History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 155

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 155

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" (2.) Due to Ric Bind & Joh. Lakin for laving out the hie-way to Lankester twenty shillings when they have perfeted the work we they Engage to doe soone."-" Early Records of Groton," p. 10.

Judging from the meagre appropriation, the in- habitants were either expecting a poor highway or were relying upon a public spirit on the part of their committee, to which the present generation is a stranger. If the highway was built along the river, as we have supposed, it would naturally be unstable, and at certain seasons of the year impassable, and the labor of maintaining it greater than a route upon higher and firmer ground. Such we find to have been the fact, as appears by the following votes by the proprietors of Groton :

" At a meeting of ssellect men may 28, 73 Sergent Parker and cor- perall knop wer chussen a conitte to meet with lancaster men for the altering the high way to lancaster."-" Early Records of Groton," p. 46. " Wedeusday 5 of June 1673 fforaensuch as the countrey hye way as it was formerly layd out by Lankaster and groaton vpon seuerall yeares triall, proved to be very insufficient and very difucult to be made passa- ble in regard it was for the most part lyeing in the (Intervailes wheirin their are senerall soft places and litle brookes vpon which bridges and other mater for making the same passable is apt to be raised and torne vp by flood=) and vpon experiance of the same Lancaster made aplication to groateu for Remouing of the said way to Run more vpon the vpland

which was Readily attended and John Prescott senir and Roger Sumner for Lancaster and sergent Parker and corperall Knop for groaten wer chuse committe by both to townes to lay out the said hye way as afor- said which was atended the day aforsaid as followeth (viz) first within the bounds of groaten they toke their begining at their meeting-house to the mille of Jonas Prescott by Matthias ffarnsworths his house six Rods wide turning of out of the common mill-way uear twenty Rod aboue the mille and then it Runs 4 Rode wid through the land of the aforsaid Jonas Prescott acording as it is described by trees marked by the men aforesaid and from the said Jonas Prescotts land to penicooke Riuer in Lancaster through swau swamp 6 Rod wide as it is already marked out by the comitte aforsaid and from the way aforsaid butting vpon Penicook near to the night pasture wading place, they tak the way as it is left in width through the Intervayle and ouer nashaway bridge and soe to the meeting-house and as it is to be vnderstood that the way within lancaster bounds Runes neare the midway betweene tbe brook medow and plumtrees medowes oner a hill called Mahaneknits hill and soe along on the vpland to the pond path as it Runes near to the Still Riuer mnedow and Josiah Whits medow vutill it como to the Swan Swamp path as afors id and to the confirmation hereof the comitte aforsaid haue here vnto put their hands the day and year aboue said.

" JOHN PRESCOTT ROGER SUMNER JAMES PARKER JAMES KNOP."

(" Early Records of Groton," p. 46.)

No portion of the first Lancaster highway is now in use as a public road in this town; but from its known location in Groton, and the few traces of it that can be seen in our limits, its site can be. deter- mined with considerable accurracy. Farmers' Row Road in Groton is known to be a part of it. From the description given in a deed from John Sollendine to Nathaniel Smith, October 23, 1727, the location of the bridge over which the highway crossed Nonaico- icos Brook is given, and traces of this bridge may still be seen on the farm of Asa S. Burgess. Between this brook and Farmers' Row the geography of the country would seem to indicate that the location of the road was not far from, and more than likely fol- lows, the old road through the woods from the junc- tion of the highway near Page's Bridge to the house of Asa S. Burgess. On the northerly side of the road to Shirley Village, a short distance easterly from the house of Nelson Root, can be seen the cut in the bank by which this road ascended from the meadow, and if, for the purpose of still further confirming the above, we would be permitted to deal with the history of Harvard, we will find that the highway now in use from the junction of the roads, a short distance southerly from Mitchelville to house of Henry Mead in Harvard, is in line with the location of the Lan- caster highway above given and is probably the original highway itself. Upon Mr. Mead's farm are to be seen the remains of abutments of a very old bridge that at one time crossed the Nashua River into Lancaster, a few rods southerly of Lancaster's northerly line. As this latter bridge is in almost a direct line between Lancaster and Groton, and about midway between the two towns, and between it and Lancaster there is an ancient road now in use to within a few rods of this bridge, and the second high- way to Lancaster would appear to converge toward it on the easterly side, there seems to be good evidence from which to believe that the Groton and Lancaster

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

highway crossed the river at this point at a very early day.

The "Intervailes wheirin their are seuerall soft places and litle brookes vpon which bridges and other mater for making the same passable is apt to be raised and torne vp by floods," undoubtedly refers largely to meadows in this town upon Nonaicoicus and James Brooks. From our knowledge of these meadows and brooks, we can readily appreciate the difficulty they presented to these early highways.

At a meeting of the selectmen of Groton, February 16, 1670, the description of the location of the then existing highways in the town was made and re- corded. These descriptions are as a rule very meagre and indefinite, but the location of some of them can be determined at the present day. The following appear to be either wholly or partly in this town:

" 1 Lanchester hye way from our meeting house to James his brook six poll wide as the Rood now lye ouer James his hrook Bridge and soe to continue 6 po [11] wide to nasha way meeting house according to the committees order."-Early Records of Groton, p. 32.

This is the first Lancaster highway, the location of which I have attempted to give.

"4 A high way goeing out of Lanchester Rood near John pages of four poll wid so goeing into the way that goe to mill near Benjamin crisps which high way was ptly purchased of Samuell dauis Richard holden Daniell peirce and James Knop hutting vpon William Longley John Morse vpon the west and Thomas Tarball James Knop on the east and the rest of the way goeing through thos mens lots for mentioned and satisfaction giuen them to their content by the towne committee."- Early Records of Groton, p. 33.

This is probably the highway that leaves Farmers' Row near the Groton School, passes to the east of the brick school-house near the John M. E. Gilson place, and crossing the Boston and Maine Railroad joins our main road to Groton near the stone quarry north- east of the poor farm.

" A high way goeing out of Lanchester roode of four polle wide goeing to the south end of the generall field lots next to James liis Brook hounded south with Richard holdens swamp and medow and John Morsse north with the land of John Sawtell and Richard holden from which their goe a high way along the generall field till we com to the cominon land by Samuell Danis the said way beeing four poll wid run- ning between Richard holden and the general feild."

Probably the highway crossing James Brook near James F. Culver's and running westerly toward Page's bridge.

" And near about the midle of that way thoir goetli a high way of four pole wide downe the generall feild to the neck vpon the river." 1

Probably not now in use.

" And for the mill Road between James ffisk and Samuel Woods Run a way to the mill of sixe poll wide excepting by the house of Richard Sawtell from James ffiskes staks to Richard Sawtells house soo runing of six poll wid till we come to Matthias ffarnworths land continning 6 poll wid to the inill leading to the mill." 2

As this highway is, excepting a very small part, now in use as a public way in this town, and its entire location can be accurately determined, it deserves more than a passing notice. The successive efforts

that were made by the inhabitants to procure the erection of the mill at which their corn could be ground, is treated more at length in another chapter. It finally resulted, in 1665, in a contract with John Prescott, of Lancaster, who erccted a corn-mill, the site of which is now within the limits of Harvard. To reach the mill a new highway became necessary, and it was laid out with a prodigality due, perhaps, to a great abundance of land or from a sense of the im- portance of the enterprise. This highway enters Ayer from Groton, near the dwelling-house of Henry A. Gilson, from which point to near the dwelling- house of Edgar A. Hastings its location is the same as now traveled. From this point to the dwelling- house of Charles Livingston the highway passed at the foot of the ridge a short distance north of the present Main Street ; the latter portion was in use up to about twenty years ago.

From this latter point to Harvard line the highway is now traveled substantially as laid out, though it probably originally passed to the west and south of what was subsequently the Calvin Fletcher farm- house. The mill highway became the new Lancaster highway in 1673 ; part of it was re-located as Lunen- burg and Littleton highway in 1762, and the whole was subsequently the stage line between Groton and Worcester.

" and out of that way Run a way to Rock medow near to Matthias ffarns- worth and thes wayes runing thorow pt of his land ne [ar] the place wheir thes wayes are now improued." 3

The northerly end of this way is now known as Snake Hill road. It leaves the Mill highway between A. W. Lewis's and the Gaut places, passes along the westerly side of Sandy Pond, easterly of the dwell- ing-house now occupied by William Hendricks, and enters Harvard southeast of Rural Home. It was discontinued between the Mill highway and dwelling- house recently occupied by John B. Bagin, Nov. 2, 1869.

Major Simon Willard, of whom more is said in another chapter, lived in Groton from some time in 1671 to the spring of 1676. The location of his man - sion-house on Danforth's map, made in 1682, shows it to have been near cur southerly line and almost di- rectly north from Robbins Pond. He was a man of great prominence. He commanded, and his house was the rendezvous of, the Provincial troops assigned for the protection of the frontier between Groton, Lancaster and Marlboro' during King Philip's War. His house was not built upon any then existing high- way, and to its presence and necessities are doubtless due the considerable number of highways radiating from its site. When Major Willard removed to Gro- ton the first Lancaster highway was in use, and the two roads, one running northwesterly to near the Lewis Blood place, and the other southiwesterly to the Shabokin road, were doubtless built between 1671

1 Early Records of Groton, p. 33.

2 Early Records of Groton, p. 34.

3 Early Records of Groton, p. 34.

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and 1673 to connect with it. The Sculley road, so called, was probably built about 1673, as a way from Major Willard's house to Groton, and very likely crossed Nonaicoicus Brook west of the mouth of Waste Brook, and joined with what is now Park Street near the dwelling-house of Bridget Touhey ; thence to Groton past Charles C. Wood's, and over James Brook near George H. Brown's. In the loca- tion of the land of John Farnsworth, recorded De- cember 9, 1680 (Early Records of Groton, page 182), part of his land is described as "lyeing betwixt the pond at John Page's saw-mill and the bridg that goe to Nonaicoicus." John Page's saw-mill was on James Brook, nearly opposite Mr. Brown's dwelling- house. The present highway from Phelps Mill through Shirley Street and old road to Shirley, cross- ing the Fitchburg Railroad near John Shea's house, following the base of the hill southerly of the present highway, was built by the towns of Groton and Shir- ley in 1798, and re-located by the county of Middle- sex in 1800.

The Lunenburg and Littleton highway, then so called, was located by the county of Middlesex in 1762. It entered Ayer from Littleton at Pingry Vil- lage, passing southerly of Sandy Pond, following the Mill or new Lancaster highway from just east of the bridge over Sandy Brock to near the house of Edgar A. Hasting; thence to near the site of John H. Whitcomb's house; thence through our Main and Park Streets and old road to Shirley and over the Nashua River at Page's Bridge. The straight section between Charles W. Livingstone's and John H. Whitcomb's waslocated by the county in 1793.

The highway from Sandy Pond School-house to the Ridges was laid out by the selectmen of Groton about 1720, though it had been traveled as a private way for many years prior to that time.

Prior to 1830 there was a road sometimes called Shaker's Lane, from the Lunenburg and Littleton highway on the southerly side of land of Leonard J. Spaulding to Suake Hill road, southeast of Rural Home. It can be readily traced at the present day, and from the Rural Home road to Snake Hill road is now in use as a public way.

The old road to Groton, now known as Groton Street, has been in use for over a century. Formerly it passed to the east of the brick house and south of the Mills house, and united with what is now Park Street between the Milis and Frye houses. It was re-located east of Washington Street in 1856. The present Littleton road, from near the dwelling-house of Oscar A. Balch, easterly past the dwelling-house of James Gilson to the Littleton line at Pingry Vil- lage, was located by the county in 1833. West Main Street, from Park Street westerly to the Lewis Blood place and Washington Street, were both located by the county commissioners in 1856. At a meeting held April, 1885, the town appointed a committee, consisting of James R. Gray, Alfred Page and George

J. Burns, with instructions to have all the streets and roads between the junction of the roads north of the poor farm on the north to the Harvard line on the south, and from the Lewis Blood place on the west to the Rural Home on the east, re-located and bounds defined. In accordance with the suggestions of this committee, accurate surveys were made, and the streets as thus located were laid out and estab- lished by the selectmen and county commissioners, and adopted by the town. An accurate map of the whole was made, and permanent stone monuments marked " A " erected at all the termini and angles.

FORDWAYS .- As a wet substitute for bridges, ford- ways are practically unknown in Eastern Massachu- setts at the present day. About the middle of the last century there was a well-known fordway over the Nashua River near the dwelling-house of Asa S. Bur- gess on the Holden farm. It was at one time called the Pierce Fordway, probably from a family of that name who lived on the west side of the river not far from the site of the fordway. Prior to that time men- tion is made of a Rye Fordway in this vicinity (see Boundary Lines of Groton, p. 83), the exact location of which I am unable to learn. It is more than likely that it is what was subsequently called Pierce's Ford- way. Before the meadows were permanently flowed there was a well-known fordway over Nonaicoicus Brook, a short distance southwesterly from the dwell- ing-house of N. A. Spencer, and another, known as Shaker's Fordway, over Sandy Brook at the Nar- rows, so called, near the dwelling-house of Frank Mitchell.

December 27, 1669 (Early Records of Groton, p. 28), the selectinen voted to make " a sufficient cart bridge ouer Sandy Brook." This is undoubtedly the bridge on the Harvard, then the Mill road, a short distance southerly of the pumping station.

In a petition dated January 26, 1747, for the set off of the territory now principally comprised in the town of Shirley, mention is made of a bridge over "Wast brook in Coicors farm whear people Gener- ally pass ouer" (Boundary Lines of Groton, p. 85). From the description given in this petition I am of the opinion that Nonaicoicus Brook and not Waste Brook is intended. In Prescott's map of Groton, Pep- perell and Shirley, made in the latter part of the last century, there is shown a bridge over the Nashua river a short distance southerly from the present site of the Fitchburgh Railroad bridge, and it is prob- ably what was subsequently known as Kelsey's Bridge, from Captain Kelsey, who lived on the farm now owned by John Gardmer in Shirley. From the following vote of the town of Groton, passed April 1, 1793, it would appear that this bridge was carried away by a freshet about that time:

" Art. 6. To see if the town will make any grant to Mr. Moody Chase in money, or any other way, to enable him to rebuild the bridge across the Nashua River near his land, lately carried away by the freshet.

"Voted, to give £5 to Mr. Moody Chase for to enable him to rebuild the bridge over the river near his land.".

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Moody Chase, at that time, owned and lived upon what is now commonly called the Lewis Blood place, and the bridge was upon his farm. Traces of its abut- ments may be seen to this day.

In 1790 Joshua Longley erected mills at Mitchell- ville, and induced the town of Shirley to locate near them a new bridge, probably in place of the Kelsey Bridge above mentioned, and another which had re- cently been washed away near Lovering's in Harvard. In consideration that the town of Shirley would ap- propriate $250 towards the building of the bridge, Longley agreed to be at the entire expense of the erection beyond that sum. It would appear by the Shirley records that Longley's Bridge was very im- perfectly constructed, and repairs upon it were neces- sary withiu three years. In 1842 a covered truss bridge was erected in this place, the work being done by Stillman D. Benjamin. The present structure was built in 1871, the work being done by Benjamin F. Hartwell, of Groton. In 1886 new abutments to this bridge were built by the order of the county com- missioners.

The first structure over the Nashua River on the site of Page's Bridge, on the road to Wood's Village, was erected about 1726. The present bridge at that place was built about 1873.

There was a bridge over James Brook, near the dwelling-house now owned by George H. Brown, as early as December 9, 1680. (" Early Records of Gro- ton," p. 182.) The present bridge at this place was built about 1834.

There was a bridge over Nonaicoicus Brook, near its mouth, in 1727. This was probably where the first Lancaster highway crossed that brook.

About 1863 Calvin Fletcher built a bridge across Nonaicoicus Brook at Pulpit Rock, as means of ac- cess to his land on the south side of the mill ponds. This structure broke down April 16, 1870, as J. Hart- well Priest was crossing it with a load of wood, and has not been rebuilt.

TAVERNS .- There is something of the old-fashioned hospitality and comfortable leisure associated with the tavern of the days before the railroad superseded the stage-coach that we do not attach to the more mercantile modern hostlery. While we cannot en- dure the thought of returning to our ancestors' mode of transportation, there is to us a pleasing glamor about the recollections and traditions of the entertain- ment at the wayside inn. The iron horse seems to have revolutionized everything. The screech of his whistle has dissipated the country tavern. He has made traveling a principle to which all other neces- sities of life are incidental, while we are indulging in it. We read, eat, sleep and are entertained while be- ing whirled across the country at forty miles per hour. There is now no occasion for those diversions that the tavern found to be necessary to relieve the tedious over-night halts by the way. The travelers are not thrown together now, as, they were then, and we do

not feel it to be a duty we owe our fellow-traveler to entertain liim, nor do we exact of him a similar duty. The hospitality of the tavern was a business. Before the telegraph and the associated press, we were not called upon to assume that every one knew just as much of the world's doings as ourselves, and conse- quently we did not deem an apology to be necessary before retailing home or foreign gossip. In the win- ter evenings the tavern guests would gather around the blazing fire in the public room and exchange ex- periences, and rumors, and news, or, as a cynical writer has styled it, "swap lies." Thus, the tavern, while satisfying the outer and inner man, furnished the entertainment that his surroundings demanded.

The number of places within the limits of Ayer where the farmer found a convenient home market for his products, by furnishing, for a consideration, a more or less occasional entertainment for man and beast, cannot, of course, be now known. The farm- house where such an entertainment could not be had was probably the exception. Aside from a license, I am unable to say just what is the criterion that deter- mines when the farm-house ceased to be such and be- came the tavern.

The earliest records that we can obtain of any tav- erns being kept in the southerly part of Groton was in 1717, when James Patterson, who resided in the vicinity of the Lewis Blood place on the road from Ayer to Shirley Village, was licensed as a retailer. Abraham Moors, who resided in the vicinity of the Reuben Hartwell place, now owned by George H. Brown, and probably in the identical dwelling- house now standing on the premises, was for many years licensed as an inn-keeper, and the inventory of his estate, as returned to the Probate Court shortly after his death, would seem to indicate that his occu- patiou was that of a tavern-keeper. The most famous tavern kept within the limits of Ayer during the last century was that of George Pierce. Its lo- cation has until quite recently been much in dispute. In Drake's "History of Middlesex County " it is given as that of the Calvin Fletcher red house, so called, in the vicinity of the pumping station, and the same statement is made in the history of the Peirce family, published in 1880. There can, how- ever, be no doubt but that this tavern was in the im- mediate vicinity of the present site of the Phelps Mill, which Mr. Pierce at that time owned, having purchased it of Henry Farwell, April 11, 1758. The mill at that time was located farther to the southeast, near the site of the wood-shed of the Fitchburg Rail- road Company, and the tavern probably stood on the westerly side of the brook and uortherly side of the old road, on the site of Alfred Page's teuement-house, and was subsequently owned and occupied by Abel Morsc. November 21, 1764, George Pierce purchased of Nathaniel Smith the following tract of land, the location of which is too definite to admit of any doubt :

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"Abont 2 acres of land in Groton aforesaid and Iyes easterly from said George's now dwelling house and east of the brook called Coicus Brook and bounded westerly by said Brook. Northerly by my own land and easterly by the new County road leading to Luuenburg and sontherly by or near the path that leads to said Pierce's mills and by said house, and is to be understood as to juclude the barn the said Pierce has lately built on said premises and yards before the same as the fence now stands."

Pierce's farm and tavern were advertised for sale according to the following advertisement in Boston Gazette, September 27, 1773 :

" To be Sold at Public Vendne, to the highest Bidder, on Weduesday the 3d day of November next, at four o'Clock in the Afternoon (if not Sold before at Private Sale) by me the Subscriber, A valuable FARM in Groton, in the County of Middlesex, pleasantle sitnated on the great County Road, leading from Crown Point and No. 4 to Boston : Said Farm contains 172 Acres of Uplaud and Meadow, with the bigger Part under improvement, with a large Dwelling House and Baru, and Out Houses, together with a good Grist Mill aud Saw Mill, the latter new last Year, both in good Repair, and on a good Stream, and within a few Rods of the House. Said Farm would make two good Livings, and would sell it in two Divisions, or together, as it would best suit the Purchaser. Said House is situated very conveniently for a Tavern, aud has been improved as such fur Ten Years past, with a Number of other Conveniences, too many to enumerate. And the Purchaser may depend upon having a good warrantee Deed of the same, and the bigger l'art of the Pay made very easy, on good Security. The whole of the Farming Tools, and Part of the Stock, will be sold as above mentioned, at the Subscriber's Honse on said Farm.

" Groton Aug. 30, 1773.

GEORGE PIERCE."

It would appear that the tavern was not sold ac- cording to the above advertisement, for in the Gazette of November 15, 1773, the following notice appears :

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 155

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