USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newbury > History of Newbury, Mass., 1635-1902 > Part 4
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" The 5th of the 11th mo" [1637 ?] the whole body of free- men met, and examined the accounts of the seven men "from the 8th of the 8th mo," and approved the same.
* Town of Newbury Records, vol. i.
·
48 .
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
Edward Woodman, Jo: Woodbridge, Hen : Short, Rich. Kent, Rich. Browne, William Moody & Jo: Pike, Jun. were chosen by papers & de- sired to manage the towne affairs for one whole quarter & till 'new be chosen, & to do their endeavors according to what is prescribed .*
April 6, 1638. The towne being mett together did freely consent to the acts made & registered the last quarter & the seven men were dis- charged .*
On the same day, Mr Rawson, Mr Woodman, Jo: Woodbridge, Henry Short, Jo : Knight, Rich. Knight & Rich. Browne were chosen & deputed by the towne, for one whole quarter, & till new be chosen .*
July 6, 1638. It is ordered for the present that there shall bee but five men deputed to the publick manageing of the towne busynesses for this quarter next ensuing.
Mr Woodman, Mr Rawson, Abrah : Toppin, Rich: Browne, & John Knight were chosen for one whole quarter & till new bee chosen .*
Subsequently, however, six and sometimes eight men were elected to manage the business affairs of the town; but at a still later date the number was reduced to three, and the term of service lengthened from three months " to one whole yeere."
The earliest records relating to constables, surveyors of highways, and lot layers are as follows : -
April 19, 1638. John Knight & James Browne were chosen con- stables for one whole yeere & till new bee chosen & Rich. Browne the last constable is discharged .*
It was likewise ordered that the constables for the time being shall have halfe their rates abated, in consideration of their paines .*
John Baker & Nicholas Holt were chosen surveyors of the high- wayes for one whole yeere & till new bee chosen & Henry Shorte is dis- charged .*
April 21, 1638. It is ordered that all land all ready granted shall be laid out about the midst of the next mo, May, begining the 16th day of the say'd mo & so continuing till it be done. And that all the seven men shall goe along with the lotters for advice .*
July 23, 1638. Henry Short & Rich. Kent were released from being lott layers .*
* Town of Newbury Records, vol. i.
49
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER
The towne hath appoynted Rich. Knight & Thomas Coleman to be lott layers in their roomes to lay out lands & to attend upon the same for any man that hath a lawful grant of land, upon 3 days warning .*
Dec. 22, 1645. Thomas Coleman having taken a farme so that he cannot attend to lay out lotts, John Pemberton was appointed lott layer in his roome and to joyne with Richard Knight and to have four pence per acre and what they are not paid for the towne is to see them satisfyed for, the legall means being first used to obtayne it. *
ADMISSION OF INHABITANTS.
In October [1637?], Richard Singleterry, William Palmer, John Moulton, William Easton, Thomas Moulton, Nicholas Busbee, and Abraham Toppan were received as inhabitants of the town of Newbury.
Abraham Toppan being licensed by John Endicott, esqr. to live in this jurisdiction was received into the towne of Newberry as an inhabi- tant thereof and hath heere promised under his hand to be subject to any lawful order, that shall be made by the towne .*
ABRAHAM TOPPAN.
It was ordered in a lawfull meeting November the 5th [1637] that who soeuer is admitted into the towne of Newberry as an inhabitant thereof shall have the consent & approbation of the body of the ffreemen of the sayd towne .*
A written obligation, similar to the one printed above was signed by each person receiving the approbation of the free- men, and entered upon the records of the town.
TOWN MEETINGS.
For several years after the incorporation of the town the freeholders and inhabitants were accustomed to assemble as often as once in three months for the transaction of public business, and every person entitled to vote was expected to be present at the time and place appointed.
February 24, 1637-8. It was voted that Thomas Cromwell, Samuel Scullard, John Pike, Robert Pike and Nicholas Holt, are fined two shillings and sixpence apiece for being absent from towne meeting at eight o'clock in the morning, having due and fitt warning .*
* Town of Newbury Records, vol. i.
.
. .
50
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
April 21, 1638. Henry Short, John Cheney, Francis Plumer, Nicho- las Noyes and Nicholas Holt are fined two shillings and sixpence apiece for being absent from the towne meeting, having lawful warning. *
ffrancis Plumer & Jo: Cheney having sufficient excuse for their ab- sence had their fines remitted .*
Rules were adopted, providing for the prompt and orderly transaction of business ; and those who neglected or violated these rules were liable to a fine. Every freeholder speaking in town meeting was required to stand up, take off his hat, address the moderator in respectful language, and resume his seat again at the close of his speech. No one, unless ex- cused by special vote, could leave the meeting until the busi- ness for which it was called together was completed and the meeting adjourned.
May 5, 1638. It is ordered that John Pike shall pay two shillings and sixpence for departing from the meeting without leave and contemptu- ously. *
Notwithstanding the fines and penalties imposed, there seems to have been considerable confusion at several subse- quent meetings, which led to the adoption of the following order, July 6, 1638 :-
Whereas there hath bin notice taken of much disorder in publick towne meeting by reason of divers speaking at one and the same time, some walking up and downe, some absent, and divers other miscarriages, it is henceforth ordered that if any person shall offend against any order prescribed in this case there shall be exact notice of such offence in this respect, and hee shall be censured accordingly .*
April 27, 1648. At a general meeting of the freemen of the towne it was ordered that from henceforth from yeare to yeare the meeting for the choyse of towne officers shall be upon the first Monday in March upon publick warneing. *
MEETINGS OF THE SELECTMEN.
For the consideration and settlement of questions arising from the levying of taxes, the granting of house lots, the
* Town of Newbury Records, vol. i.
5I
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER
building of fences, and the appointment of keepers of sheep . and cattle, frequent meetings were held by the " seven men," and the votes passed or decisions agreed upon were entered upon the records and approved in the margin by a majority of those who were present, the minority, in matters of im- portance, recording their dissent. Uncertainty in regard to the time when and place where these meetings were to be held occasioned considerable inconvenience, and led to the adoption of the following order, December 21 [1637?], ap- proved by " Edward Woodman, Jo : Woodbridge, Hen : Short, Richard Kent, Richard Browne, and Richard Knight " : -
For the better ordering of all towne affaires it is thought that certain times & places of meeting should be appoynted which may be pub- lickly knowne to the end that not only those to whom the charge of towne affairs is committed may make their constant & careful attend- ance but likewise that any other that hath any occasion of business with the towne may know where & when to. make their desires knowne. And for the present it is agreed that there shall be a constant meeting kept (till further order be taken) every second Thursday at Henry Short's house, beginning at 8 of the clock in the morning & so to be continued as the times & seasons shall require. And for the more orderly & con- siderate proceeding it was likewise ordered that what things are pro- posed any one meeting day shall not ordinarily be answered till the next meeting unless in cases of some moment or in cases that require speedy answer .*
TAXES.
The appropriation of money, and the assessment of taxes, frequently led to prolonged controversies relating to ques- tions of law and equity. In order to secure an impartial and just distribution of the burdens of taxation, the inhabitants of Newbury voted in the month of October, 1637, "That from henceforth when there is any towne rate or country rate to be made that all the men that are deputed by the towne to manage all other publick affairs of the towne shall have a hand in it." *
On the twentieth day of November following, the General Court passed the following order : -
* Town of Newbury Records, vol. i.
-
.
52
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
Whereas it appeareth vnto this Court that the inhabitants of the towne of Neweberry are indebted to diverse psons neare the sume of 60£, wch hath bene expended vpon publike & needfull occations for the benefit of all such as do or shall inhabite there, as building of houses for their ministrs, and whereas such as are of the church there, are not able to beare the whole charge, & the rest of the inhabitants there do or may enjoy equall benefit thereof wth them, yet they do refuse, against all right & justice, to contribute wth them, it is therefore ordered, that the freemen of the said towne, or such of them as vpon publicke notice shall assemble for that end, or the greater number of them, shall raise the said sume of 60{, by an equall & pportionable rate of every inhabi- tant there, haveing respect both to lands & other personall estate, as well of such as are absent as of those that are dwelling there psent & for default of payment shall have powr to levy the same by distres & sale thereof by such person as they shall appoint; & the same, being so collected, shall satisfy their said debts & if any remainder bee, the same to bee implied vpon other occations of the towne .*
At a meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Newbury, held April 21, 1638, it was ordered
That every man within the towne shall, vpon warning given or left at their houses, bring in the value of their estates to Jo : Knight, constable, on Tuesday next by eight o'clock in the morning on the penalty of 2$ 6d apeice for default herein, to the intent that those who make the rate may have cleare [ ] & ground in making the same.t
It is likewise ordered that all accounts betweene, & fines which are formerly not brought in by the constable and others shall be brought in to John Woodbridge & Richard Knight at Hen : Shorts house halfe an houre by sunn the second day of the next weeke on the several penaltyes formerly mentioned & imposed the 10th of the fifth month. t
May 13, 1640, the General Court levied a tax of £1,200 on all the towns in the colony : of this amount Newbury was called upon to pay £65. " And it was ordered ; that in pay- ment silver plate should passe at 55 the ounce ; good ould Indian corne, growing heare, being clean & marchantable, at 5% the bushell ; sumer wheate at 75 the bushell ; rye at 6 shs the bushell." # " M" Rawson, M' Woodman & Goodm Haule" were appointed a committee to appraise the cattle, horses,
* Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 216.
t Town of Newbury Records, vol. i. # Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 294.
53
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER
hogs, and goats in Newbury, and were ordered "to valewe them under their worth rather than above their worth." *
FENCES AND PASTURES.
In order to protect the growing crops of hay and grain from the intrusion of horses and cattle
It was agreed [February 24, 1636/7] that all generall ffences about the house lotts shall be made by the last day of March on the penalty of 5s for each default provided that every ones portion shall be layd out & bounded by stakes by men appoynted for this purpose in convenient time.t
It was likewise agreed that Win Moody, James Browne, Nic. Holt, ffrancis Plummer, Na Noyse shall lay out all the generall fences in the towne that are to be made, as likewise tenn rod betweene man & man, for garden plotts, this to be done by the 5th of March on the penalty of 5s apeice. t
Octob 16, 1637 Wee whose names are heere vnderwritten have taken account of the fines for defect of ffences of Richard Browne Jo: Knight & Jo: Pike and wee find it thus. That the men heere vnderwritten have promised vnder their hands to pay according as is sett downe for defect of fences when they shall be called on for it viz : t
Nic. Batt
0.10.0
Anth. Morse 0.10.0
ffran. Plumer
0.10.0
Wm Morse 0. 5.0
Ja : Rawlins
0.10.0 Mr Hussey 0.10.0
Jo : Pike. Jun.
0. 5.0 Anth. Short
0. 5.0
Ja : Browne
0. 5.0
Hen Lunt
0. 5.0
Arch. Woodman
0. 5.0
Geor. Browne
0. 5.0
Rich Knight
O. 5.0
Rich. Browne
O. 5.0
February 23, 1641/2 By the Generall consent of all the ffreemen the stinting of the Comons was Referred to Henry Short, Mr [Edward] Woodman, Edward Rawson, Thomas Hale & Mr [John] Woodbridge according to their best judgments & discretions. #
On the twelfth day of March they made the following report : -
We whose names are heer under written being appoynted by the ffree men to proportion to every man his severall and particular right in all the
* Massachusetts Colony Records. vol. i., p. 294. + Town of Newbury Records, vol. i.
# Newbury Proprietors' Records, vol. i., p. 2.
54
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
Towns comons according to the full power and authority committed to us in the behalf do order & determine as followeth :
I That the severall numbers of pastures heerafter expressed shall lye and be perpetualy to the sd persons to whom they are allowed as. theyre own propper & due right and that it shall not be in the liberty or power of the ffreemen to alter or take away any mans right in the comons according to the stint heer under because it is his propriety & Inheritance.
2 That no person or persons whatsoever not expressed in there stint hath or shall have any propriety in the Comons in prsent or here- after but what he shall gett by purchase or some other way legally obtaine.
3 That all the comons wthin the limets of the Towne shall be equally divided vnto three severall parts and that the same number of cattell that are allowed in the stint of the cows & oxen shall be allowed in the heifer comon & a third like quantity of young cattell in the comon above Mr Rawson farme .*
THE STINT OF THE OX & COW COMON.
Mr Richard Dumer
62 14
Joseph Carter 4
Mr Sewall Senr
34 14
Nicholas Holt 7 34
Mr Clark
25 14
Mr Edward Rawson
23
Mr Cutting
16
Mr John Woodbridge
26 34
Nicholas Noyes
4
Mr John Spencer
42 %
Richard Badger
2 %
Richard Browne
6
Richard Kent Jun
12
Stephen Dumer
21 12
Stephen Kent
1034
John Pike Jun
4.14
John Merrill
4
Thomas Smith
234
John Kelly
I
Richard Bartlet
1
John Poore
1 14
John Bartlet
I
John Fry
I
William Titcomb
1 34
Abel Huse
2 12
Nicholas Batt
1 12
Daniel Thirston
1 1/2
Robert Coker
2 14
the ffery lot
I
William White
I
John Goff
2 Henry Palmer
114
Thomas Browne
2 1/4
William Palmer
1 1/2
Gyles Abott
I ffrancis Plumer
5
William Ilsey
1 1/2
Abraham Toppan
4.44
Anthony Somerby
14
Thomas Davis
I
Richard Fitts
1
Thomas Coleman
1 1/2
Richard Littlehale
I George Browne
I
Archelaus Woodman
2 14 Jno Pike Sen
8
Edward Woodman
8 12
Widdow Stevens
2 14
*Town of Newbury Proprietors' Records, vol. i., p. 2.
55
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER
Henry Lunt
William ffrankling
I
James Browne
Lewis & Mattox
1 14
Percivall Lowle
6 Mr Miller~
Nathaniel Wier
John Swett
John Knight
7 The Towne House I
Joseph Peasley
2 14
Giles Badger 2
Anthony Morse
2
Edmund Greenleaf
4.14
William Morse
1 1/2
Thomas Blumfield
134
Henry Rolfe
8 3/4
Mrs Oliver
II
Samuel Guile
I
John Lowle
634
Walter Allen
I
Anthony Short
634
Thomas Silver
I
John Hutchins 1 .
Thomas Cromwell
614
John Cheney
2 1/2
Samuel Scullard
7 12 John Stephens
3 4
Richard Kent Sen
3 1/2
Richard Knight
5 1/2
John Emery
2 3/4
Henry Short
14 12
Henry Travers
I
Thomas Hale
11 14
Thomas Dow
I
Mr James Noyes
1414
William Barr
I
Mr Thomas Parker
13 12
John Osgood
4
John Pemberton
1 12
William Moody
614
to lye at the Towns appoynt-
Nathanile Badger
1 1/2 mnt for them that be
John Bond
I
schoolmasters successively 3
JOHN WOODBRIDGE
THOMAS HALE
HENRY SHORT
Memorandum that March 12, 1641 the orders above written and the proportion of pasturing allowed to every one as is above expressed were publiquely & distinctly read to the General Body of the ffreemen who generally by their vote did confirm the same and further wth the consent of sd persons deputed did order as followeth :
I That whosoever shall at any time transgress this order by putting any of his cattell in any or either of those comons more than is here mentioned as due to him or that he shall make sufficiently evident to have.lawfully purchased or otherwise legally obtained from any which hath due right according as is expressed shall forfeit twenty shillings for every Beast that by the Hay ward of the Towne shall be found go- ing in any of those comons and by him - to be levied on the goods of every such offender by the Constable for the use of the Towne.
2 The execution of this stint is stayed till the major part of the freemen shall see cause to put it in use.
3 That no man shall under any pretense or colour whatsoever re- ceive any cattell into the Towne or keep any mans in the Towne that
56
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
hath no right in the comon, to stock the comon so much as that the Towne should be forced to make use of the stint provided this relate not to cattell which any one shall Buy or Hyre out of the Towne for his owne necessary use & imployment.
A large tract of land was also set apart for the pasturage of sheep. Keepers were appointed to look after the cattle and sheep, and enforce the rule made and adopted for the "stinting of the commons."
Nicholas Batt, who came to New England in the ship " James " from Southampton in April, 1635, was keeper of the herd of cows from March 16 to November 16, 1638, at a salary of £18, "to be paid partly in money and partly in corn at 4$ 6ª per bushel provided he is to keepe them but one Lord's day & the towne two," * and William Morse, who was also a passenger in the same ship, was keeper of the herd of sheep and goats.
LAWS AND ORDINANCES.
March 12, 1637-8, the General Court ordered the freemen of every town to make a list of laws necessary for the protec- tion of life and property in the colony of Massachusetts Bay, and send a copy of the same to the governor and council, to be presented to the General Court for approval or rejection, "as the Court shall adjudge." +
April 6, 1638 Mr Rawson & Jo: Woodbridge were deputed by the towne to labour to compile a body of laws & present them to the towne that they may be presented to the Governmt according to order of Court.#
The General Court also provided, March 3, 1635-6, that any person building a house, without permission, in any town in the colony, " the inhabitants of the said towne shall have power to demolishe the said howses & remove the p'sons." * The following order, adopted and approved August 6, 1638, by Edward Woodman, Edward Rawson, John Knight, and Richard Brown, in their official capacity as executive officers
*Town of Newbury Records, vol. i.
t Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 168.
# Ibid., vol. i., p. 222.
57
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER
of the town, seems to indicate that the provisions of this law were partially, if not rigorously, enforced within the limits of Newbury : -
It was agreed that Edward Rawson Rich. Browne & John Knight shall goe and, according to former agreement which the towne had with Thomas Cromwell, take possession of the half acker whereon he hath builded a cowe house without their leave .*
March 9, 1636-7, the General Court ordered, as a precau- tionary measure against danger from the attacks of Indians, " that the military officers in every towne shall pvide that watches bee dewly kept in places most fit for comon safetie," and at the same court Mr. John Spencer was appointed captain for the town of Newbury. ¡ At a meeting held by the freemen of Newbury subsequently to the adoption of this order, the following vote was passed : -
Itt is agreed and appoynted that there shall be a walk of sixteen foott broad on the topp of the great hill from one end to the other and a way to great point of fower foott broad through Stephen Kent his lott .*
It is uncertain when this walk "on the topp of the great hill" was decided upon, as neither the day of the month nor of the year is given in the record above quoted. But the location was well chosen, and gave to the sentinels on duty there a broad and extended view of the surrounding country. Tradition asserts that the walk ran in an easterly and westerly direction on the crest of the hill, while the " fower foott " way extended from the summit in a southerly direction to the open field or common land, now known as the "Lower Green." At or about the time that these precautionary meas- ures were taken and sentinels were stationed on the top of Great hill, the freeholders of Newbury, in town meeting assembled, "ordered that Mr Woodman shall have a house lott between M' Rawson's & the River Provided that if there be a fort built by the water side heere after that, then his lott shall give way."*
There was evidently an effort made at that time to build a
* Town of Newbury Records, vol. i.
t Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., pp. 190, 191.
-
58
.HISTORY OF NEWBURY
fortification of some kind on the banks of the river Parker to protect the approach to the settlement by water ; but the fort was probably never built.
BIRTHS, DEATHS, AND MARRIAGES.
December 10, 1641, the General Court -"ordered that in every towne one shal bee appointed to grant sumons & attachments in all civil cases" and "to bee clarks of the writtes." *
" M' Lowle" was appointed for the town of Newbury. June 14, 1642, the clerks of writs were ordered " to find out in their several towns who hath bene borne & who hath died since the first founding of their townes & to record the same." +
March 7, 1643/4, certificates of births, deaths, and mar- riages in every family in the colony were ordered to be brought "to the clarks of the writtes " from month to month and year to year, to be by them recorded.#
October 27, 1647, the General Court appointed " Anthony Somersby to be clarke of the writs at Newberry & to record births, deaths & marriages in place of John Lowle de- ceased." §
Apparently, no effort was made to collect and record the names of those who were born or who had died in Newbury until after the adoption of the order passed June 14, 1642, directing the " Clarke of the writs " to attend to that duty. It is therefore impossible to state with certainty whether Mary Brown, Joshua Woodman, or Shubael Dummer, was the first white child born in the town. ||
A written statement, evidently prepared for Samuel Sewall, chief justice of the province of Massachusetts, now in the possession of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, claims that Shubael Dummer is entitled to that honor. The statement is as follows :-
* Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 344.
t Ibid., vol. ii., p. 15. # Ibid., vol. ii., p. 59.
§ Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. ii., p. 198. John Lowell died June 29, 1647.
Il See Coffin's History, pp. 19, 21 ; also "Ould Newbury," pp. 23, 297.
59
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER
NEWBURY Aprill ye 2d 1717
Thre persons claim ye right of ye first born in this Towne, viz : - Joshua Woodman, Caleb Moody & ye wife of Peter Godfre, these being not to be found in ye Record : it must be given to Mr Shubael Dummer, as appears by ye following account.
A Record of ye Births of Children born in Newbury - in ye County of Essex; in ye Province of ye Massachusetts Bay in New England Ano. Dom: 1635-
1635 Shubael ye son of Mr Richard Dumer born february 17th
1636 Elizabeth Holt ye daughter of Nicholas Holt was born Mar. 30th*
THE BURYING GROUND.
"In that parcell of land called the [meeting house] greene."
The burying-ground was evidently near the meeting-house, on a lot of land "called the greene," of which twenty rods were reserved when the remainder was sold to Mr. John Emery in 1647.1 A few weather-worn and dilapidated
* New England Genealogical Register, October, 1880, P. 390.
t Town of Newbury Records, vol. i. John Emery sold to his son Jonathan Emery, April 9, 0 1679, one-half the land conveyed to him by the town of Newbury. (Essex Deeds, Ipswich Series, vol. iv., p. 246.) February 4, 1728-9, Jonathan Emery sold to William and Richard Dole about seventeen and one-half acres of land, " excepting and Reserving the Twenty Rods of land reserved for a Burying place formerly laying within the Bounds of said Tenement or Tract of land for the End for which it was proposed by the Town of Newbury." (Essex Deeds, vol. liv., p. 66.) March 21, 1728-9, William Dole conveyed one-half this estate to Joseph Ilsley. (Essex Deeds,
..
.. . . .
60
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
gravestones mark the place where some of the first settlers of Newbury were buried.
The record of deaths and marriages previous to 1645 is very imperfect. It was kept by John Lowle, clerk of the writs. The first death where the name and date are given in full is that of John Kent, son of John Kent, who "dyed ye 7th of February 1641." The earliest marriage recorded is that of "Christopher Bartlet to Mary -- April 17, 1645."
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