south side of Pomposetticut Hill. An early member of the family was Arrington.

Taylor .- The Taylors lived west of the present Balcom place, and their estate extended northerly towards the river. The lands long since passed out of the possession of the family.

Brigham .- The Brighams lived on the old Sudbury and Mariboro' road, near the Sudbury town line. The old Brigham homestead, where Abijah formerly lived, stood about ten rods west of the present Lucius Brigham house. It was a large, old-fashioned, red building, with a long sloping roof. The name of John Brigham is on the Indian deed of the new grant lands, and also on the petition to Gov. Dudley in 1706-07for a West Precinct in Sudbury. The ancestor of the family in New England was Thomas, who came from London to America in 1635. The name of Jobn Brigham is among the names given in the deed of the "New Grant."

Marble .- The Marble family lived on the Stow side of the river. The marble place was probably that occupied by the Daniel Whitman family, on the Acton town line. None by the name now reside in town.

Pratt .- This family lived in the Northwest District of Sudbury, in the south part of the present territory of Maynard. In 1743 the farm was sold to Jabez Puffer, of Braintree.

Ephraim Pratt went to Shutesbury, wbere he died in

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

1804. It is said that he was one hundred and sixteen years old at the time of his death. The following is an account given of him in Dr. Dwight's "Travels:"

"He was born at Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 1687, and in one month from the date of our arrival (Wednesday, November 13, 1803), would complete his oue hundred and sixteenth year. He was of middle stature, firmly built, plump, but not encumbered with flesh ; less with. Pred than multitudes at seveuty ; possessed considerable strength, as was evident from the grasp of his hand and the sound of his voice, and without any marks of extreme age. Abont two months before his sight became so impaired that he was unable to distinguish persons. His hear- ing, also, for a short time had been so imperfect, that he could not dis- tinctly hear .common conversation. llis memory was still vigorous ; his understanding sound, and his mind sprightly and vigorous. The principal part of the time which I was in the house, he held me by the hand ; cheerfully answered all my questions ; readily gave me an ac- count of himself in such particulars as I wished to know, observed to me that my voice indicated that I was not less than forty-five years of age, and that he must appear very old to me; adding, however, that some men who had not passed their seveutieth year, probably looked almost or quite as old as himself. The remark was certainly just ; but it was the first time that I had heard persous who had reached the age of seventy considered as being youug. We are informed, partly by him self and partly by his host, that he had been a laborious man all his life ; and, particularly, that he had mown grass one hundred and one years successively. The preceding summer he had been unable to perform this labor. During this season his utmost effort was a walk of half a mile. In this walk he stumbled over a log and fell. Immediately afterwards he began evidently to decline, and lost in a considerable de- gree both his sight and hearing.

"In the summer of 1802 he walked without inconvenience two miles, and mowed a small quantity of grass. Throughout his life he had been uniformly temperate. Ardent spirits he rarely tasted. Cider he drank at times, but sparingly. In the vigorous periods of life he had accustomed himself to eat flesh, but more abstemiously than most other people in this country. Milk, which had always been a great part, was now the whole of his diet. He is naturally cheerful aud humorous, and uot much inclined to serious thinking. According to an account which he gave his host, he made a public profession of religion, nearly seventy years before our visit to him ; but was not supposed by him, nor by others acquainted with him, to be a religious mau. He conversed easily, aud was plainly gratified with the visits and conversation of straugers. When he was ninety-three years old, he made a bargain with his host (who told us the story), that he should support him during the remainder of his life for £20. He was uever sick but once, and then with fever and ague. It is scarcely necessary to observe that a man oue hundred aud sixteen years old, without religion, was a melancholy sight to me."

Wood .- None of the former Wood family now live in Maynard. A little more than a quarter of a century ago two of the family resided on the Stow side of the river and kept quite a popular ladies' boarding- school. The house belonging to the family is near the old Sudbury and Stow town line. The bridge near the " Whitman Place," is commonly known as the "Dr. Wood's Bridge."

John Wood was one of the original grantees of Sudbury. He was one of the petitioners for the Marlboro' township, and was one of the selectmen of that town in 1663-65.

Jekyl .- The land owned by Jekyl was, it is sup- posed, on the Stow side of the river, in the vicinity of Pompassiticutt Hill. John was the name of an early member of the family.

Balcom .- The Balcom cstate was first owned by John and Joseph. It included land now in the pos- session of Asahel Balcom, Esq., and threc or four strips extending from about this place to the Vose farm. The Balcoms arc descended from Henry, of

Charlestown, Mass., a blacksmith. He married Eliz- abeth Haynes, of Sudbury. Soon after his death, in 1683, the family moved to Sudbury, and settled in the locality above designated. The family has been a prominent one, and the name familiar on the muster- rolls of the town. Asahiel Balcom, the only one of the name remaining in town, is a prominent citizen. Before the incorporation of the town he was one of the familiar town officials of Sudbury. At one time he taught the school in the Northwest District. He was connected with the Sudbury military company, a justice of the peace, and passed through the various town offices with the esteem of his townsmen. He wrote the historical sketch of Maynard for Drake's " County History."

As one by one the former owners of these old estates passed away, their remains were probably carried for interment to the old burial-places of Sudbury and Stow. The older burying-ground in Sudbury was on the east side of Sudbury River, near the present Way- land Centre. About the time of the erection of a meeting-house at Rocky Plain (Sudbury Centre) land was set apart for a burial-place there, and since then slow processions from the Northwest District have mostly stopped at its gate. The grave of Captain Jabez Puffer is just beside the county road, on the north side of this yard ; and scattered throughout that " thickly-peopled ground " are time-worn tombstones on which are inscribed the names of Rice, Balcom, Smith, Pratt, Maynard, Willis and others.

EARLY RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL ADVANT- AGES .- As Maynard territory was originally a part of two towns,and situated on the outskirts, the inhabit- ants were remote from churches and schools. Those liv- ing in Sudbury were prior to 1722-23, at which time a meeting-house was erected at Rocky Plain (Sudbury Centre), a half dozen miles from church. On a petition presented to the General Court by the people in the west part of Sudbury, bearing date January 15, 1707, among the thirty one signatures are the following names of persons who probably lived in the Northwest Dis- trict : " John Brigham, Tho. Smith, timothy gibson, Jr., Joseph F. Jewel [his mark], Melo C. Taylor [his mark], John Balcom, Joseph Balcom, Thomas Smith, Junior, Jonathan Rice." The substance of the peti- tion sets forth the hardships incident to the long journey to the meeting-house, on the east side of Sud- bury River. The following is the petition :

" Petition of the W'est Side People of Sudbury to Governor Dudley and the General Assembly.

" The petition of ns, who are the subscribers living on ye west side of Sudbury great River, Humbly showeth that whoreas ye All-wise and over-Ruling providence of ye great God, Lord of Heaven and Earth, who is God blessed forever moore, hath cast our lott to fail on that side of the River by Reason of the flud of watare, which for a very grent part of the yeare doth very much incomode ns and often by extremity of water and terrible winds, and a great part of the winter by Ice, as it is at this present, so that wee are shut up and cannot come forth, and many times wee doe ntempt to git ovor our tlud, we are forced for to seek our spiritual good with the peril of our Lives.

" Beside the extreme Travill that many of us are Exposed unto sum

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MAYNARD.

3: 4: 5 : 6: miles much more than a Sabbath day's journey, by Reason of these and many more objections-to many here to enumerate-where- by many of our children and little ones, ancient and weak persons, can very Rarly attend the public worship. The considered premises we truly pray your Excellency and ve Honorable Council and House of Repre- sentatives to consider and compassionate ns in our Extreme suffering condition, and if we may obtain so much favor in your Eyes as to grant us [onr presents] as to appoint us a Commity to see and consider our cir- enmstances and make report thereof to this honorable Court. And your pore petitioners shall ever pray.

" Sudbury, January 15th 1706-07."

This shows that distance did not altogether deter the people from Sabbath observance in the house of worship, but it indicates the denials they endured for the sake of their faith.

It also shows the condition of things to which the people of the district were subjected. It was by no means a meaningless paper that was thus sent to the Court, but every sentence had a real significance. To be deprived of sanctuary privileges in those times had more of hardship than such deprivations would have in these later years. With few books of any description in their homes, with no issues of the peri- odical from a weekly press and little intercourse with their townspeople of other parts of the sparsely-set- tled community, absence from church on the Sabbath meant much. Neither did the petitioners overesti- mate the obstacles that sometimes stood in their way. It was not the mere matter of distance, but the perils that were incident to it, of which they mostly com- plained. Those brave pioneer spirits were not stopped by a shadow. They were made of stern stuff, and it took a substance to block up their way. But the sub- stance was there. The Sudbury River was at times utterly impassable. Vast floods sometimes covered the entire meadows. On different occasions the in- habitants of Sudbury sought aid from the General Court for the betterment of the river meadows. The same floods that covered the meadow-lands covered, also, the causeway, and sometimes the bridge itself. The town, in its earlier history, appointed parties "to stake the causeway," that when the flood was npon them travellers might not stray from their way and perish. Again and again were those causeways raised to a place then above the flood, but not until com- paratively modern times were they exempt from occa- sional inundations.

But better times were to come to the people.

The petition for a division of the town of Sudbury into an East and West Precinct succeeded after a lapse of nearly a score of years. By 1723 preaching services began to be held on the west side of the river and a meeting-house was completed there by 1725. New Sabbath day accommodations were thus afforded to the inhabitants of the Northwest District, and the distance to the meeting-house was shortened by about three miles. No longer was the "Great River, with its find of watare," to keep them at home on Sun- day. At the time that this new meeting-house was erected, the New Lancaster Road ran, as now (with some slight variation) from "Rocky Plain " (Sudbury

Centre) to the vicinity of the Assabet River and the distance over it was but about three miles. In those earlier times this distance might be considered quite short, especially would it be so considered in compar- ison with the longer one which had hitlerto been travelled. There was no swelling flood to be crossed ; no high, bleak hills, with a rougir, circuitous path, but a pleasant way by the occasional farm-house and sometimes by the sheltering woods.

The people of the town's out-districts in those days carried their dinners with them to church, and some- times a small foot-stove with coals. Some of the in- habitants from the remote homesteads had a small house near the place of worship, called a "noon- house," whither they repaired at the moon inter- mission. These " noon-houses" were provided with a fire-place, which the owners kept supplied with wood, and in this snug, quiet resort they could com- fortably pass the noon hour, warm their lunch, re- plenish their foot-stove with coals and drive off the chill of their long morning walk or ride, and the still greater chill occasioned by the fireless meeting-house. As late as 1772 there is on the Sudbury record the fol- lowing, relating to four persons who were, it is sup- posed, then citizens of the Northwest District, and who were probably associated as neighbors in the work of providing a "noon-house : "

"The town gave leave to John Balcom, Joseph Willis, Abijah Brigham and Jonathan Smith, to set np a small House on the town land near the west meeting-house for the people to repair to on tlie Sab- bath day."

In those times the people rode to meeting on horse- back, the pillion being used, a man riding in front and the woman behind. The old " horse-block," until within a few years, stood beneath a large button-wood tree before the old meeting-house at Sudbury Centre. To this large, flat stone-for such the "horse-block " was-the church-goers from the Northwest District directed the horse, that the woman might safely alight. There they unloaded the foot-stove and basket of lunch, and, if early, repaired perhaps to the noon- house to deposit their food, arrange their wraps, and start a, fire that it might be in readiness for their noon- day meal.

The people of the "New Grant" lots, after the completion of a west-side meeting-house at Sudbury, still enjoyed the services of the Rev. Israel Loring, who cast his lot with the West Precinct. The minis- trations of such a man were a privilege to any people who were religiously disposed, and their long journey was by no means without its great spiritual benefits. Dr. Loring continued their minister for years, dying in 1772, in the ninetieth year of his age and the sixty-sixth of his ministry. His successor in the pastoral office was Rev. Jacob Bigelow, who was ordained Nov. 11, 1772, and continued their minister for years.

The church privileges that were afforded the set-

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

tlers of the Maynard territory by Sudbury were, so far as we know, all that they received until as late as 1683, when the town of Stow made a "rate " for preaching. One of the carly ministers who preached a short time on the Stow side was Rev. Samuel Paris, in whose family at Salem Village (now Danvers), the Salem witchcraft delusion began. June 5, 1685, the town of Stow made a rate to pay Mr. Paris "for his pains amongst us." This clergyman afterwards lived and taught school in Sudbury, where he died. The youth of the Northwest District may have had him for an instructor, as the records inform us that in 1717 he was to teach school " four months on the west side the river and the rest of the year at his own house."

Mr. Paris preached but a short time for the people of Stow. On the 24th of July, 1699, a call was ex- tended to Rev. John Eveleth, and in 1702 he was in- stalled as pastor. He continued as the town's minis- ter until 1717, when he was dismissed, and in 1718, Rev. John Gardner became his successor and contin- ued such for over fifty-six years. For substance of doctrine doubtless the preaching to which which the people who lived on either side the river listened was sound and after the old forms of faith, but until the commencement of Mr. Gardner's pastorate there probably lacked on the Stow side that stability and consecutiveness of influence that the people enjoyed who lived on the Sudbury side, where there were but three pastors in the long space of more than a cen- tury and a quarter, during a large part of which time the ministry was exceptionally good.

But after Mr. Gardner's installation there was a long, generally peaceful and influential pastorate, during which season over two hundred persons united with the church.

After Rev. John Gardner's decease, Rev. Jonathan Newell was installed as pastor of the Stow Church. His installation took place in 1774, and continued un- til December 22, 1828, when the town accepted of his resignation and voted " to hold in lasting remem- brance and veneration the Rev. Mr. Newell for the deep interest he has ever manifested in their welfare collectively and individually."

SCHOOLS .- Educational privileges, like those of a re- ligious nature, were for years only to be obtained by exposure and effort. In Sudbury, prior to 1700, they were very scant ; and when, a little later, a school was established on each side the river, the children living remote from the centres would naturally be at a dis- advantage. But as years advanced, privileges in- creased. By April 17, 1719, the town was called upon "to sce if it will grant the northwest quarter of the town's petition, they desiring the school-master some part of the time with them." Among the teachers who early taught in town was John Balcom. In 1701 the town " voted and chose John Long and John Balcom," who were to "teach children to rede and wright and cast accounts." As the family of Henry Balcom, of Charlestown, moved

to the northwest part of Sudbury about 1685, it is probable that this family furnished one of the town's carly school-masters. In 1779 the town of Sudbury voted to build a new school-house in the "northwest corner of the town," and to appropriate two old school-houses for the erection of a new one. In 1800 the town granted money for building three school-houses, which money was to be equally di- vided between the districts. The Northwest was to have for its share $157.50. Lieutenant Hopestill Willis was then committee-man for the district. The northwest portion of Sudbury, now in Maynard, was, it is supposed, a school district for at least a hundred and fifty years. The school-house stood at about the centre of the district, by the county roadside, not far from the Balcom place. For years there was quite a well-known private school for young ladies in this district, called the Smith School. It was kept by Miss Susan Smith at the Levi Smith place and was discon- tinued about thirty years ago. On the Stow side school privileges were perhaps even more meagre in the early times than on the Sudbury side, its settle- ment being of later date. The first reference to schools there is said to be in 1715, when a school-master was chosen for one quarter of a year. The schools were at first kept in private houses and the vote to build the first school-house was in 1731-32.

CUSTOMS, MANNERS AND LAWS .- The customs, manners and laws of Sudbury belonged to the inhabit- ants of the Northwest District in common with all the others. The people were of an English ancestry, associated together in pioneer work and partook of and were moulded by the same general influences. They were religious in their habits, stanch and Puritanic in their principles. They greatly venerated God's word. Town-meetings were opened by prayer, and an over- ruling Providence was recognized in life's common affairs. For many years the people met for political purposes in the meeting-house on the east side of the river. At this place also, as a small social and com- mercial centre, they obtained news from the other settlements. Every tax-payer was called upon to support the minister of the town by the payment of "rates." These rates were levied by the invoice- taker and gathered by the town marshal. . The people were as surely called upon to pay the minister's tax as the King's tax.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 106

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