USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, vol 1 > Part 35
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Those who were thus reunited with the old parish were not satisfied with the situation in which they were placed, owing to the distance they had to go to attend public worship, and on April 13, 1734, a petition was signed by Joseph Ellis and others, asking that they be set off as a separate parish or precinct, with authority to build a meeting house and employ a minister, and to be exempt from paying rates to the Town of Dedham for the support of the minister in the First Parish. Although the prayer of the petitioners was not at that time granted, they organized a religious society on June 4, 1735, and installed Rev. Josiah
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Dwight, a son of Capt. Timothy Dwight, as their pastor. The parish was finally incorporated as the "Clapboard Trees" parish on January 10, 1736, and was known as the Third Parish of Dedham. The name clapboard trees no doubt was derived from the fact that in that vicinity grew timber suitable for making clapboards to cover the dwelling houses erected by the early settlers. On Janu- ary 17, 1836, Rev. John White, then pastor of the church in the Third Parish, preached a historical sermon, reviewing the growth and work of the parish dur- ing the one hundred years of its existence.
WESTWOOD INCORPORATED
In the course of time the parish became known as "West Dedham," under which name it continued until the early part of the year 1897, when the follow- ing petition was presented to the Legislature :
"To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts :
"The undersigned petitioners, citizens of Dedham in said Commonwealth, respectfully represent that they are inhabitants of the village of West Dedham, in the said town, or of parts of said town most nearly allied in interest with said West Dedham; that they are desirous of having the village of West Dedham, with a certain other portion of the territory of the said Town of Dedham, set off as a separate town under the name of West Dedham, or such other name as to the General Court may seem suitable; and that the boundaries of such new town be fixed as follows :- Beginning at a line near the bridge across the Neponset River near Green Lodge Station, so called, upon the Boston & Providence Rail- road ; thence in a straight line to the junction of Canton and East streets ; thence in a straight line to the junction of Washington and Elm streets; thence in a straight line to the junction of Grove and High streets; thence to the boundary stone between the towns of Dedham and Needham which is nearest to the Town of Dover, and on all other sides by the towns of Dover, Walpole. Norwood and Canton, as the town lines now exist."
This petition, which was signed by Calvin S. Locke, Luther A. Eaton, Henry E. Weatherbee and "twenty-two others," resulted in a bill granting the prayer of the petitioners being introduced in the House of Representatives on February 23, 1897. After a thorough consideration of the subject by that branch of the Legislature, the bill was passed and on March IIth was sent to the Senate. In due time it passed the Senate and on April 2, 1897, the governor gave his approval to the following
ACT OF INCORPORATION
"Be it enacted, etc., That all the territory now within the Town of Dedham which lies southwesterly of the following described line, that is to say: Begin- ning at the Neponset River at the center of said river and the easterly line of Greenlodge Street, where said street crosses said river; thence running north, 47º 45' west, a distance of seven thousand six hundred and forty-eight and seven-tenths feet through private lands and crossing Greenlodge Street, to a point on the northerly side of East Street; thence by a course north, 70° 55'
TOWN HALL, WESTWOOD
POSTOFFICE AND HIGH SCHOOL, WESTWOOD
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west, a distance of five thousand five hundred and eighty-six and forty-six- hundredths feet through private lands and crossing the roadbed of the New England Railroad, Elm Street and the roadbed of the Norfolk County Railroad, to a point on the northerly side of Washington Street at the junction of Gay Street with said Washington Street; thence by a course north, 45° 26' west, a distance of seven thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine and seven-tenths feet through private lands and crossing the Sandy Valley road, to a point on the northerly side of High Street at the junction of Grove Street with said High Street ; thence running by a course north, 50° 22' west, a distance of nine thou- sand one hundred and forty-seven feet through private lands and crossing West- field Street, to a point in the center of Charles River; thence running south- westerly along said Charles River a distance of three hundred and forty feet, about to the present dividing line between the towns of Dover and Dedham, where said line meets the Charles River-is hereby incorporated into a separate town, by the name of Westwood; and the said Town of Westwood is hereby vested with all the powers, privileges, rights and immunities, and shall be subject to all the duties and requirements to which other towns are entitled and subject, under the constitution and laws of the Commonwealth."
Other sections of the act relate to the payment of taxes, the care of paupers and the division of town property and debt, in about the same language as that usually used in the incorporation of new towns. Some of the petitioners wanted to name the town "Nahatan," but the Legislature decided upon the name of "Westwood."
FIRST TOWN MEETING
Pursuant to the provisions of the act of incorporation, W. W. Baker, a justice of the peace, issued his warrant to John Dean on April 6, 1897, directing him to notify the legal voters of a town meeting at Colburn Hall on Saturday, April 17, 1897. As this was the first meeting called in the new town, nearly every voter was present. Howard Colburn was chosen moderator and the meeting then proceeded to the election of officers, with the following result: Benjamin Fisher, Henry E. Weatherbee and John L. Fisher, selectmen, surveyors of highways, overseers of the poor and board of health ; Henry E. French, William Schlusemeyer and David A. Hodgdon, assessors; Willie W. Baker, clerk; George A. French, treasurer ; Charles H. Ellis, tax collector ; George Kingsbury, auditor ; Calvin S. Locke, W. WV. Baker and Crawford D. Place, school committee; John Dean, George W. Thompson and Isaac H. Carter, constables.
TOWN HALL
At a meeting held on June 15, 1909, it was voted to appropriate the sum of $30,000 for the erection of a new town hall, and a building committee was ap- pointed. Hurd & Gore, architects of Boston, submitted a design which was accepted, and the contract was awarded to Frank C. Woodward. The building was completed in 1911. On the first floor are the town offices and a small hall; the second floor is occupied by a large hall, with the customary anterooms ; and in the basement is a banquet hall and the town lock-up. The building is a substantial
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edifice of brick and stone and is surmounted by a tower in which is a clock. West- wood has one of the best town halls in the county.
POSTOFFICES
"West Dedham" postoffice was established in 1824, with Jason Ellis as post- master. When the Town of Westwood was incorporated, the name of the post- office was changed to correspond to that of the town. During the ninety-three years that this postoffice has been in existence, it has had but three postmasters. Jason Ellis served for a number of years, when he was succeeded by Theodore Gay, who served until 1880, when the present incumbent, Charles H. Ellis, was ap- pointed. The only other postoffice in the town is at Islington. It is of compara- tively recent origin.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Westwood has four fire companies, three of which were inherited from Ded- ham. Nearly opposite the town hall is the building occupied by the Franklin Engine Company No. I, and Hose Company No. I. There is another fire station near the Unitarian Church and one at Pond Plain, both equipped with hand engines and hose carts, and at Islington, in the eastern part of the town, is a chemical engine. The cost of maintaining the department for the year 1916 was $1,529. All the apparatus is of rather obsolete pattern and in their report for the year 1916 the board of engineers recommended the purchase of a combination auto truck, but their recommendation had not been approved by the town at the close of the year.
TOWN OFFICERS, 1917
At the beginning of the year 1917 the principal town offices were occupied by the following incumbents : Henry E. Weatherbee, Herbert W. Bonney and George C. Lee, selectmen; William L. Lucey, William H. McLaren and Benjamin F. White, assessors ; Willie W. Baker, clerk (Mr. Baker has held the office of town clerk ever since Westwood was incorporated) ; Edward S. Colburn, treasurer ; Charles H. Ellis, tax collector ; Richard Lennihan, Carrol H. Draper and Gran- ville W. Baker, auditors; Mrs. Louisa C. Perkins, John C. Mulvehill and William H. Spokesfield, school committee; Frederick Fisher, Albert C. Crocker and Thomas H. Kelly, constables. The selectmen also serve as overseers of the poor, surveyors of highways and board of health.
WESTWOOD OF TODAY
Westwood is a typical rural town. Without bank, manufacturing enterprises or a newspaper, the people "pursue the even tenor of their way." The town has two public school buildings-the Colburn School at Westwood and the Islington School-Baptist, Congregational and Unitarian churches, a public library, and well kept highways. But the town's greatest attraction is its homes, nearly all of which are owned by the occupants, who take commendable pride in keeping up their premises. In 1910 the population was 1,266 and in 1915 it was 1,448, a gain of 222 in five years. The assessed valuation of property in 1916 was $5,924,108, an increase of $1, 139,222 over that of the preceding year.
CHAPTER XXXV
THE TOWN OF WEYMOUTH
LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES-SURFACE AND DRAINAGE-SETTLEMENT-TIIE GORGES COMPANY-THE HULL COMPANY-ADJUSTING THE BOUNDARIES-THE INDIAN TITLE-EARLY LANDOWNERS-INDIAN WARS-THE SOUTH PRECINCT-ATTEMPT TO DIVIDE THE TOWN-ALMSHOUSES-POSTOFFICES-SOLDIERS' MONUMENT- WATERWORKS-FIRE DEPARTMENT-ELECTRIC LIGHT-TOWN HALL-FISHERIES -FINANCIAL HISTORY-WEYMOUTH OF THE PRESENT-TOWN OFFICERS.
Weymouth is the most eastern of the Norfolk County towns except Cohasset, which is detached from the main body of the county. On the north, Weymouth is bounded by the Massachusetts Bay ; on the east by the Town of Hingham; on the south by Plymouth County ; and on the west by Braintree and Holbrook. From north to south it is a little over nine miles in extent and its average width is about two and a half miles. It has a water front on the Weymouth Fore and Back Rivers of over eight miles.
SURFACE AND DRAINAGE
While the general surface of the town is undulating, there are only two hills of notable prominence-Great Hill on the shore of the bay in the northern part and King Oak Hill, about a mile farther south. A considerable portion of the area is covered by ponds, the largest of which is Great Pond, also known as Wessa- gusset Lake, in the southerly part. It is over a mile and a fourth long and about a third of a mile in width. Whitman's Pond, in the central portion, is next in size, being nearly as long as Great Pond but not so wide. Whortleberry Pond, a small circular body of water, lies a little south of Whitman's Pond, and Rolling Mill Pond is connected with Whitman's.
Mill River, the outlet of Great Pond, passes through Whitman's Pond to Back River, a distance, following its meanderings, of some five or six miles. Old Swamp River rises in Hingham and flows into Whitman's Pond. These two rivers are the only streams of consequence in the town. Both have fine water privileges which have been utilized to some extent for manufacturing purposes.
SETTLEMENT
In June, 1622, about sixty men came over from England in two small vessels- the Charity and the Swan-and landed on the north shore of what is now the Town of Weymouth at a place called by the Indians "Wessaguscus" (also written Wes- sagusset ). The place where they established their settlement is on the south bank Vol. 1-19
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of the Fore River, a little east of Hunt's Hill Point. Back of this expedition was Thomas Weston, a merchant of London, who had been associated with the Pil- grims in their negotiations with the Plymouth Company, and whose dream was to establish a trading post that would yield large profits.
Unfortunately, in the selection of men to carry out his project, he accepted any one willing to join the expedition without regard to his qualifications for the work in hand. These men came without families, had no definite idea of the methods to be followed, and no settled habits of industry. Being without a competent leader, they soon became dissatisfied with their surroundings, neglected their work, and, as might be expected, they were soon reduced to the verge of starvation. They appealed to the Plymouth colony for assistance, but the people there were far from opulent and could not help them. It is said that ten of the number actually per- ished of starvation. After the expedition of Miles Standish in March, 1623 (see Chap. IV), the company disbanded, the men going in different directions, and by the summer of 1623 not one was left at Wessaguscus. Thus ended in failure the first attempt to plant a settlement in Weymouth.
THE GORGES COMPANY
A few months after the disappearance of the Weston colony, probably in early September, 1623, another expedition sailed up the Fore River and landed at the deserted plantation. It was led by Robert Gorges, a son of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, acting under a charter from the Plymouth Company. The men who came with Captain Gorges were of a different type from those sent over by Weston the year before, one of them being Rev. William Morrell, a minister of the Church of Eng- land. The charter gave them "ten miles of the coast on the northeast side of the Massachusetts Bay and extending thirty miles inland." In selecting the place to begin his settlement, Gorges no doubt thought Wessaguscus was covered by the grant. Says Gilbert Nash: "They chose their ten miles evidenly to include the entrance to Boston Harbor, and this mistake, if mistake it were, was the cause of much trouble in the future." Mr. Nash says further: "The plan of the colony was projected upon a scale of magnificent proportions and with machinery suffi- cient to conduct the affairs of an empire. Captain Gorges was named as Governor- General, with a general oversight of the company's officers in America, and authority by commission to carry out his plans. Associated with him in the govern- ment were Capt. Francis West, admiral; Christopher Levet, Esq., perhaps the chief judicial officer, and such others as the Governor-General chose to appoint, any two of whom, with himself, were empowered to transact any business neces- sary for the government of the colony. The governor of Plymouth, for the time being, was constituted a member of the government."
As soon as Governor Bradford of Plymouth learned that the company had arrived at Wessaguscus, he made arrangements to visit the colony. Before he had time to put his design into execution, Gorges, while on a tour of inspection over his grant, encountered bad weather and took refuge at Plymouth. After remaining there a few days he returned by land to his settlement. Upon his arrival there it appears he for the first time exercised his authority as governor- general by causing the arrest of Thomas Weston, who had come into Plymouth Bay on the Swan, and ordering him and his vessel to be sent around to Wessagus-
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF WESSAGUSSETT FROM GREAT HILL, NORTH WEYMOUTH
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
cus. Not long after this he returned to England, with a considerable portion of his company, "thoroughly disgusted with the work of founding an empire in the New World."
After the departure of Gorges, some of his colonists went to Virginia, Rev. William Morrell took up his temporary abode at Plymouth, and a few remained at Wessaguscus. In fact the settlement made by Gorges at Wessaguscus was never entirely broken up. Mr. Morrell went back to England in 1624 and the same year a number of emigrants from Weymouth, England, joined the little band on the shores of the Fore River. With them came a non-conformist minister by the name of Barnard, who remained in the settlement until his death. The records of the colony for the next few years are meager, though there is an occasional mention of the settlement at Wessaguscus, indicating continual though small accessions to the number of inhabitants. Governor Winthrop visited the place in 1632 and was "liberally entertained by those residing there," and in the next year Wessaguscus is mentioned as "a small village." All the evidence tends to show that the Gorges settlement was permanent and therefore the second settlement in Massachusetts.
THE HULL COMPANY
On July 8, 1635, the General Court granted permission to Rev. Joseph Hull, with twenty-one families, numbering about one hundred persons, to settle at Wessaguscus. This was the largest addition, perhaps, that was ever made to the settlement at any one time in its history. The members of this company were people of sober and industrious habits and they were welcomed with joy by those who had preceded them. They came from the Town of Weymouth, England, and quickly acquired prominence in the new settlement with which they now cast their lot. Mr. Hull became for a time the minister of the town. On September 2. 1635, the settlement was erected into a plantation and the name was then changed to Weymouth. The next day the plantation was ordered to send a representative to the General Court. Although an infant settlement, there were three political factions in the plantation. The first represented those of the Gorges company who had not abandoned the place; the second was made up of those who came from other towns in the colony ; and the third was composed of those who came over with Mr. Hull in the summer. The first faction voted for John Bursley, the second for William Reade, and the third for John Upham. The court recognized Mr. Reade and the other two were compelled to retire.
Regarding the change of name from Wessaguscus to Weymouth, the Massa- chusetts Historical Collections (Vol. XXI, p. 396) says the reason for the adop- tion of the new name is unknown, "but probably in honor of Capt. George Way- mouth, the navigator. It is to be noted that, 20th March, 1635, about one hundred persons are recorded at Weymouth, County Dorset, England, as bound hither." There is little doubt that the name was suggested by some member of Mr. Hull's company as a tribute of respect to the old home town in England.
ADJUSTING THE BOUNDARIES
The Colonial Records of Massachusetts show that in March, 1635, a commit- tee was chosen to fix the boundaries between Wessaguscus and Mount Wollaston,
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and in July following another committee was charged with the duty of establish- ing the line between Wessaguscus and Bare Cove (now Hingham). Notice that the former of these committees was appointed before the arrival of the Hull com- pany and is another evidence that a permanent settlement existed in Weymouth.
From the time of Weymouth's incorporation in 1635 for several years after- ward, the boundary lines between Plymouth County on the south and the Town of Braintree on the west appear to have been a question of frequent disputes. Com- mittees were several times appointed by Weymouth to join with a committee from Braintree in running and marking the line between the two towns, but for some reason Braintree declined to act. Finally the people of Weymouth lost patience and at a town meeting held on June 13, 1712, instructed the selectmen to bring an action against the selectmen of Braintree for their persistent refusal to run the dividing line as the law provided, and voted to stand by them in any suit brought for that purpose. If such an action was ever instituted in the courts, it seems that it failed to accomplish its end, as the Weymouth-Braintree line was not set- tled until in the latter part of the Nineteenth Century.
THE INDIAN TITLE
Although the English Government granted to Robert Gorges a tract of land embracing ten miles of sea coast and extending thirty miles into the interior, the grant did not dispossess the Indians, who were the real owners of the land. Therefore, the first settlers at Wessaguscus were what might be termed "squat- ters," so far as the Indian title was concerned. Their title was merely that of possession, but back of that possession there was nothing which would enable them to hold the land upon which they had located before it was really in the possession of either the Plymouth or Massachusetts Bay Company. No one realized the pre- carious character of their tenure better than themselves and negotiations were set on foot to purchase the land from the Indians. The Indians did not own land as individuals, but as a tribe. A purchase from the chiefs bound every member of the tribe to their action. On April 26, 1642, a deed was executed by the resident chiefs, who signed themselves as Wampetuck, alias Jonas Webacowett, Nateaunt and Nahawton. This deed is recorded among the deeds of Suffolk County. With the execution of this deed, the town was in a position to allot the lands and con- firm the inhabitants in their possessions. The list of landowners made soon after- ward indicate that this was done.
EARLY LANDOWNERS
Says Mr. Nash : "In this list, which is very incomplete as will be easily seen, there are the names of seventy-one persons with a general description of the prop- erty owned by them. In these descriptions the names of seventeen others are mentioned, from whom some of the property was purchased, or to whom the original grants were made. There are also mentioned as owners of property bounding the different lots described, the names of fifty-two, who do not appear in the other two classes, yet who must have been property owners or they could not have been abuttors, making in all 123, at least, real estate owners at the time the list was made up. Why this large number escaped record we have no means
tion
INDEPENDENCE SQUARE, LOOKING NORTH, SOUTH WEYMOUTH
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COLUMBIAN SQUARE, SOUTH WEYMOUTH
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of knowing, but since such is the fact we may reasonably infer that many others may have been omitted altogether, and that the full number was originally much greater ; in fact we have evidence that this was so, from incidental mention in the later records. Taking, however, the lists as they come to us, we have the names of 123, without doubt most of them heads of families. These with an average of five to a family, a moderate estimate for those days, would furnish a population of more than 600."
Of the 123 landowners mentioned by Mr. Nash, only seventeen are recognized as members of the Hull company which came over in 1635. John Bursley, Wil- liam Jeffries and a man named Ludden are recognized as members of the Gorges company and had no doubt maintained their residence there from the year 1623. Others in the list were Robert Abell, Henry Adams, John Allen, Stephen French, John Glover, Walter Harris, Edmond Hart, James Parker, Thomas Richards, Thomas Rawlins, Clement Briggs, Richard Sylvester and Clement Weaver, all of whom were living in Weymouth as early as 1630.
INDIAN WARS
Probably one reason for the selection of Wessaguscus for a settlement was the fact that there were but few Indians living in the immediate vicinity. Although in a retired spot, the settlement was not altogether free from the effects of Indian depredations in other parts of the province. In 1637, when 160 men were called for to serve in the war with the Pequot Indians, Weymouth's quota was five men. They were furnished, and from that time until after King Philip's war the town always contributed both in men and money to the various expeditions sent against the savages.
In the French and Indian war, forty Weymouth men served in Col. Benjamin Lincoln's regiment in the expeditions of 1755 and 1756 to Crown Point and Lake George. These forty men were members of a company commanded by Capt. Samuel Thaxter. Colonel Lincoln was afterward promoted to general, and Lieut. Solomon Lovell, one of the Weymouth company also became a general in the Revolution. When the British captured Nova Scotia (then called Acadia) in 1755, the inhabitants were forced to abandon their homes and a large number of them was brought to Boston. They were known as "French Neuters," and as no provision had been made for their care and support, they were divided into small companies and sent to the various towns. Weymouth received its share of these unfortunates. On March 8, 1756, the records of the town meeting show that Dr. Nathaniel White was paid eight shillings per week for a year for keeping French Neuters, and on the last day of February, 1761, James Humphrey was allowed six pounds for a similar purpose.
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