History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 115

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 115

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48.4

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

seventy-five years of the town's history, the growth was small, and it must have presented very much the same appearance in 1800 as in 1725. Going back to the first years of the present century, let us look upon the town as it then appcarcd, the picture perhaps not perfectly accurate in all its details, but nevertheless, substantially correct. It must be remembered that it was long subsequent to this period, when Stoneham became a manufacturing town. If one of our ances- tors who was alive at that time should return to-day, and mingle with us, hardly a familiar object would be presented to his view. Imagine him, in the first place, turning his footsteps towards the old meeting-house, and picture the amazement with which he would be overcome. Astonished and bewildered, he would wander about in search of the pound, the James Hay house, the school-house and the church, for in those days all these objects were taken in at a single glance. They have long since disappeared from human sight. Turning his face to the west, he would see that a magic power had felled the trees of the forest and reared in its place a large and prosperous town, pre- senting an appearance of wealth and prosperity al- most beyond the conception of one accustomed to the simplicity of colonial days. On every side the farms which he remembers scattered here and there are cov- ered with houses and factories and chimneys. The quiet rest of country life lias given place to the buzz of machinery and the whistle of the engine. Broad and numerous avenues replace the crooked country roads, and the old houses are almost gone. Com- mencing at North Street' and going from Reading (now Wakefield) towards Woburn, the first house on the north side of the street was the one recently known as the Dcacon Dunlap house, where formerly lived one Simonds who kept a store. There lived Eph- raim Pierce the younger.

A little further on, lived Ephraim Pierce the father, on the spot where Jas. H. Pierce lately resided. The next was a small one story house occupied by Captain Nathaniel Cowdrey, and stood on the south side of the road, a little east of the present farm house of John B. Tidd. The next house was on the right, oc- cupied by Phineas Wiley, and stood where Caleb Wiley lived at the time of his death. Coming from, North Street south onto High Street the first building was an old one on the east side of the street occupied by Jolin Geary. South of him was Benjamin Geary where Mr. Sargeant now resides. Near the top of Farm Hill also on the east side of the road, Stephen Lynde lived in a house owned by Mrs. Reuben Gcary. In the old office lived Jas. Willy. Thirty or forty rods south was the residence of Captain Peter Hay. Next came the Hay Tavern, occupied by Captain Peter Hay, on the west side of the street, then the Aaron Hay house and afterwards the parsonage. Where Wm. H. Rich- ardson now lives stood the house of Captain David Geary. Going south on what is now Warren Street was the house of Mr. Wright, father of Captain

John H. Wright, which stood on a lane running west- erly from the road. This lane followed about tlie course of Hancock Street. A little further south on the east side was the residence of James Hill. The Lot Swectser house on the north side of Marble Street was them owned by James Hill, called James Hill, Jr. The last house in Stoneham which stood partly in Woburn was the Jesse Dike house then occupied by William Holden. Returning east over Summer Street, the first house on the north was that of Ebenezer Bucknam. Then came the dwelling of the late Zac. Geary which was torn down a short time since. A little further north on the east side was Deacon Jabez Lynde. No other building intervened till the meet- ing-house was reached. A few rods north of the meeting-house and westerly from the highway was Thomas Gould, who had bought the James Hay farm. In the Osgood house lived Mrs. Dalton, a daughter of Rev. James Osgood. In the Oakes Green house lived Eben Bryant and north of him Elias Bryant. Daniel Hay lived where Horace Tilton now resides. On the Captain Buck place was the house of Col. Bryant. Col. Bryant's next neighbor was John Noble where Aaron Paine afterwards lived. On the Jenkins place lived Captain Abraham Gould, and further on Daniel Gould, Esq. The four latter houses were si- tuated on territory which has been annexed to Wake- field. Returning to Spring Street and going east over what was then a private way there was an old house on the south where lived William A. Rove. Where the Chapman house now stands lived Ephraim Brown, and in the Sturtevant house Captain Daniel Green. Continuing on towards Melrose Highlands near the town line and just beyond it standing back from the street on the north side in a lot owned by the town was.a small house or hut occupied by Clamrod, a Prussian, whose wife was a mulatto. The first house on Franklin Street, now owned by Mr. Outram, was that of Thomas Green. He was father of Rev. Sam'l Green, born in Stoneham in 1792, afterwards pastor of the Essex Street church, Boston, and although he died in comparatively early life, in his forty third year, he was a man of marked distinction and great promise. Rev. David Green, a brother of Samuel, was born in 1797, and for twenty years was secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. In the next house on the north side of the street at present occupied by Mr. Walsh lived Cap- tain Josiah Green. Jonathan and Peter Green resided on Green Lane : near the foot of Vinton's Hill now in Melrose Highlands was the house of Ezra Vinton. Between Ezra Vinton's and the Reading road on the south side lived his two brothers, Thomas and Tim- othy, and on the north side, the last house in Stone- ham was that of Jolin, nicknamed Sopus, Green. Going from Summer Street down the present Pond Street to- wards Spot Pond, Nathan Bucknam lived in the James Hadley house and Jolin Bucknam in an old house on the south side of the strect torn down some years

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ago. On the Dyer farm lived Jesse Green. Where the Ames house now stands there was a building then owned and occupied by Jacob and David Gould, the former of whom was murdered in 1819. On the opposite side of the street and a little further south lived a second David Gould, commonly called Pepe Gould. At the northeast corner of the Pond lived Matthew Whipple Sprague. Further down towards the Red Mills were the houses of Ebenezer Bucknam and Jabez Kendall. Returning and taking the road to the south on the east side of the Pond, Daniel Bryant's house was located where Charles Copeland afterwards lived. On the east side of the road, on or near the location of the Butterfield house, lived Mr. Willy.

The last house in Stoneham on the west side of the road was that of Captain Samuel Sprague. Retrac- ing our way to the Hay Tavern in the north part of the town, and going thirty or forty rods a little north of west, we should have come to the Fosdick house, in which Captain Caleb Richardson lived. In the northwest part of the town on the private way lead- ing from the Hay Tavern to Woburn, were the houses of Captain Rufus, Elijah, Oliver and Thaddeus Rich- ardson. At the old Poor Farm lived the widow Elizabeth Cutler, the last survivor of that family. Holden lived east of Bear Hill. A few other build- ings there were, but these were substantially all the dwelling-houses of the town, with one church and one school-house. The principal change that had taken place during the last three-quarters of the eighteenth century had been a mere succession of gen- erations, even the same names being very generally preserved. In 1802 the town voted to build a new meeting-house, and chose Mr. Daniel Gould, Captain Daniel Green and Captain David Geary a committee for that purpose. It was also voted to 'build the new meeting-house on the slope of the hill that is east of the Burying Hill Brook on the north side of the road." The committee were instructed to make all necessary provision for the entertainment and re- freshment of the men to be employed, and a general invitation was extended to the inhabitants to be pres- ent at the raising, which occupied Wednesday, the 29th and Thursday, the 30th days of June, 1803, and it was dedicated on the 14th day of December, the same year. This was the second house of public wor- ship erected in the town. This second house re- mained till the first Sabbath in January, 1840, when it was destroyed by fire which accidentally caught from a stove during morning service. The older resi- dents will remember this edifice with the common about it, about one acre and a quarter on the north side of the road and three-quarters of an acre on the south side, which was used as the training field. The following description of the church has been left by Mr. Stevens :

"A.D., 1803. The inhabitants of the town of Stoneham hnilt this new Meeting-House. Captain David Geary, Captain Daniel Green, Mr.

Daniel Gould were the committee to build the meeting-house. They agreed with carpenters to do all the work for seventeen hundred and eighty-one dollars. The house was raised the two last days in June, 1803, and finished about the middle of November following. It is forty- six feet by fifty-six. The entry is ten feet making the body of the house square. It cost about 5500 dollars, including the common which cost about 120 dollars. The pews sold for several hundred dollars more than enough to pay for the house. The bighest pew sold for 172 dol- lars. On the 14th of December, we assembled in the new Meeting House to dedicate it to God. There was a vast concourse of people. Rev. Mr. Sanborn, Rev. Mr. Reynolds, Rev. Mr. Nelson and Mr. M- attended with myself. Mr. Reynolds read and made the first prayer. Mr. Sanborn made the consecrating praver. I preached on Haggai, 2, 7, 'I will fill this house with glory,' and made the concluding prayer. The choir concluded with a dedicating antbem. Great order and 80- lemnity marked all the proceedings. On tbe Sabbath before I preached a farewell sermon at the Old Meeting House, and the day after dedica- tion tbe people took it down. I have written this that after genera- tions might know about it, especially my successors in the ministry."

(Signed), JOHN H. STEVENS.

In 1803 it was " voted to request the select men to lay out a new road from the road south of the Old Meeting House by the corner of Deacon Jabez Lynde's house straight to the New Meeting House." In 1805 William Street was built, and the Medford and Andover Turnpike the next year. In 1806, also, Daniel Gould was elected to represent the town in the General Court.

In 1810 Spring Street was also laid out and was known as Captain Daniel Green's road. This year for the first time a bell was placed on the meeting- house, having been purchased by subscription, the committee to purchase it consisting of Thaddeus Richardson, Benjamin Geary and Lieut. John Buck- nam. In the early days Stoneham aud its people seemed to be rather fond of indulging in law-suits. In building William Street the road passed through the land and near or over the upper dam of Captain David Hay. They could not agree upon the damages, so the Captain sued the town, recovered judgment and obtained execution. The Richardsons also had a good deal of trouble about their damages, and finally the town was indicted for not opening that part of the road lying between the meeting-house and the houses of Aaron and Peter Hay through the land of Lieut. John Bucknam, now from Pleasant to Central Street.

On the 18th day of June, 1812, war was declared by the Congress of the United States against Great Britain. This war was generally unpopular in New England, though there was a minority strongly in favor of it. The people of the town supported the government, and cheerfully met the demands that were made upon them. At the May meeting they voted " to make up the pay of the soldiers who have volunteered or shall volunteer their services, or who shall be drafted out of the militia in Stoneham in pursuance of the recent general orders of the Gover- nor for raising ten thousand men out of the militia of the Commonwealth, to the sum of fifteen dollars the month, including the United States pay, when they shall be called into the actual service." Again, in August Captain Caleb Richardson, Lieut, John

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Bucknam, Deacon Jabez Lynde, Captain Nathaniel Cowdrey and Mr. James Hill were chosen a commit- tec to draw up resolutions upon the national affairs. About this time a famous company of riflemen was organized, known as the Washington Rifle Greens. Most of the men came from Stoneham and South Reading, though the first commissioned officers werc all from Stoneham. It was for a long time the crack company of the vicinity, and was called out in 1814 from September 22d to October 31st, and stationed on Dorchester Heights. Its first comman- der, Captain Jonathan Hay, is said to have been a very efficient officer. Several of the old-time cap- tains whose names were familiar thirty or forty years ago, such as Captain Wright, Captain William Rich- ardson and Captain Steele graduated from this com- pany. The following is a roll of the company while in camp on Dorchester Heights: "Inspection and muster roll of Captain Jonathan Hay's company of riflemen, of Maj. William Ward's battalion in Gen. Maltby's brigade, of the detached corps under Maj .- Gen. Whiton (October 25, 1814.) Jonathan Hay, Captain ; John H. Wright, Lieutenant; William Richardson, Ensign; Sergeants-William Deadman, Benjamin Geary, Jr., Samuel Richardson, William Bryant. Corporals-Abraham Marshall, Ephraim Pierce, Samnel Wiley, Jesse Converse. Musicians- Jedde Brown, William Holden, Joseph Matthews, Thomas Parker, Nathaniel Richardson. Privates- James Brown, Jeremiah Converse, Samuel Evans, James Emerson, Joseph Eaton, Benjamin Flint, Sam- uel Geary, Amnos Howard, Pierpont Hay, Simon Jones, Henry Knight, Charles Lewis, Jas. Lathe, Asahel Porter, Timothy Pierce, Alpha Richardson, Jonas M. Rowe, Frederick Slocumb and Samuel Sweetser. One of the curious relics of bygone days was the office of tythingman, a part of whose duty it was to preserve order in the church. The sense of propriety and decency which exists among the young people of to-day must be greater than that which prevailed seventy-five years ago. In 1816 it was ne- cessary to instruct the tythingmen to "clear the stairway of the meeting-house so that the people can have a free passage into the gallery, and the people when they leave the house will turn to the right hand or the left hand as soon as they get out of doors, so that others may have a free passage through the porch and to keep the boys and girls from whispering and laughing in the gallery. The tythingmen will post up these instructions at the Meeting-House." In passing from Stoneham towards Spot Pond over Pond Street, the traveler notices on the right about one- fourth of a mitc below the junction of South Street, the well-kept buildings of what was formerly known as the Tom Gould Farm.

For generations it had been the home of a branch of this old family. David, a grandson of the origi- nal settler, John Gould, had bought it in 1714. The present dwelling occupies the site of the old

house. On this spot, and during the night of Nov. 25, 1819, occurred the brutal murder of Jacob Gould, which produced a profounder sensation in the town than any other local event in its history. The family at that time consisted of two brothers, David and Jacob, and a maiden sister, Polly Gould, together with one Mrs. Winship, who was hired to help do the work. David and Polly were supposed, for those times, to have considerable money. On the evening of the 25th, between eight and nine o'clock, they were sitting in the kitchen, when three men rushed in with disguised faces, armed with dirks, and de- manded of Jacob his money. He attempted to de- fend himself with a chair, but was overcome, and fell pierced with several wounds, one of which, in the region of the heart, proved fatal. David also received two wounds. The hands of David and Polly were then bound, and each one of the three was in turn taken up stairs to produce the money. From Jacob was obtained five dollars, from David two hundred dollars, and from Polly six hundred dollars, hers being deposited, in six deer-skin bags, in Jacob's chest. In going up-stairs the light went out. In the . scuffle that ensued Polly's hands were badly cut and a finger ofone of the robbers. Daniels was afterwards detected partly by means of this wound. A fourth man stood at the door to keep watch, supposed by some to have been one Clifton, who had formerly resided in the town. After the robbery the mem- bers of the family were all put down cellar, a feather- bed thrown down for them to lie upon, a table placed against the door and warning given that one of the robbers would be left to guard them for two hours. About eleven o'clock, however, David was impelled by the dying groans of his brother to venture up-stairs and give the alarm to their next-door neighbor, Ste- phen Lynde.

By daylight the whole town was aroused, and scour- ing the country far and near. Jacob died at three o'clock on the morning of the 26th. A reward of five hundred dollars was offered by David for the detection of the murderers, and five hundred more by the Governor of the Commonwealth. Several men were arrested, but no one was convicted, though Dan- iels was probably one of the guilty parties. He hung himself while in jail before the trial.

From the early settlement of the town the school- house had been located near the spot where the first meeting-house was built. This was about the geo- graphical centre of the inhabitants. During the period of a century and more, one building followed another. The town-meetings were sometimes held in the mecting-house, and sometimes in the school- house.

In 1820 the town "voted to build a school-house on or near the spot where the old meeting-house stood, large enough to be convenient for the whole town for school and town meetings, by excluding small children under a certain age." But it was not

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built till 1826. The first story was used for a school, and the second for a town hall.

The structure which was erected in accordance with this vote remained where it was built until 1833, when it was moved to the corner of Pleasant and Central Streets, where it now stands, known as the Old Town House. As has been said, the prac- tice prevailed for many years of putting up the town's paupers, for support, at public auction, an occasion attended, very likely, at times, with some festivity, judging from the fact that the meeting adjourned for the sale, sometimes to the tavern, and sometimes to Alpheus Richardson's Hall, neither of which places in those days was surrounded by an atmosphere of total abstinence. The last auction of this character occurred in 1825, when Benjamin Blodgett was struck off to Col. Eldridge Geary at seven shillings per week; Phineas Blodgett to the same person at fifty- three cents per week ; Thomas L. Knight to Captain Daniel Green at one dollar and twelve cents per week; Daniel G. Brown to Col. Geary at forty cents per week ; Chloe and Nancy Freeman (colored) to Dan- iel Gould, Esq., at one dollar and ninety-eight cents for both; John Crocker to Joseph W. Noble at eighteen cents per week, and John Green to Benja- min Geary at one dollar per week.

In 1826 the town bought the old Poor Farm, and this cheerful and economical custom has become a relic of by-gone times. It is a pleasant reflection that the number of paupers is much less at the pres- ent time, in proportion to the population, than it was seventy years ago. With the progress and develop- ment of the nineteenth century poverty is greatly diminished. The laboring man of to-day enjoys comforts and luxuries almost beyond the conception of our grandfathers.

During the first century of our history one of the principal burdens imposed upon the town had been the support of the minister. The last appropriation for this purpose was made in 1826, when three hun- dred and forty-six dollars was raised for the minis- ter's salary and wood. After this a parish was or- ganized, and the town in its corporate capacity exercised no further control in ecclesiastical matters. The rigor of the laws had been gradually modified in the interest of dissenters, so that every man was al- lowed the privilege of withdrawing from one relig- ious society provided he connected himself with some other, so that he could be taxed somewhere for the support of preaching. It has been only since 1834 that the support of public worship has been entirely voluntary.

From dissatisfaction with the minister, with the creed and from a variety of causes, many withdrew from the meeting in Stoneham, and joined societies in other towrs. A Universalist Society was organ- ized, embracing some of the most substantial citi- zens; but did not meet, it would seem, at first, with great popular favor; for in 1826 we find the town

voting "not to allow the Universalist Society the privilege of holding meetings for preaching in the hall or in the school-house."

Stoneham's record as a temperance town in recent years is consistent with the opinions entertained by our fathers, who chose, in 1832, the selectmen, "Levi Hill and Charles E. Walker, a committee to see that the law for regulating licensed houses is regarded in this town." And they furthermore voted that the "selectmen use all lawful measures to prevent any person or persons procuring license to retail ardent spirits."

Prior to 1833 the town-meetings had been held either in the meeting-house or the school-house, but after the town-house was built, the bulk of the popu- lation gradually settled near the present centre of tlie village, leaving the public buildings on the outskirts ; so it was desired that the town-house should be moved to a location that would better accommodate the population. Opinion was divided, but at the annual meeting in March, 1833, the friends of the movement rallied in force and voted " to move the Town House to some convenient place near the And- over and Medford turnpike, and chose Charles E. Walker, Benjamin F. Richardson and Alpha Rich-, ardson a committee to purchase a suitable piece of land, and superintended the moving of the build- ing." This was the 4th of March. The movers had been victorious, but the contest was not yet end- ed. On the next day the anti-movers had out a war- rant for another town-meeting called for the 12th, the earliest possible day, hoping to reverse the action of the town. And now the committee proved them- selves equal to the emergency. Only seven days re- mained in which to purchase the land and make the removal. A lot was bought, the country was scoured for oxen, and forty or fifty yoke were collected together for the important occasion. The ground was frozen and covered with snow and ice. The build- ing was put on runners. A great concourse of people had assembled. Rum was distributed from the inter- ior of the building to stimulate the zeal of the excited crowd. The chains were secured and the oxen at- tached. The apple-trees of Thomas Gould had been cut so as to make a bee line, near as possible over the meadow to the new location. The signal was given, the great team started, but after a while the chains broke. Delay followed. The broken links were again replaced, or new ones substituted. Time was precions. The loss of a single day accompanied by a thaw might leave the edifice a helpless wreck, anchor- ed in meadow mud; but steam was up, and with a yell of triumph they again started and this time no halt was made till the house was landed near the spot that had been purchased for its location. The victory was won and the anti's were whipped. On the meeting of the 12th there was nothing for them to do but meet and dissolve. Boys who stood about and sat on steps enjoying the fun, are now old men and.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

love to look back and recall the events of that excit- ing day. In 1834 the first fire-engine was bought, known as the " Phoenix."

In 1836 the town was divided in six school districts. The school-house, district number one, was located at the corner of Main Street and Captain Rufus Rich- ardson's Lane: in number two on Cobble Hill, not far from the present standpipe ; in number thirce on Vinton's Hill; in number four on Pond Street; in num- ber five on Warren Street ; and in number six at the centre, near the corner of Pine and Pleasant Streets. In 1833 the county commissioners laid out the high- way now known as Elm Street from the old road towards South Reading. Old people look back to the period between 1830 and '40 as one of great pub- lic interest and excitement. Moral and political questions which were destined to agitate the country during the coming years were then beginning to crys- tallize. Public opinion was divided ; one element was aggressive, and the other intolerant. The question of African slavery was cleaving asunder the com- munity. Political fervor was red hot. Some opinion may be formed of the temper of the town in 1837 when it is remembered that Captain Rufus Richardson, Joseph W. Noble, John Hill and Darius Stevens were added as a committee to the selectmen to take charge of the town-house, and were instructed not to let any meeting be held there " which they shall have reason to think will produce a disturbance or endanl- ger the house." On May 9th it was voted sixty-two in the affirmative and thirty-three in the negative " that the town will not allow anti-slavery lectures, and discussions to be held in the town-house." It is difficult to realize to what an extreme limit some of the good men of that time allowed their zeal to carry them in opposition to anti-slavery agitation. Meet- ings were held, others were broken up, and finally the excitement culminating in mob violence, concluded with the homicide of Timothy Wheeler. Some of the doggerel verse and sarcastic rhyme in which hard epithets were hurled by one side against the other, and received back in turn, now lie hidden away in old houses and attest the violent birth-throes of the great reform, which in a little more than a quarter of century from that time was destined to shake a con- tinent to its foundations and crown a racc with human freedom. Reference has been made to the laying out or building of most of the early roads. Only a few others will be mentioned, as the limit of this article forbids it.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 115

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