USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, vol 1 > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58
The first meeting in the new precinct or parish was held on July 14, 1718, Daniel Lincoln presiding as moderator and Thomas James acting as clerk. The principal business transacted at this meeting was that of accepting the act estab- lishing the precinct. At a subsequent meeting a fast was appointed for the third Thursday in April, 1719, in order to call a minister to the parish. Mr. Pierpont was then called and Mr. Spear in the spring of 1721. No regular minister was settled, however, until September, 1721, when Nehemiah Hobart was installed as pastor. In 1727 the precinct petitioned the General Court for liberty to apply taxes to the support of schools, which was granted, and the first school was opened in the fall of 1728.
During the next quarter of a century the population grew steadily and at a meeting held on February II, 1751, "A vote was tryed whether we should Petetion the other parte of ye Town that we might be Sett off a distinct District or Township-Passed in ye affirmative." John Stephenson, Samuel Cushing and Isaac Lincoln were appointed a committee to present the petition at the Hingham town meeting in May, where it was "Passed in ye negative." Similar action was taken by a precinct meeting on March 4, 1752, with the understanding that if Hingham again refused consent the question should be taken to the General Court. At the Hingham town meeting on May 14, 1752, the petition was rejected, but the records do not show that the question was at that time carried to the General Court. Another effort was made in March, 1753, when the original committee was reappointed and instructed to "get the matter before the General Court," but in this instance the records are also silent as to the general result.
Repeated rebuffs had discouraged some of the people of little Hingham and they became somewhat indifferent on the subject. Enough maintained their interest, however, to present the "double barreled" petition again in March, 1756, one to the Town of Hingham and the other to the General Court. At the Hingham town meeting on May 19, 1756, the petition was again rejected
113
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
and the question then lay dormant for about twelve years. Then the following petition was prepared :
"Hingham, Jan. ye 2th, 1768.
"To Capt. Daniel Lincoln, Mr. Jazaniah Nichols and Mr. Thomas Lothrop, y Parish Committee for calling meetings, &sf.
"Gentlemen-We the subscribers apprehending that it will be for the advant- age of the Inhabitants in the Second Parish of Hingham to be made a District Do hereby Apply to you in behalf of Our Selves and others Requesting that you would forth with Call a Legal Meeting of sd Inhabitants To See whether they will vote to apply to the Town at theire Annual Meeting next March to bee in- corporated or Set off as aforesaid.
"There to chuse a Committtee in order to make the Application to the Town and also to transact any other matters or things that Shall there Bee thought Con- ducive to Accomplish this Beneficial End wee have in view, as Wittness our Hands.
"Daniel Tower, John Stephenson, Isaac Lincoln, Solomon Bates, Amos Joy, John Wilcott, Israel Whitcom, Samuel Cushing, Jonathan Near, John Stephen- son, Jr., Isaac Lincoln, Sr., Jonathan Pratt, James Litchfield, Mordecai Lincoln, Obadiah Lincoln, David Marble, Jr., Israel Whitcom, Jr., Job Whitcom, Lot Whitcom, John Pratt, Joshua Bates, Abel Kent, Thomas Lincoln, Price Prichart, Micah Nichols, James Hall, Cushing Kilby, Uriah Oakes, Charles Ripley, Morde- - cai Bates, Elisha Bates, Laz Beal, Jr., Nehemiah Bates, Newcomb Bourn, Jonathan Beals, Mijah Clapp, Thomas Pratt, Solomon Cushing, Benjamin Stetson, Heze- kiah Lincoln, Benjamin Beals, Richard Tower, Caleb Joy, Noah Nichols, Joseph Bates, Isaac Tower, Enoch Stodard, James Stodard, Philip James, Abner Bates, James Bates, Joshua Burr, John Beal, Isaac Burr, Thomas Nichols, Job Tower, James Stetson, John Tower, Daniel Tower, Jr."
In response to this petition a meeting was called for January 25, 1768, at which it was voted to petition Hingham and the General Court for a charter and "to be invested with all the Libertys and Privileges of a Town, that of sending a Representative to the General Court only excepted, and that they have the Liberty of joining with ye Town of Hingham in the choice of a Representative from time to time."
Isaac Lincoln, Jr., John Stephenson, Jr., and Laz Beal, Jr., were appointed a committee to lay the matter before the Hingham town meeting. When that meet- ing assembled, Hingham refused the request of the petitioners and appointed Joshua Hersey, Benjamin Lincoln, Jr., Joseph Andrews, Joseph Thaxter and Theophilus Cushing a committee to prepare and present a remonstrance to the General Court. Nothing definite was accomplished until March 28, 1770, when the General Court appointed Jonathan Bradbury, Colonel Gerrish and Major Ban- croft as a special committee "to repair to Hingham, as soon as may be, view the said Parish and report to the Court what in their opinion is proper to be done." The committee was entertained at the house of Lazarus Beal and the expense of the investigation (£4. 17s. Iod.) was charged to the Town of Hingham. On April 25, 1770, the committee reported in favor of the petitioners and they were given liberty to frame a bill for the establishing of a district. The bill had evidently been prepared in advance of the committee's report, for on April 26, 1770, "An Act for incorporating the Second Precinct in Hingham into a District by the name of Cohasset," became a law.
Vol. I-8
114
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
Although called a "district" in the act of incorporation, the law provided "That the inhabitants thereof be and hereby are invested with all the powers, privileges and immunities which the inhabitants of Towns within this Province do, or by law ought to enjoy (that of sending a Representative to the General Assembly only excepted) and that the inhabitants of said District shall have liberty, from time to time, to join with the Town of Hingham in the choice of a Representative or Representatives."
Not only were the inhabitants invested with the powers, privileges and im- munities of a town, but they were also required to perform all the duties required of towns. Benjamin Lincoln was named in the act as "empowered to issue a war- rant to some principal inhabitant of said District of Cohasset, requiring him to call a meeting of said inhabitants, in order to choose such officers as towns are by law empowered to choose," etc.
FIRST TOWN MEETING
Benjamin Lincoln issued a call for a meeting to be held on May 7, 1770, "at Cohasset meeting house on the Common." Isaac Lincoln was chosen moderator and the following town officers were elected: Joseph Souther, Daniel Lincoln and Isaac Lincoln, selectmen, assessors and overseers of the poor ; Daniel Lincoln, clerk; Thomas Bourne, treasurer; James Litchfield, Ephraim Lincoln and Abel Kent, school committee. The act of April 26th, incorporating the district, was accepted and it was "Voted to ask that the style of 'district' be changed to 'town.' " This was not done, however, until 1786, when the General Court passed an act that all districts incorporated prior to 1777 should be, to all intents and purposes, towns.
TOWN HALL
The town meetings were held in the First Parish Church until 1832. In 1797 a company of persons erected a building for a private school. In 1832 the town authorities obtained the use of this building, where meetings were held until the erection of the present town hall in 1857. It is a substantial frame building, two stories in height, and when first built the lower floor was used for some years for the high school. The original cost of the hall was about four thousand dollars, but an addition was made to it some years later, a heating plant and plumbing fixtures installed, giving the town ample accommodations for the transaction of public business. The building contains offices for the town clerk, assessors, select- men, etc., and a large hall for holding public meetings. It is well preserved and the common in front of the Cohasset Town Hall is one of the prettiest spots in Norfolk County.
COHASSET WATER COMPANY
Prior to 1887 the Town of Cohasset depended upon wells for its water supply. On April 26, 1886, fourteen men met and organized the Cohasset Water Company, which was incorporated a few days later. Several plans were considered for ob-
115
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
taining water for the people of the town, but the one finally selected was that of driving a number of deep wells in the meadow called "The Picle," pumping the water to a reservoir on the top of Bear Hill, from which it could be forced by gravity pressure to all parts of the town. The capital stock of the company was fixed at $100,000 and as soon as a sufficient amount had been paid in work on the plant was commenced. The reservoir on Bear Hill, with a capacity of 1.500,000, was constructed and connected by pipes with fifty-four wells in "The Picle." Mains were laid on the principal streets and the first water was supplied in the early autumn of 1887. Within recent years there have been some com- plaints about the quality of the water and the rates charged by the company, and there have been numerous expressions in favor of the purchase of the plant by the town, but nothing definite had been done up to July 1, 1917.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
The Cohasset Fire Department dates back to April 30, 1807, when the fol- lowing petition was presented to the board of selectmen :
"To the Selectmen of the Town of Cohassett :
"Gentlemen-You are requested to insert the following article in the warrant for the May meeting, viz :
"To see if the Town will Accept of a Fire Engine with Bucketts &c Compleat According to Law, to be procured and paid for by Mr. Elisha Doane, Jr., Mr. Nichols Tower, Mr. John Nichols, Mr. Joseph Lincoln, Mr. Wm. Whittington and such others as may Joyn them to the number the Law allowes and to be Com- pleated aggreeable to Law in the course of Nine Months-with the proviso, that if the Selectmen should at any time hereafter appoint Engine men to the exclusion of the present applicants, or any of their Associates or Assigns, then the Town shall reimburse to those who they may exclude all expences they may have been at."
The petition was signed by Laban Bates, Elisha Doane, Abel Kent, Jr., Thad- deus Lawrence, Israel Nichols, James Stoddard, William Stutson and Joel Will- cutt. At the May meeting the proposition was accepted and a few months later the engine was placed in commission. It was soon discovered that the engine was not a paying investment, on account of a scarcity of water, the only source of supply being the wells and some small ponds, and several years passed before the department was placed upon an efficient basis.
In 1905 a fire alarm system was installed and at the annual town meeting on March 6, 1916, it was "Voted that the sum of $4,820 be raised and appropriated, and that $1,000 of this amount be expended under the Board of Engineers for the purpose of repairs to the fire house at the cove, said repairs to consist of in- stalling a new heating plant and such other repairs as in their judgment are most necessary." The board of engineers at that time was composed of Henry E. Brennock, chief; George Jason, assistant chief ; George F. Sargent and Sidney L. Beal, district chiefs. In their report at the close of the year they announced that the repairs had been made. The department then consisted of two combina- tion engine and hook and ladder companies-one at Cohasset and one at Beech- wood-and a hose company at North Cohasset.
116
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
ELECTRIC LIGHT
On July 28, 1890, a company was formed for the purpose of lighting the towns of Cohasset and Scituate by electricity. It was incorporated on the 12th of August the same year under the name of the "Electric Light and Power Com- pany of Abington and Rockland." Work on construction was pushed forward with commendable energy and on September 14, 1890, the streets of Cohasset were lighted for the first time by electricity. The Hingham Municipal Electric Plant also furnishes a number of lights, especially in the vicinity of North Cohasset.
MISCELLANEOUS
One of the early settlers in Cohasset was Mordecai Lincoln, the ancestor of Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States. Mordecai Lin- coln received a grant of land on Bound Brook and built a mill on that stream. Prior to that time the nearest mill was at Straits Pond, but it could run only when the tide was out of the Weir River. The volume of water in Bound Brook was not sufficient to run a mill constantly, but Mr. Lincoln's ingenuity was able to overcome this difficulty. He built three mills-one at Turtle Island, one at Beech- wood and the third at Bound Rock. On Monday and Tuesday there was a suf- ficient head of water to run the mill at Turtle Island; Wednesday and Thursday he could operate the mill at Beechwood; and on Friday and Saturday the one at Bound Rock was kept busy. There is an old song entitled "The mill will never grind with the water that has passed," but the composer was evidently not ac- quainted with the method employed by Mordecai Lincoln, who used the same water three times. Mr. Lincoln also operated an iron smelter and forge, hauling his bog iron ore from Pembroke, a distance of ten miles, with ox teams.
During the first half of the Nineteenth Century shipbuilding was carried on at Cohasset and between the years 1820 and 1845 it was an important industry. Among the vessels that went out from the Cohasset yards were the brigs Eolus and Talisman, the Barque Hobart, the schooners Ansurla, Tower, Albicore, Myra, Convert, Talisman, William Bates, Bela Bates and Fleetwind. A number of the schooners were employed in the fishing industry, which is still a prominent feature of Cohasset's business enterprises.
The location of Cohasset makes it a desirable place for summer residence and many wealthy citizens of Boston own cottages along the coast, where they spend a large part of their time during the hot weather of July and August. The Boston & Plymouth division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railway system passes through the town, with frequent trains, which enables these summer resi- dents to make the short journey to the city whenever it becomes necessary. In 1910 the population of Cohasset was 2,585, and in 1915 it was 2,800. The assessed valuation of property in 1916 was $9,802,964.
At the beginning of the year 1917 the town officers were: Selectmen, Assess- ors and Overseers of the Poor, Harry E. Mapes, William O. Souther, Jr., Herbert L. Browe ; Clerk, Harry F. Tilden; Treasurer and Collector, Newcomb B. Tower ; Highway Surveyor, George Jason; Constables, Sidney L. Beal, Henry E. Bren- nock, John T. Keating, Louis J. Morris and Edward E. Wentworth.
1
CHAPTER XV
THE TOWN OF DEDHAM
GENERAL DESCRIPTION-SETTLEMENT AND GRANT-THE COVENANT-THE TOWN INCORPORATED-NAMING THE TOWN-ORIGINAL TERRITORY-A FEW PIONEERS- FIRST TOWN OFFICERS-DEDHAM IN 1664-TRAINING GROUND-EARLY MILLS- DEDHAM ISLAND-PETUMTUCK-OLD-TIME TAVERNS-FIRE DEPARTMENT- DEDHAM WATER COMPANY-MEMORIAL HALL-THE TOWN SEAL-POSTOFFICE- THE DEDHAM OF THE PRESENT.
Dedham, the shire town of Norfolk County, is situated a little north of the center of the county. It is somewhat irregular in shape; is bounded on the north by the Town of Needham; on the east by the City of Boston; on the southeast by the Town of Canton, and on the south and west by the Town of Westwood. It is separated from Needham by the Charles River, and the Neponset River flows between Dedham and Canton. The town is well watered by these two streams and their smaller tributaries. The surface is generally rolling or hilly, and the soil is of a sandy or gravelly nature, not naturally fertile, but by careful cultivation it can be made to produce fair crops of the grains, fruits and vegetables adapted to this section of the country.
SETTLEMENT AND GRANT
In May, 1635, the General Court gave permission to the people of Watertown "to remove whither they pleased, provided they continued under the jurisdiction of the court." Some of the inhabitants of those towns selected a location on the Charles River, and on September 3, 1635, the General Court ordered that: "There shall be a plantation settled about two miles above the falls of the Charles River, on the northeast side thereof, to have ground lying to it on both sides of the river, both upland and meadow, to be laid out hereafter as the court shall appoint."
The first settlement was made upon the new plantation in the fall of 1635 by people from Watertown and Roxbury. In March, 1636, the General Court appointed commissioners to set out the bounds of the plantation. The commis- sioners made their report on April 13, 1636. At that time it was a custom in New England for the settlers in a new community, before they were incorporated as a town, to form themselves into a sort of voluntary association and enter into an agreement to observe certain regulations until such time as the General Court should see fit to pass an act of incorporation. Pursuant to this custom, the settlers of the new plantation on the Charles River, soon after the bounds had been fixed by the commissioners, adopted the following
117
118
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
COVENANT
"1. We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, do, in the fear and reverence of Almighty God, mutually and severally promise amongst ourselves and each to other to profess and practice one truth according to that most perfect rule the foundation whereof is everlasting love.
"2. That we shall by all means labor to keep off from us all such as are con- trary-minded, and receive only such unto us as be such as may be probably of one heart with us, as that we either know or may well and truly be informed to walk in peaceable conversation, with all meekness of spirit, for the edification of each other, in the knowledge and faith of the Lord Jesus, and the mutual encouragement unto all temporal comforts in all things, seeking the good of each other out of all which may be derived true peace.
"3. That if at any time difference shall arise between parties of our said town, that then such party and parties shall presently refer all such difference unto some two or three others of our said society, to be fully accorded and determined without further delay, if it possibly may be.
"4. That every man that now or at any time hereafter shall have lots in our said town shall pay his share in all such rates of money and charges as shall be imposed upon him rateably in proportion with other men, as also become freely subject unto all such orders and constitutions as shall be necessarily had or made, now or at any time hereafter, from this day forward, as well for the loving and comfortable society in our said town as also for the prosperous and thriving condition of our said fellowship, especially respecting the fear of God, in which we desire to begin and continue whatsoever we shall by His loving favor take in hand.
"5. And for the better manifestation of our true resolution herein, every man so received to subscribe hereunto his name, thereby obliging both himself and his successors after him forever, as we have done."
This covenant was signed by one hundred and twenty-five persons, to wit : Ferdinando Adams, Thomas Alcock, John Aldis, Nathan Aldis, Edward Alleyne, James Allin, John Allin, Francis Austin, William Avery, Michael Bacon, George Barber, Richard Barber, Thomas Bartlett, John Batchelor, Thomas Bayes, George Bearstowe, William Bearstowe, Henry Brock, Benjamin Bullard, Isaac Bullard, John Bullard, William Bullard, Samuel Bulleyne, Thomas Cakebread, Thomas Carter, Francis Chickering, Joseph Clarke, Nathaniel Coaleborne (Colburn), Edward Colver, John Coolidge, Robert Crossman, Philemon Dalton, Timothy Dalton, Andrew Deming, Henry Dengayne, James Draper, John Dwight, Timothy Dwight, Timothy Dwight, Jr., Thomas Eames, John Eaton, John Elderkin, John Ellice, Joseph Ellice, Richard Ellice, Richard Evered (Everard), George Fayer- banke, John Fayerbanke, Jonathan Fayerbanke, Jonathan Fayerbanke, Jr., Robert Feake, Anthony Fisher, Cornelius Fisher, John Fisher, Joshua Fisher, Samuel Fisher, Thomas Fisher, Thomas Fisher, Jr., John Frayrye, Ralph Freeman, Thomas Fuller, John Gaye, Lambert Genere, Henry Glover, Robert Gowen, John Guild, Thomas Hastings, James Herring, Thomas Herring, Robert Hinsdale, Ezekiel Holliman, John Houghton, John Haward (Howard), John Huggin, Jonas Humphrey, John Hunting, James Jordan, Thomas Jordan, Edward Kempe, Austen Kilham, John Kingsbury, Joseph Kingsbury, Thomas Leader, Eleazer Lusher,
THE SQUARE, LOOKING EAST, DEDHAM
FRANKLIN SQUARE, DEDHAM
119
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
John Luson, John Mason, Michael Metcalfe, Thomas Metcalfe, Samuel Mills, Jeffrey Mingeye, Daniel Morse, John Morse, Joseph Morse, Samuel Morse, Joseph Moyes, Robert Onion, John Partridge, Thomas Payne, Henry Phillips, Martin Phillips, Nicholas Phillips, John Plympton, Daniel Pond, Michael Powell, John Rice, Edward Richards, John Rogers, John Roper, Abraham Shaw, Joseph Shaw, Ralph Shepherd, Benjamin Smith, Christopher Smith, Henry Smyth, Hugh Stacey, Thwaits Strickland, James Thorpe, John Thurston, James Vales (Fales), Robert Ware, Ralph Wheelock, Nathaniel Whiting, Thomas Wight, Ellice Wood and Peter Woodward.
The covenant bears no date to show just when it was adopted, and a few of the names attached to it were those of mere children, notably Timothy Dwight, Jr., Isaac Bullard, Jonathan Fayerbanke, Jr., and John Houghton, some of whom were not more than five years of age at the time the covenant was first written.
THE TOWN INCORPORATED
The oldest record of a town meeting in the settlement on the Charles River bears date of August 18, 1636. Another meeting held on the 5th of September was attended by nineteen persons, who adopted the following petition for presen- tation to the General Court, which was then in session :
"I. May it please this honored court to ratify unto your humble petitioners your grant formerly made of a plantation above the falls that we may possess all that land which is left out of all former grants upon that side of the Charles River. And upon the other side five miles square. To have and enjoy all those lands, meadows, woods and other grounds, together with all waters and other benefits whatsoever now being or that may be within the compass of the aforesaid limits to 11s with our associates and our assigns forever.
"2. To be freed from all country charges for four years. And military exer- cises to be only in our own town, except extraordinary occasion require it.
"3. That such distribution or allotments of lands, meadows, woods, &c., within our said limits as are done and performed by the grantees, their successors, or such as shall be deputed thereunto, shall and may stand for good assurance unto the several possessors thereof and their assigns forever.
4. That we may have countenance from this honored court for the well ordering of the nonage of our society according to the best rule. And to that purpose to assign unto us a constable that may regard peace and truth.
"5. To distinguish our town by the name of Contentment, or otherwise what you shall please.
"6. And lastly we entreat such other helps as your wisdoms shall know best in favor to grant unto us for our well improving of what we are thus entrusted withal unto our particular, but especially unto the general good of this whole weal public in succeeding times.
"Subscribed by all that have underwritten in covenant at present."
The nineteen men who signed this petition at the meeting at which it was unanimously adopted were: Edward Alleyne, Francis Austin, Thomas Bartlett, William Bearstowe, John Coolidge, Philemon Dalton, John Dwight, Richard Evered, John Gaye, Lambert Genere, Ezekiel Holliman, John Howard, John
120
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
Kingsbury, Samuel Morse, Nicholas Phillips, John Rogers, Abraham Shaw, Joseph Shaw and Ralph Shepherd. Some historians state that the petition was signed by nineteen inhabitants of the plantation, but as a matter of fact it was signed by twenty-two. The minutes of the meeting of September 5, 1636, state that "After ye assembly was dissolved Mr. Robte Feke came and subscribed his name unto ye said peticion. And Thomas Hastings and John Huggin did the like at Boston."
It appears that the petitioners lost no time in bringing the matter before the General Court, for on September 8, 1636, that body ordered that: "The planta- tion to be settled above Charles River shall have three years immunity from public charges, as Concord had, to be accounted from the first of May next ; that the name of the town shall be Dedham ; to enjoy all that land on the easterly and southerly side of the Charles River, not formerly granted unto any town or particular per- son ; and also to have five miles square on the other side of the said river." It is from the date of this order that Dedham dates its incorporation as a town.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.