USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > History of Newton, Massachusetts : town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880 > Part 10
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In 1664, he was ordained ruling elder of the Cambridge Village church. His homestead in the Village consisted of three hundred acres, including the pond which still bears his name. His house was upon its south bank, now owned by Mr. Luther Paul. He had four sons and three daughters, with upwards of thirty grandchil- dren. His last wife was Isabella Farmer, widow, from Ansly, in England. He died intestate, December 6, 1683, aged eighty. His inventory amounted to £340. There is no monument to his memory unless the pond be such. Surely none could be more beautiful or enduring. It was his, and has for two centuries been known as " Wiswall's Pond." In the deed conveying his estates in Dorchester to his son Enoch, signed by himself and his wife, the latter makes her cross mark. On the day of the ordination of John Eliot, jr., as pastor of the First Church, he was ordained Ruling Elder, or assistant pastor, "in inspecting and disciplining the flock." In 1668 he was appointed by the authorities of Cam- bridge to catechize the children. The inventory of his estate specified £340, two hundred and seven acres of land and four Bibles. There is no monument to his memory. His son, Noah, married Theodosia, daughter of John Jackson, and had two sons and six daughters. He was slain on the Sabbath, July 6, 1690, in an engagement with the French and Indians, at Wheeler's Pond, afterwards Lee, New Hampshire. His son, Ichabod, became min- ister of Duxbury.
JOHN KENRICK was born in England in 1605, was in Boston as early as 1639, and then a member of the church. He took the freeman's oath in 1640; owned a wharf on the easterly side of
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
the town dock, since called Tyng's wharf, which he sold in 1652, and purchased two hundred and fifty acres of land in the southerly part of Cambridge Village, in 1658. His house was near the bridge across Charles River, which has been called Kenrick's Bridge from that day to this. His first wife, Anna, died November, 1656. He died August 29, 1686, aged eighty-two. His second wife, Judith, died at Roxbury, August 23, 1687. He had two sons, John and Elijah, and one daughter, Hannah, who married Jonathan Metcalf, of Dedham. John had nine daughters and two sons, and Elijah three daughters and three sons. In his will, dated three years earlier, he states his age to be "about seventy-eight." He left in his will a bequest to his pastor, Rev. Nehemiah Hobart, four acres of meadow, or £10, at the option of his son John.
CAPTAIN ISAAC WILLIAMS was the second son of Robert Williams, of Roxbury, who came from Norwich, England, the common ancestor of many distinguished men, who have honored the country of their birth. Isaac was born in Roxbury, September 1, 1638. He married Martha, daughter of Deacon William Park, of Rox- bury, about 1661, and settled in the west part of the Village. His second wife was Judith Cooper. He owned five hundred acres of land, adjoining John Fuller's farm on the west. Thomas Park, John Fuller and Isaac Williams were the first, and probably at that time, the only settlers of West Newton. Williams' house was about thirty rods northeasterly of the West Parish meeting-house, near the brook, and on land afterwards owned by Mrs. Whitwell. He was a weaver by trade, and represented the town in the General Court six years, and was Selectman three years. His farm was divided among his three sons, two hundred and fifty acres to Isaac, one hundred to Eleazer, and to Ephraim one hundred and fifty and the mansion house. This land was granted by the town of Cambridge to Samuel Shepard, in 1640. In 1652, Robert Barrington, Esq., obtained judgment against the estate of Samuel Shepard, and this tract was appraised at £150, to satisfy the exe- cution. Deacon William Park, of Roxbury, the father of Isaac Williams' first wife, paid the execution, and took this tract of land for his son-in-law.
Captain Williams died February 11, 1707, aged sixty-nine, and was buried under arms by the Company of Foot. He was twice married, and had twelve children, and upwards of fifty grand- children. His son William graduated at Harvard College in 1683,
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and became minister of Hatfield. His son Ephraim married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Jackson, and Ephraim, son of this Ephraim, was the founder of Williams College.
GREGORY COOKE was a Constable in Cambridge Village in 1667 ; afterwards Selectman in Mendon, in 1669 and 1670, and proprietor of forty acres of land there. He was of Watertown in 1673 and 1684. In 1665 Abraham Williams conveyed to him his late man- sion place and about six acres of land at Newton Corner, near the Watertown line. This mansion house was on the site of the resi- dence formerly of Henry Fuller. It was demolished in 1823, being then about a hundred and fifty years old. He was a shoe- maker by trade, and died January 1, 1690-1.
ABRAHAM WILLIAMS came from Watertown, where he took the freeman's oath in 1652. He purchased a dwelling-house and twelve acres of land of John Callon in August, 1654. In 1662 he purchased of William Clemens a dwelling-house and six acres of land, in what is now Newton, very near the Watertown line. He married Joanna, sister of John Ward, about 1660, by whom he had two sons and two daughters, and perhaps others ; two of them were born in Cambridge Village. After living in the Village about eight years, he sold his place to Gregory Cooke, and removed to Marlboro' in 1668, near Belchar's Pond. He was a Colonel in the militia, and represented Marlboro' in the General Court. He kept a public house in that town, which was long known by the name of the " Williams Tavern," where he died Dec. 29, 1712, aged 84. His widow Joanna died Dec. 8, 1718, aged 90. His will was dated Dec. 18, 1711.
DEA. JAMES TROWBRIDGE was born in Dorchester, and baptized there in 1638. His father was Thomas Trowbridge, one of the early settlers of Dorchester, a merchant, and was engaged in the Barbadoes trade; he came from Taunton, England, where his father founded a large charity for poor widows, which is still admin- istered for their benefit. Thomas went home to Taunton in 1644, leaving his three sons in charge of Sergeant Jeffries, of Dorches- ter, who removed with those sons to New Haven about 1638. Thomas, the father, died in Taunton, England, about 1670. James returned from New Haven to Dorchester about 1656, where he married Margaret, the daughter of Major Humphrey Atherton, December 30, 1659, and had three children in Dorchester, and removed to Cambridge Village ; his wife Margaret was dismissed
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
from Dorchester to form the church in Cambridge Village, in 1664. After the death of John Jackson he became deacon of the church. He was one of the first Board of Selectmen formed in the Village, in August, 1679, and continued in that office nine years.
In 1675 he purchased of Deputy Governor Danforth, eighty-five acres of land with a dwelling-house, standing where Mr. Nathan Trowbridge's house stood in later times, which he had occupied for some years ; bounded by the highways west and south, a nar- row lane north, his own land east, the dividing line being straight through the swamp. He was a Lieutenant, Clerk of the Writs in 1691 and 1693, and Representative in the General Court in 1700 and 1703. He had five sons and nine daughters, and upwards of eighty grandchildren. His first wife died June 17, 1672 ; second wife was Margaret, the daughter of Deacon John Jackson ; she died September 16, 1727, aged 48. He died May 22, 1717, aged 81, leaving a will dated 1709.
REV. JOHN ELIOT, JR., was the son of Rev. John Eliot, the apostle to the Indians. He was born in Roxbury, August 31, 1636, and graduated at Harvard College in 1656. He began to preach in 1658, in his twenty-second year. He gained consider- able proficiency in the Indian language, and aided his father in missionary work until his settlement as first pastor of the church in Newton. He was ordained July 20, 1664. The church was organized the same day. After his ordination, he preached once a fortnight to the Indians at Stoughton, and occasionally at Natick. A tender and inviolable affection existed between him and his peo- ple. He is said to have been " an accomplished person, of comely proportion, ruddy complexion, cheerful countenance, and quick apprehension ; a good classical scholar, and having considerable scientific knowledge, for one of his age and period." He died October 13, 1668, aged 33,-four years and three months after his ordination,-and was buried within a few feet of the pulpit where he preached. His homestead was on the west side of the Dedham road, about sixty rods north of the cemetery, and the well from which he drew his water is still in use, on the Edmands property, on the west side of Centre Street.
By his will, he desired that his house and land should be pre- served for his son John, for his inheritance, to enter upon after his mother's decease. It continued to be the property of his son John, as long as he lived. After his death, it was sold to Henry Gibbs, Esq., for £415, in October, 1733, by order of the General
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Court, on the petition of his executors. Their petition states that the place was given to him by his father's will, and they pray that it may be sold for the purpose of raising money to carry his son John (then seventeen years old) through College, at New Haven. It was bounded, by the deed, east by the Dedham high- way; south by lands of John Spring; north and west by lands of Rev. John Cotton. Colonel John Chandler, of Worcester, acted as attorney for the executors. Henry Gibbs, Esq., sold the Eliot homestead to the Rev. John Cotton, in 1736, for £300. The heirs of the Rev. John Cotton sold it to Charles Pelham, Esq., in April, 1765.
LIEUTENANT JOHN SPRING was born in England in 1630 and came to this country in 1634 with his parents, John and Eleanor, who settled in Watertown. The son married Hannah, daughter of William and Anabel Barsham of Watertown, and removed to Cambridge Village about 1664. His house stood on the west side of Centre Street, opposite the old cemetery, very near the house of the late Gardner Colby. He built the first grist mill in Newton, on Smelt Brook, near the centre of the town. "He was Selectman eight years, from 1686, Representative three years, sealer of weights and measures, lieutenant, pound-keeper, tithing- man, sweeper of the meeting-house, etc. It is supposed that he gave the land for the second meeting-house, 1796, which stood very near his own house, and the town afterwards re-conveyed it to his son John ; but he never thought it worth his while, it seems, to put any deeds on record." He died May 18, 1717, aged 87. He had ten children, the first nine being daughters, and a multi- tude of grandchildren. His wife died August 18, 1710, aged 73. He was a very active and useful man in the Village.
DANIEL BACON was an early settler in Bridgewater, and took the freeman's oath in 1647. His family removed to Cambridge Village about 1669. He was a tailor by trade. He purchased several parcels of land in Cambridge Village and Watertown, portions of which were afterwards conveyed to Oakes Angier, General William Hull and others, and on a part of one of these parcels was erected the Nonantum House. He died in 1691.
CAPTAIN JOHN SHERMAN was one of the early settlers of Water- town. His grandson William, a shoemaker, was the father of Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. Roger Sherman was born in Newton, April 19, 1721, near the Skinner place on Waverly Avenue.
CHAPTER IX.
SPECIAL GRANTS OF LAND BY THE GENERAL COURT .- CONVEYANCES OF ESTATES .- FROM PROPRIETORS' RECORDS .- FROM RECORDS OF SUFFOLK COUNTY .- FROM RECORDS OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
IN the very early periods of Cambridge, long before Cambridge Village was a separate settlement, even in the conception of the first settlers around the College, special grants of land were made to individuals by the General Court. Many of these grants fell within the territorial limits of what was afterwards Newton, and therefore belong to the records of its history. We take the fol- lowing extracts from the Records of the General Court :
1632.
November .- " Mr. Phillips hath thirty acres land granted him on the south side Charles River, beginning at a creek a little higher than the first Pines, and so upwards towards the Wear." This was claimed by Watertown; " but in 1634 the Court ordered that the meadow (marsh) on this side the Water- town wear, about thirty acres, shall belong to Newtown."
1634.
April 1. - " There is one thousand acres of land and a great pond (Wiswall's Pond) granted to John Haynes, Esq. ; five hundred acres to Thomas Dudley, Esq .; - acres to Samuel Dudley, and two hundred acres to Daniel Dennison,- all lying and being above the Falls on the east side of Charles River, to enjoy, to them and their heirs forever; and five hundred acres to Simon Bradstreet, northwest of the land of John Haynes, Esq. ; he shall take no part of it within a mile of Watertown wear, in case the bounds of Watertown shall extend so far on that side the river." In 1643, " Bradstreet had liberty to take his five hundred acres in any other place, not yet granted to another."
1641.
June .- Mr. Mayhew shall enjoy one hundred and fifty acres of land on the south side of Charles River, by Watertown wear. .
1643.
Mr. Mayhew is granted three hundred acres land in regard to his charge about the bridge by Watertown mill, and the bridge to belong to the country.
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1634.
The Court ordered that the constable and four men, of the chief inhabitants of every town, to be chosen by the freemen with the advice of some one or more of the assistants, shall make survey of the houses and lands improved, or enclosed, as granted by special order of the Court, of every free inhabi- tant there, and shall enter the same in a book, with their bounds and quantity by the nearest estimation, and shall deliver a transcript thereof into Court within six months next ensuing; and the same, so entered and recorded, shall be sufficient assurance to every such free inhabitant, his heirs and assigns, of such estates of inheritance, and also, the same course to be had respecting town lots. And every sale or grant of such house or lots shall from time to time be entered in said book by said constable and four inhabitants, or their successors.
The lavish grants of land to these early settlers by the General Court set the former days in striking contrast with modern times. An acre of ground then was held no more valuable than a few square yards now. But the discrepancy in the worth of lands, at the two contrasted periods, is no greater than the difference in the circumstances, the number, the wealth and the dispositions of the people. Once they were few; now they are many. Then their path led through hardship, and self-denial, and comparative pov- erty ; now, luxury of every kind abounds. Then their wants were natural ; now, artificial. The riches they coveted most of all was the broad acres of mother earth. As gold and silver is, at pres- ent, so much " condensed world," and represents to us an appre- ciable amount of enjoyment, so the lands which they cultivated represented to them all which the human heart craves. And the government, whose strength and dignity, whose stability and suc- cess depended on an industrious, enterprising and contented popu- lation, had an interest in stimulating industry and enterprise, in rewarding labor, in increasing the quantity of land subdued by toil, and capable of yielding a profitable return to the farmer, and thus an added value to the real property of the State. These grants were not designed to build up great landed properties, as in England, and to create an aristocracy ; but to encourage the de- velopment of the resources of the country, and to distribute the soil in such a way as to bring it in the least possible time to yield the largest possible returns.
CONVEYANCES OF ESTATES.
The successive ownership of portions of real estate has a lively interest for the antiquarian, beyond its mere legal importance.
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Territory, accurately mapped out, and presented to the eye with the early names known within it and on its borders, seems to be peopled with living men, and we almost consciously mingle with them in their surroundings and in their daily pursuits. The early history, both of property and men, receives valuable illustration from such descriptions of real estate and the transfer of titles. We find materials for this class of illustrations, in addition to what has gone before, in the Records of the Proprietors of Cambridge, and in the Deeds registered in the Suffolk and Middlesex Counties.
FROM THE RECORDS OF THE PROPRIETORS OF CAMBRIDGE.
1639.
John Jackson bought of Miles Ives one dwelling-house with eighteen acres land on the south side of Charles River in Cambridge bounds; bounded southeast on Samuel Holly ; northeast upon the river; southwest, being the upper end of it, joining the Common, and set out by stakes ; northwest with a brook [creek], and he to reach to the middle of it.
Samuel Holly, one dwelling-house with eighteen acres of land, southeast on Randolph Bush; northeast on the river; northwest on John Jackson, and southwest on the Common.
Randolph Bush, one dwelling-house and eighteen acres of land, westerly. on Samuel Holly; east on William Redsen; Common lands, south; the river, Edward Howe and Abraham Child, north.
1640.
Joseph Cooke was granted four hundred and fifty acres land beyond Cheesecake brook; Charles River, north; Common lands, south; and Her- bert Pelham, Esq., west; and four hundred acres to Samuel Shepard, beyond the land granted to Joseph Cooke, bounding east on Cooke.
1641.
Thomas Parish was granted one hundred acres land on the left hand of the great plain towards Mr. Haynes' farm, between two brooks, on the southeast side of Chestnut Hill, with a swamp on the southeast. [Both these brooks cross Centre Street, one a little south of the First Parish church, and the other a little north of the old burying ground. Thomas Parish sold this land by his attorney Danforth to James and Thomas Prentice 1657.]
1642.
William Redsen, one dwelling-house and four acres land, west by Ran- dolph Bush ; south and east by the Common.
1647.
Samuel and Jonathan Hyde bought forty acres land, bounded by Richard Park north; late Mayhew's farm west ; Dedham highway southeast; and Com- mon lands southwest.
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EXTRACTS FROM RECORDS.
Thomas Danforth sold to John Jackson twenty acres land, highway to Rox- bury north; William Clemens west; Thomas Danforth southwest; common lands southeast.
1650.
The Common lands recovered of Dedham, not formerly granted or disposed of, are sold to Edward Jackson, Edward Goffe, John Jackson and Thomas Danforth, for £20, according to agreement by the town, 25, 10, 1650.
1661.
The town do agree and consent that all the Common lands on the south side of the river, on the east side of Dedham path, shall be divided into propriety to the several inhabitants that have an interest therein.
1664.
The town of Cambridge formerly gave to Thomas Shepard, the late pastor, three hundred acres land beyond Watertown mill, adjoining that which was Mayhew's; also two hundred acres more, near Samuel Shepard's farm. [These five hundred acres were probably granted to Shepard at his settle- ment in 1636. He died in 1649, about which time they doubtless passed into the hands of Richard Park; the conveyance, however, is not upon record. They are no doubt part of the same lands bequeathed by his will in 1665 to his son Thomas Park, and were divided among the children of Thomas in 1693-4.]
FROM SUFFOLK DEEDS.
1638.
Thomas Mayhew, of Watertown, merchant [formerly Medford], grants unto Simon Bradstreet, of Ipswich, in consideration of six cows, all that his farm, containing by estimation five hundred acres, lying in Cambridge, with all the buildings thereto belonging; and this was by indenture, dated 29th September, 1638.
September 18, 1643.
Thomas Carter, of Woburn, pastor, granted unto Edward Jackson, of Cam- bridge, naylor, his meadow [marsh] at the Pines, which he bought of Rob- ert Fcake, which lyeth in Cambridge between the Pines and a certain piece . of meadow now in the hands of Emery Norcross, about six acres, more or less, and the greater part abutting on Charles River, and some smallest of it on Mr. Philips' land, in consideration of £15.
7. 8. 1643.
Samuel Holly, of Cambridge, grants unto Edward Jackson, of the same town, six acres of land lying on the south side of the way that leads to Rox- bury, and joins east to the land now in the tenure of the said Jackson; it is forty rods long from the highway towards the Common, and twenty-four rods broad; in consideration of £5 in hand paid by said Jackson.
1646.
Simon Bradstreet, of Andover, gent., granted unto Mr. Edward Jackson, of Cambridge, naylor, in consideration of £140 already paid, liis farm of five
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
hundred acres, which was lately in the tenure of Thomas Mayhew, adjoining the Wear lands, bounded with pastor Shepard north ; Elder Champney west [east]; and the Common south and east, with all the rights and privileges, yea, appurtenances; and this was by an absolute deed, with warranty and bond of £2, to secure it from any claim, either himself or Thomas Mayhew.
This deed was acknowledged by Bradstreet before Governor Winthrop.
30. 6. 1658.
Thomas Brattle and others conveyed to Thomas Hammond and Vincent Druce, of Cambridge, six hundred acres at Muddy River, called the "Roy- ton Farm," surveyed by John Oliver, bounded north partly on Roxbury line, and south partly on the Cambridge line; consideration, £100.
FROM MIDDLESEX DEEDS.
6. 6. 1650.
Nicholas Hodgsden and wife Elizabeth, of Boston [Brookline], to John Parker, for £8 6s. 8d., one third of all the land he bought of Robert Bradish.
1650.
Nicholas Hodgsden to Thomas Hammond and Vincent Druce, both of Hingham, joint purchasers of sixty-seven acres of land on Cambridge Hill; also, twenty-nine acres more, adjoining John Parker's land, north-northwest and northeast.
April 6, 1652.
Administrators of Dea. Nathaniel Sparhawk to Samuel and Jonathan Hyde, two hundred acres land, part of which is bounded with Roxbury highway north; Richard Champney southeast; Stephen Day west; and twenty acres more, part of which is lying within the Indian fence.
14. 9. 1656.
Esther Sparhawk, daughter of Nathaniel Sparhawk, to Thomas Hammond, for £40, three hundred and thirty acres of land granted by the town of Cam- bridge to her father, now in possession of said Hammond; John Ward and Thomas Prentice north; land of Robert Bradish south and west.
1656.
Thomas Woolson, of Cambridge, to Jonathan Hyde, eighty acres of land, being one eighth of the land recovered from Dedham bounded with Thomas Wiswall's farm south. [The same land that Cambridge sold to Edward Goffe, and Goffe to Woolson.]
March, 1657.
Thomas Danforth, attorney to Thomas Parish, of Naylond County, Suffolk, England, to James and Thomas Prentice, jr., one hundred acres land for £61, being all that farm whereon James Prentice now dwells; northwest by Ded- ham highway [Centre Street] ; southwest by land of William Clemens; and northeast by land of John Jackson.
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EXTRACTS FROM RECORDS.
January, 1658.
Richard Parker and wife Ann, of Boston, to John Kenrick, two hundred and fifty acres of land, which he formerly purchased of Thomas Mayhew ; Charles River west; the Haynes farm north; John Jackson and others east, with farm, house and barn thereon, for £200.
December, 1658.
Joseph Cooke, of Cambridge, to John Fuller, for £160, seven hundred and fifty acres land, north and west by Charles River, the winding part of the river west; east by Thomas Park, and south by Samuel Shepard's farm, being a straight line between.
1661.
Edward Jackson to his son-in-law, John Ward, and Hannah his wife, all that tract of land where they have entered and built their house, being forty- five acres [which he bought of Elder Frost], bounded by the highway to Hammond's south ; Captain Prentice west; John Jackson east; and highway north. [This deed was not acknowledged until fourteen years after its date.]
1663.
Elder Frost, of Cambridge, to Captain Thomas Prentice, eighty-five acres ; John Ward east, Samuel Hyde north; William Clemens, James and Thomas Prentice, jr., west; Common lands south.
1669.
William Clemens, jr., to Daniel Bacon, of Bridgewater, tailor, twenty- five acres of land he lately purchased of Richard Dummer, of Boston; high- way from Watertown to Roxbury south; land of said Clemens east; and Charles River northeast, for £60.
1672.
Jeremiah Dummer, of Boston, to Gregory Cooke, one hundred and twelve acres land, partly in Cambridge [Newton] and partly in Watertown, with house and barn thereon, for £145; highway east; Edward Jackson and Daniel Bacon south; Charles River north; Thomas Park west.
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