USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > History of Newton, Massachusetts : town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880 > Part 25
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t Dr. Gilbert says of this enlargement : The meeting-house was turned, the side to the street, and twelve feet added, making it forty-two by forty. Also, a porch was added, with a belfry, and a gallery put in. The house had windows above and below. I counted them, and, taking into the count the two half circular windows over the two front doors, the number was fifty; no blinds ; all rattled when the wind blew, and when the sun shone, we had no " dim religious light." The galleries were occu- pied by boys and girls, or transient people. They were never very full.
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SECOND MEETING-HOUSE.
Worship was held in it for the last time March 26, 1848. It was finally removed and altered into the Town House at West New- ton, which subsequently became the City Hall. The second meeting-house was dedicated March 29, 1848. Rev. Lyman Gil- bert preached the dedication sermon, which was afterwards printed, from Acts XXVIII : 22, "But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest ; for, as concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against." At the time of the ordination of Mr. Greenough, the parish included not only the village of West New- ton, but what is now that part of Waltham south of Charles River, North Village, the greater part of Newtonville, Auburn- dale, and the Lower Falls. In all this territory there were then from fifty-five to sixty dwellings. Several families asked and re- ceived permission to remain with the parent church at the Centre. Probably thirty-five or forty families constituted the society. It
was near the close of the war of the Revolution. The people
were poor, and some who wished the enterprise well had serious doubts as to its success. We may well admire the determined courage, energy and perseverance of Mr. Greenough and the little band that carried it through, in the face of so many obstacles to success. His salary was eighty pounds and fifteen cords of wood, equivalent to $266.66.
In 1814, the families living at the Lower Falls, about ten in number, united with the Episcopal church then recently formed in that village.
Mr. Greenough's home was on Washington Street. The build- ings were afterwards burned. The house was fronted by three noble elms, planted there by fond parishioners.
The ministry of Mr. Greenough covered that period of transi- tion in the Congregational churches of Massachusetts, when the more liberal element among the members was sifted out, and theol- ogy, taught by the pulpit and discussed by the pews, assumed a more definite shape. Men, even in the common walks of life, formulated their own creeds, and assented with less facility than formerly to what was taught them by their spiritual guides. The " Bible News," of Rev. Noah Worcester, of Brighton, published near the commencement of the nineteenth century,-a pamphlet question- ing the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ,-the controversy arising out of the appointment of Dr. Henry Ware, senior, to the Hollis
256
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Professorship of Divinity in Harvard College,- a Unitarian pro- fessor to be supported on an " orthodox " foundation,- and the let- ters of Dr. Jedediah Morse, of Charlestown, and Miss Hannah Adams, in a Boston newspaper, debating this issue between the churches and the Corporation of the University, stirred the public mind in a way to stimulate thought, and to make the position of the ministry a more difficult one than in any former period of New England history. The pulpit was obliged to allow itself to be questioned, in regard to its teachings, by the pews, and the time had come when the preacher's trumpet must give no "uncertain sound." Mr. Greenough's geographical position, in the vicinity of Cambridge and Boston, placed him in the very thickest of the conflict. But he stood steadfast to the old New England theology. The doctrines of the Puritans were the element of his teachings.
During the same period, also, the new Christian activity spring- ing out of the modern missionary enterprise was inaugurated, and into this fresh field of promising interest and toil, Mr. Greenough entered with all his heart. The Monthly Concert of Prayer for the success of missions was held in his church for years on the afternoon of the first Monday of every month, and doubtless seed was sown which afterwards brought forth fruit; for the church in West Newton has since had its representatives among Christian missionaries.
Says Dr. Gilbert,-
Father Greenough was once told by an Englishman who had seen John Wesley, that he looked like him more than any other man he had ever seen. Wesley's lithograph, gown and all, would be a good fit.
Dr. Gilbert adds, at a later date,-
On page 681 of Frank Leslie's Sunday Magazine for June, I find a litho- graph of John Wesley. It is a profile view-all the better as a likeness of Father Greenough. The latter told me he used to wear a gown and bands. The stock and bands, as here represented, were worn by him at the time of my ordination. He was much scandalized that Dr. Jenks came without his bands. I do not know whether he ever wore a wig, as here represented [in the likeness of Wesley]. But the wig was the fashion of his times. My first wife's mother told me that in her younger days all the ministers on public occasions used to appear in powdered wigs.
Mr. Greenough held on to the last to small clothes, shoe and knee buckles ; also to the cocked hat, until the boys followed him when he went through the streets of Boston. He was six feet tall, and a thin spare man.
257
DEATH OF MR. GREENOUGH.
Mr. Greenough died Nov. 10, 1831, fifty years and two days from the date of his ordination, aged seventy-five. He was twice married, first, to Abigail, daughter of Rev. Stephen Badger, of Natick ; after her death, to Mrs. Lydia Haskins, of Boston, and had four children by the first marriage and five by the second. He preached the simple gospel with earnestness and directness, and his sowing was not without fruit. When Professors Park, Shedd and Stowe were all at Andover, an accidental comparing of notes brought out the fact that each of them acknowledged that his first impulse towards the ministry was from Mr. Greenough. It is thus that the small and feeble churches in the country nurture in piety and gifts the men who afterwards occupy the high places in churches and institutions, and become the liberal benefactors of all good works. A rural pastor may seem to hold a sphere of in- different importance, but in later times it may be manifest that he commanded the head waters of a tide of influence which was des- tined to pour infinite blessings upon the world.
From the recollections of Dr. Gilbert, we have a plan of the old meeting-house, as it was when he first saw it. There was a porch in front and three windows on each side of the building. The pews in the middle of the floor of the house were square, and the seats hung on hinges, in the old style. The galleries were very wide and steep ; so great was the elevation of the pulpit and the width of the galleries, that when the people stood, the minister could not see, from the pulpit, the heads of the people on the lower floor in the wall pews. The pulpit had been previously rebuilt, after the model of the pulpit in a church in Dedham. The plan of the house, as furnished by Dr. Gilbert, as it was when he first saw it, is very interesting ; and much value is added to it by the names of the persons who occupied nearly every pew in the house. As we read them in their order, we seem to see the men and women of half a century ago coming back and taking their places, and sitting by families to join in the worship of God. And in view of the changes which fifty years have wrought,- the children in the places of the fathers, the new customs, the names we miss that will no more return,- we are led to ask, with vivid feeling, "The fathers, where are they ?"
When Mr. Greenough's ministry had continued nearly half a century, his age and declining health led him to propose the set- tlement of a colleague. In 1827, the Rev. Asahel Bigelow was 17
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
elected colleague pastor, but he declined the call. The follow- ing year, the Rev. Lyman Gilbert, of Middlebury, Vt., was called to the same office, and accepted, and was ordained July 2, 1828.
The following curious document though it bears a comparatively recent date, belongs in spirit and method to the earlier years of New England history. It was found among the papers of the late Deputy Sheriff, Adolphus Smith, of West Newton.
To Mr. Adolphus Smith, collector of taxes for the West Precinct in Newton :
GREETING, --
In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts you are required to levy and collect of the several persons named in the list herewith committed unto you each one his respective portion therein set down of the sum total of such list it being four hundred and eighty dollars and eighty-four cents, granted by the inhabitants of the West Precinct in Newton, at their annual meeting, in March last, for paying the Rev. William Greenough his salary, and for defraying the contingent charges of the Precinct, the present year, and you are to transmit and pay in the same unto Captain James Fuller, Treasurer of said Precinct or to his successor in that office, and to complete and make up an amount of your collection of the whole sum, on or before the first day of November next; and if any person shall refuse or neglect to pay the sum he is assessed in said list, to distrain the goods or chattels of such person to the value thereof, and the distress so taken to keep for the space of four days at the cost and charge of the owner, and if he shall not pay the sum so assessed, within the said four days, then you are to sell at public vedue the distress so taken for the payment thereof with charges ; first giving forty-eight hours notice of such sale by posting up advertisements thereof in some public place in said Precinct; and the overplus arising from such sale, if any there be, besides the sum assessed and the necessary charges of taking and keeping the distress, you are immediately to restore to the owner, and for want of goods and chattels, whereon to make distress (besides tools or implements necessary for his trade or occupation, beasts of the plough neces- sary for the cultivation of his improved lands, arms, utensils for housekeep- ing necessary for upholding life, bedding and apparel necessary for himself and family) for the space of twelve days, you are to take the body of such person so refusing or neglecting, and him commit unto the common gaol of the County, there to remain until he pay the same, or such part thereof as shall not be abated by the assessors for the time being, or the Court of gen- eral sessions of the peace for said County.
Given under our hands and seals this 12th day of July, A. D., 1828.
EPHRAIM JACKSON, Assessors.
JONAS SMITH,
CHAPTER XXII.
NEWTON UPPER FALLS .- EARLY SETTLEMENT .- THE INDIAN DEED .-
DEPOSITIONS OF EARLY RESIDENTS .- TRANSFERS OF PROPERTY .- KINDS OF BUSINESS .- CHANGES .- NEWTON LOWER FALLS.
THE settlement of Newton Upper Falls owes its origin to the water privileges on the river Charles. The Indian name of this river was Quinobequin. It encircles a large part of Newton, the centre of its channel forming the natural boundary on the major portion of the northern, western and southern sides. It is a winding line; about fifteen miles in length.
In 1636, the General Court granted to the proprietors of Ded- ham the land on the west side of Charles River, now Needham, Natick and a part of Sherburne. The same year the proprietors of New Town (Cambridge) obtained a grant of the Court of what is now Newton and Brighton. These two grants covered all the land at the westerly curve of the river Charles, on both sides, sub- ject, however, to the title claimed by the Indians, for which the proprietors were to pay them an equitable consideration. Both the law of the colony and the law of justice demanded this at their hands.
In accordance with this condition, in April, 1680, the proprietors of Dedham (the west side of the Charles) agreed to give William Nehoiden, or Nahaton, a sachem, ten pounds in money, forty shil- lings in Indian corn, and forty acres of land, one hundred and twenty rods long and fifty-three rods wide, at the Upper Falls on Charles River, in exchange for a tract of land seven miles long from east to west, and five miles wide, now the township of Deerfield. The same year, they gave Maugus, another sachem, eight pounds, for his lands at Maugus hill. Thus the Indians acquired their title to Natick, Needham and Dedham Island. This covered the first of the two grants of the General Court. It is uncertain how or when the title of the Indians to Newton and Brighton,- the terri-
259
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
tory embraced in the second grant,- was acquired by them. As to the extinction of the Indian title to the first grant, we learn that in 1639, three years after the action of the General Court, the same Court appointed Edward Gibbons, one of the Boston depu- ties, to agree with the Indians for their lands within the bounds of Cambridge, Watertown and Boston. Mr. Gibbons probably suc- ceeded in accomplishing the object of his appointment, although we have found no report of his doings. As to the extinction of the Indian title to the second grant, we find that in January, 1700, " William Nahaton, an Indian, of Punkapoag, for twelve pounds, conveyed to Robert Cooke, of Dorchester, hornbreaker, the surviv- ing son of Robert Cooke, late of Dorchester, hornbreaker, forty acres of land on the west side of Charles River, just above the Upper Falls, one hundred and twenty rods long and fifty-three rods wide." Jackson says, "This is the same land which the inhabitants of Dedham conveyed to William Nehoiden* in April 1680."
New Cambridge, New Town or Newton, being, at the date of the first grant, a part of Cambridge, the territory bestowed by that grant became a part of Newton, and of that portion of it afterwards embraced in Newton Upper Falls.
The first mill on the banks of the Charles in Newton was erected by Mr. John Clark about 1688, at the Upper Falls (upper village), where the waters of the river fall twenty feet perpendicu- larly, and then descend thirty-five feet in the course of half a mile. The first purchase of land by John Clark, senior, at the Upper Falls does not appear upon the public records. Probably he bought of the Cambridge proprietors or their assigns, with the in- cumbrance of the Indian title, and neglected to record his Deed. The mill, as was natural, in a thickly-wooded neighborhood, was a saw-mill, and its location, the same which has since been occupied by the cotton-mills, below the bridge at the Village.
The deposition of Ebenezer Ware, an aged man of Needham, dated October, 1763, states that in 1693 he knew the eel weir, just above the Falls ; and that John Clark, senior, told him that
* William Nehoiden and William Nahaton are undoubtedly the same individual. The name is also spelt Ahawton, Nahaton, etc. In the body of the Deed of the Ind- ians to the inhabitants of Braintree, 1665, this Indian's name is written Nahanton; his signature to the same Deed is " Hahaton." In the Indian Deed of the peninsula of Boston, 1685, his name is signed " Hahaton." In his Deed to Robert Cooke, 1701, he signed his name " Nahaton."
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INDIAN DEED.
he, John Clark, senior, bought all the Indians' right to build mills there; and also, that John Clark, jr., told him that his father bought the eel weir of the Indians for three pounds lawful money, and that the stone walls of the weir were about three feet high from the bed of the river, when in repair. The deposition of Sarah Tray, an Indian woman, aged about fifty, dated May, 1748, states that she had often heard her husband's grandmother say that her husband, John Maugus, once owned the land on the west side of Charles River, at the Upper Falls, and the rock house, which the Indians improved, and that her husband, Maugus, had a wigwam there, and knew it had been used for forty years for drying fish and eels ;- and that the Englishman who built the mills purchased the land.
The care with which the Deed of Nahaton and these Depositions were drawn and have been preserved indicates the high value set upon the property in the vicinity of the Falls. The Deed and Depositions themselves are of sufficient interest and importance to claim a place in these Records.
DEED OF WILLIAM NAHATON.
To all People unto whom these presents shall come. William Nahaton, an Indian of Puncapoge, within the County of Suffolke, in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, -Sendeth Greeting.
Whereas the Inhabitants of the Towne of Dedham, in the County afores'd, on the Fourteenth day of the Second Month, 1680, Granted to the s'd William Nahaton and to his heires forever Forty acres of Land, Lying abutting upon Charles River towards the Northeast, one hundred and Twenty rodds Long, just above the Upper falls, fifty three Rodds in breadth, and abutting upon Dedham Land on all other parts,-With Liberty of ffishing att the s'd Wil- liam's Weares, Provided he or any of his successors shall not have Liberty to sell or dispose of any of the abovesaid Premises to any man without the consent of the Selectmen for the Towne of Dedham for the time being, -as by the said Towne Grant, reference whereto being had more fully may appeare.
And whereas the said Selectmen of Dedham for the time being have granted unto the s'd William Nahaton their free consent and Liberty to dis- pose thereof unto Robert Cooke, of Dorchester, in the County of Suffolke, afores'd, Hornebreaker, the surviving son of Robert Cooke, late of Dorches- ter afores'd, Hornebreaker, deceased.
Now Know Yee that I, the s'd William Nahaton, for and in Consideration of the Summe of Twelve Pounds Current money of New England, to me in hand well and truely payd att and before the ensealeing and delivery of these presents by John Hubbard, of Boston, in the County of Suffolke aforesaid, merchant, for account and on behalf of the s'd Robert Cooke, the receipt whereof to ffull content and satisfaction I doo hereby acknowledge, and
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
thereof, and of every part and parcel thereof doo acquitt, exonerate and dis- charge the s'd John Hubbard and Robert Cooke and each of them, their and each of their heires, Executors, administrators and assignes forever by these presents ; Have given, granted, bargained, sold, aliened, enfeoffed, conveyed and confirmed, and by these presents Doe ffully, ffreely, cleerly and abso- lutely give, grant, bargaine, sell, aliene, enfeoffe, conveye and confirme unto the s'd Robert Cooke, his heires and assignes Forever, All The aforemen- tioned fforty Acres of Land Lying within the Towneship of Dedham granted unto me as afores'd, and bounded and described as afores'd, Together with all profitts, privilidges, rights, commodityes and appur'ces whatsoever to the same belonging or in any wise appertaining. And the revercion and rever- cions, remainder and remainders, rents, issues and incomes thereof, And also all the Estate, right, title, Interest, Inheritance, use, possession, prop- erty, claime and demand whatsoever of me, the s'd William Nahaton, of, in and to y'e same and every part thereof, reserving only out of the above granted premises unto me, the s'd William Nahaton, my heires and assignes forever, one quarter of an acre of s'd Land for the accomodation of Fishing . by or neeare unto the afores'd Weares,-
To have and to hold the s'd Forty acres of Land, bounded and discribed as afores'd, with the priviledges and appurten'ces thereunto belonging (re- serving only as above reserved), unto the s'd Robert Cooke, his heires and assigns, To his and their owne sole and proper use and benefitt and behoofe forever, absolutely, without any manner of Condition, redemption or revoca- tion in anywise. And I, the s'd William Nahaton for me, my heires, Execu- tors and Administrators doo hereby covenant, promise, grant and agree to and with the s'd Robert Cooke, his heires and assignes, in manner and Form following, That is to say, That att the time of the ensealing hereof and untill the delivery of these presents, I, the s'd William Nahaton, am true, Sole and Lawfull owner of all the aforebargained premises, And stand Lawfully seized thereof in my owne proper right of a good, sure and Indefeasible Estate of Inheritence in ffee Simple, Haveing in myself Full power, good right and Lawfull authority to grant, sell, convey and assure the above granted prem- isses with the appurt'ces (reserving as above reserved) unto the said Robert Cooke, his leires and assignes forever, in manner and Forme afores'd, and according to the true Intent and meaneing of these presents, And that the s'd Robert Cooke, his heirs and assignes, shall and may by force and virtue of these presents, from henceforth and Forever hereafter Lawfully, peacea- bly and quietly enter into and upon, have, liold, use, occupy, possess and en- joy the abovegranted and bargained premisses, with the appurt'ces, reserving only as above reserved, ffree and cleerly acquitted, exonerated and dis- charged of and from all and all manner of former and other gifts, grants, bargaines, sales, leases, releases, mortgages, joyntures, dowers, judgments, executions, entails, forfeitures, seizures, amorciaments, and of and from all other titles, troubles, charges and Incumbrances whatsoever. And Further, That I, the s'd William Nahaton, for me, my heires, Executors and Admin- istrators, and every of us doe hereby covenant and grant to warrant and de- fend all the above granted and bargained premisses, with the appurt'ces
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INDIAN DEPOSITION.
thereof (reserving only as above reserved), unto the said Robert Cooke, his heires and assignes forever, against the Lawfull claimes and demands of all and every person and persons whomsoever. In witness whereof, I the said William Nahaton, have hereunto sett my hand and seale the Twenty- ninth day of January anno Dom'i one thousand seven hundred, In the Twelfth Yeare of the reigne of King William the Third over England, &c.
WILLIAM NAHATON. [SEAL]
Signed, Sealed and Delivered in the presence of us
A- LEANIIARD
Signum A ABRAHAM BLANCHARD ELIEZER MOODY, sct.
Suffolk ss. Boston, January 29th, 1700.
The above mentioned William Nahaton, personally appearing before me the subscriber, one of his Majesty's Justices of Peace within ye County afores'd, acknowledged this Instrument to be his free and voluntary act and deed.
EPHR. HUNT.
Memo. It's to be understood That there was formerly a deed given by the s'd William Nahaton for the piece of land above mentioned; which deed being lost, this was againe given.
The depositions which follow furnish evidence, in the absence of written records, of the possession of the property by the orig- inal owners, and of the right of the Indian, to convey it to the white proprietor. If Dedham, by a just and righteous transaction, honestly extinguished the original Indian title, we have an un- broken succession of the titles down to the present time. Need- ham was originally a part of Dedham, as was Dover also. As late as 1790 Needham was included in the county of Suffolk.
The testimonies which follow, bridge across the civilization of one or two centuries and bring us face to face with the dashing waters and the unbroken forests of the red man, and the simple manners, the cheap land and the tenacity of the right of posses- sion which characterized the fathers of the town of Newton.
DEPOSITION OF AMOS NAHATON.
Stoughton, January ye 4th, 1747.
The Deposition of Amos Nahaton, of Eighty-two years of age, doth testify and say that I well remember my Father, William Nahaton, of Punkapog, owned the Great Falls in Charles River, and that he owned the s'd River for a great ways above and below s'd Falls, and the Islands and Eell wares in s'd River, and that he owned the land against s'd Falls on the West side of
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
the River. And I further well remember Above sixty years past, My Father sold A peice of land called two acres at the Great fishing place on the West side the River for A Gun to John Maugus, of Natick, and that the s'd Maugus was to have Liberty to fish at My Father's Wares in s'd River; and I further Testify That when My Father sold A certain Peice of land to Cook or Cook's Mother, that he did not then sell Maugusses land nor the Islands nor the wares in s'd River; further, I Testify that above sixty years past John Maugus and the other Natick Indians were then In the Possession of the above two acres, and had Wigwams on s'd land.
his AMOS + NAHATON. mark. Stoughton, Jan'ry ye 4th, 1747.
The within Deponent, Amos Nahaton, Took his Oath to the within Deposi- tion in Perpetuam Rei Memoriam before us -
SAMUEL WHITE, Justice of the Peace. Quorum Unus.
HENRY SEWALL, Justice Peace.
N. B. The within Deponent at the time of Caption was Esteemed by us to be of Good Judgment and Sound Memory.
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