History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 114

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1534

USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 114

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"There beinge a Town lately erected beyond Dedham in the County of Suffolke upon Charles river called by the name of Meadfield, upon their request made to this General Court, this General Court hath graunted them all the power and privileges which other towns doe injoy according to law."

There followed a somewhat rapid settlement of the new town, and the setting up of religious institutions. Before the year closed, December, 1651, Rev. John Wilson, Jr., was on the ground, and settled as pastor over a people to whom he ministered for the next forty years.

The first survey of lands west of the river Charles was that of the "broad meadows," in 1652-53, con- sisting of twenty-two grants or about ninety acres in all. In 1653 grants were made to Abraham Harding and Peter Adams in " grape meadow," by the town of Medfield.

541

MEDWAY.

The first actual settler within the territory, now Medway, was George Fairbanks, from Dedham, in 1657. Mr. Fairbanks was not connected with the settlement of Medfield Plain, but purchased the tract of land which had been granted in 1643 to Rev. Mr. Allyne, by the General Court. While Mr. Fairbanks lived within the limits of Medfield, and enjoyed relig- ious and municipal privileges in that town, he held his land by purchase and not by town grant. He was one of the inhabitants at "The Farms," so called. His immediate neighbors, as recorded in 1660, were " nicholas woods, Daniel Morse, Henry Lealand, | the following vote was passed : thomas Holbrooke, and thomas Bas."

There were also John Hill, Benjamin Bullard, and perhaps others who settled in the vicinity about this time.

Late in 1658 the town of Medfield voted to lay out certain uplands on the "West Side," which the records thus describe :

" On the Longe plain to begin next to Boggastow River on that end." "At the furder Corner of our bounds By charles river to Begine next the town." " In pine valley to begin at north end and go throf it." " At the end of pine valley on a per- sell of land that the path goeth throfe." There had, perhaps, been a few grants made to individuals prior to this,-to John Fussell, eight acres, to Ben- jamin Abby, and probably to others. But, in 1659, there were laid out fifteen lots, in all one hundred and seventy-three acres, on land owned and taken by the following persons, viz. : Benjamin Abby, heirs of Joseph Morse, Thomas Wight, Sr., John Thurston, Samuel Bullen, Peter Adams, Nicholas Rockwood, Thomas Wight, Jr., John Frairy, Sr., Robert Hins- dell, Joshua Fisher, Thomas Thurston, Thomas Ellis, Mr. Wilson, James Allen.

It is said to be " quite certain that none of the men who drew these lots settled on the west side of the river," although the sons of some of them did years afterwards.

Various highways were projected by which these grants of land were made accessible to the owners living in Medfield. It was in the year 1659, that was sought and obtained from the General Court another grant of land to the westward, known as

The New Grant .- The following entry is found in the town records of Medfield : "The Eleventh of May one Thousand six hundred fifty-nine, in An- swer to petition of the town of Medfield presented to the General Court was granted by the court to the town of Meadfield an addition of land at the west end of their former grant, as the Record of the Courte will make Appeare."

In the Colonial Record for May, 1659, appears the following : " In answer to petition of inhabitants of Medfield, the court judgeth it meete to graunt unto them as an addition to their former bounds and at the west end thereof two miles east and west and four miles north and south, provideth it entrench not upon any former graunts, and that Capt. Lusher and Left. Fisher are hereby appointed to lay it out." This accession of territory westward is embraced in the present West Parish of Medway. At the next annual town-meeting of Medfield, held Feb. 6, 1660,

" It is ordered that the new graunt mad to the town this year by the Courte shall Be Divided By way of Devidend to all the inhabitance of the town that are proprietors in the town and that it shal be Divided by the common rules of Division by number of persons and estates."

Each member of the family was reckoned the same as ten pounds of estate in the division of land. At another meeting, April 20, 1660, two highways were ordered through this new grant, one at a distance of half a mile north of the Charles River from east to west, the other through " the midst of the tract of land from the way that runs west to a line to the north end of the same."

These highways divided the new grant into three sections, known as the River, East, and West Sections. The River Section was divided into twelve lots, em- bracing ten hundred and seventy-nine acres. The West Section was divided into nineteen lots, embracing ten hundred and ninety-six acres, and the East Section into sixteen lots, embracing sixteen hundred and fifty- eight acres, leaving some two hundred acres undivided at the northeast corner of the grant, near Winthrop Pond.

The names of those who received dividends of these lands are given in the order in which the lots were drawn.

The River Section (twelve lots) : Ralph Wheelock, John Metcalf, Robert Mason, John Pratt, Widow Sheppard, Thomas Wight, Jr., Timothy Dwight, John Turner, Alexander Lovell, John Ellis, James Allen, Joseph Thurston.

The West Section (nineteen lots) : Heirs of Jo- seph Morse, Henry Smith, John Bullard, Sampson Frairy, Edward Adams, John Fussell, William Part- ridge, Jonathan Adams, Daniel Morse, John Plymp- ton, Isaac Chenery, Joseph Clark, Robert Hinsdell, John Fisher, Nicholas Rockwood, Samuel Bullen, Abiel Wight, John Frairy, Jr., Mr. Wilson.

The East Section (sixteen lots) : Gershom Whee- lock, Joshua Fisher, Benjamin Abby, John Frairy, Sr., Henry Adams, Thomas Wight, Sr., Thomas

542

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Mason, Francis Hamant, John Partridge, John Warfield, Thomas Ellis, John Bowers, Thomas Thurs- ton, John Thurston, Peter Adams, George Barber.

The first white child born within the territory of the present town of Medway was Jonathan Fairbanks, son and sixth child of George Fairbanks, the first settler. He was born May 1, 1662. Jonathan Fairbanks became a physician. He was drowned in crossing Boggastow Pond on the ice as he was re- turning from a visit to a patient in Medfield, on the night of Dec. 18, 1719.

The establishment of a new town on the west side of the river Charles must have been agitated forty years before it became a fact, for we find that at a session of the General Court held in Boston, in May, 1662, it was voted : " in answer to the petition of the inhabitants of Boggastow, it is ordered that Mr. Ed- ward Jackson, Mr. Ephraim Child, Mr. William Parks, and Ensigne Fisher, or any three of them, shall and are hereby impowered as a committee to view the place and return their applications to the next sessions of this Court for settling a Township there as is desired."

treat and conclud with John of Boggastow, we mene John a Wasameg of natick, for the interest and right in claim in the lands within our Towne Bownes i on the west sid of Charlles River. Thomas Wight, Sr., John Frairy, Sr., John Elice, John Medcallfe, and George Barber ware chose a Commity to treat and conclude with John Awashamog as above said."

of Medway, the following householders : "George Fairbanks, Sr., George Fairbanks, Jr., Joseph Daniell, Jonathan Adams, William Allen, and Peter Collyr," perhaps John Fussell : in all thirty persons. Of | these, Joseph Daniell, Jonathan Adams, William Allen, and probably Peter Collyr had their houses burned. As a protection against the attacks of the Indians, there had been built by the residents of "The Farms," some years before, a "stone house" near Boggastow Pond, a place of refuge and defense. To this Rev. Mr. Wilson refers in his letter written to the Gov- ernor of the Colony on the evening of that disastrous day, Feb. 21, 1676. He says, " We hope George Fairbanks's pallisade is safe."

On the 6th of the following May this garrison house was savagely attacked by the Indians, but they met with a " notorious repulse." The 2d of the next July, the men of Medfield in turn attacked the Indians, in the woods near the " stone house," and drove them to such a distance from the town that they never again appeared in those parts. From this time the settlements on the west side increased. In 1677, Josiah Rockwood settled on the farm which soon came into the possession of the Lovell family, and was owned by them for the next one hundred years. This, with the Wheeler place, is now known as the Oak Grove Farm.

In 1662 lands were laid out on the west side within the " Old Grant," and Joseph Daniell, an accepted townsman of Medfield, in October of that year, drew lands in this new survey, and became soon after the second actual settler of Medway. His house, In 1682, George Fairbanks was drowned. In 1693 there were sixteen householders on the west side, as appears by the tax-list, viz. : John Adams, John Ellis, Abraham Harding, John Clark, Jonathan Adams, Sr., Jonathan Adams, Jr., Peter Adams, Josiah Rockett, John Partridge, Jr., John Richardson, John Rockett, Samuel Hill, George Fairbanks, Jona- than Fisher, Joseph Daniell, Joseph Daniell, Jr. built prior to 1665, stood west of "Island Woods," and the farm he owned is still owned and tilled by his descendants. Mr. Daniell married, Nov. 16, 1665, Mary Fairbanks, the eldest daughter of George Fair- banks, the first settler. This was the first marriage ceremony within the territory, now Medway. Soon after, in the same year, Jonathan Adams and Eliza- beth Fussell were married. Jonathan Adams became Stretching out over a large area, and almost divid- ing from north to south the present town of Medway, was the Black Swamp, so called from the dark shading its thick, heavy pines gave to the landscape. The a settler on the west side in October, 1665. In 1668 William Allen settled where Dr. Richardson afterward lived, and Peter Colley was an inhabitant west of the Charles in 1669. In 1672 the settlement of Indian i laying out of Black Swamp was ordered under date of claims came up, and a committee was chosen "to ! March, 1702.

" Voted, that the Black Swamp shall be laid out with such necks of upland and Ilands as shall make it formable by our former Rules of laying out lands." The list of proprietors contains one hun- dred and twenty-three names. Of these, twenty- seven were residents of the west side of the river, viz. :

Shortly after Indian troubles arose, and, Feb. 21, Jasper Adams, John Adams, Jonathan Adams, Jonathan Adams, Jr., Peter Adams, Benjamin Allen, William Allen, John Clarke, Theophilus Clark, Tim- othy Clark, Ebenezer Daniell, Joseph Daniell, Joseph 1676, about half the houses in the village of Medfield were burned and seventeen persons massacred. At this date, so far as is ascertained, there were resident on ! the west side of the river, within the present bounds . Daniell, Jr., John Ellis, Sr., George Fairbanks, Jona-

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MEDWAY.

than Fisher, Henry Guernsey, Abraham Harding, Samuel Hill, John Partridge, Samuel Partridge, Widow Rebecca Richardson, John Richardson, John Rockwood, Josiah Rockwood, Vincent Shuttleworth, Ebenezer Thompson.

The next succeeding ten years there was consider- able growth to the population on the west side of the river, and there prevailed a general desire to have religious privileges nearer at hand, which found ex- pression in a petition to the town, May 7, 1712, for building a meeting-house on the west side of the river. This matter was pressed upon the town unsuccessfully, but at length it was made the subject of a petition to the General Court, which, although opposed, met with colonial favor, and the General Court " recommended to the town of Medfield to raise money towards the building another meeting-house on the west side of Charles River." This was opposed by a vote of the town, and March 9, 1713, " voted that the town shall petition the General Court, declaring their inability to build another meeting-house in the town, and to bare the charge attending it." The town voted money to pay "necessary charges that may arise for the printing of said petition, and the town paid to " Mr. Paul Dudley to manage the town case three pounds."

The General Court at length sent a committee to look over the ground with reference to the establish - ment of a new town west of the river Charles. This committee reported favorably. And Judge Sewall states that on Oct. 24, 1713, he " helped the select- men prepare the bill for Medway, the new town on the west of Charles River." . The act was passed the next day, Oct. 25, 1713. This Act of Incorpo- ration, a yellow and time-stained document, still ! preserved in the archives of the town of Medway, is as follows :

"ANNO REGNI ANNE REGINE DUODECIM.

" Ax ACT for Diriding of the Township of Medfield and erecting a new Town there by the name of Medicay. -

" Whereas the Lands of the Township of Medfield within the County of Suffolk lye situate on Charles River, to wit on both sides of the said River being divided by the same : and the town plat and principal settlement, as also the meeting- house for the Public Worship of God, being seated on the East side for accommodation of the first and Ancient Inhabitants, who are now much increased, many Issued forth and settled on the West side of the River to a Competent number for a distinct Town of themselves, and labor under many hardships and Diffi- culties by reason of Separation by the River to Enjoy Equal benefit and town privileges with others of their fellow Towns- men and neighbors, and have therefore made application to the town as also addressed this Court to be made a distinct Town. Committees appointed by this Court having been upon the Ground, viewed the land and Reported in their favor for proper bounds to be set them.

" Be it Enacted by his Excellency the Governour, Council, and Representatives in General Court assembled and by the Authority of the Same :

"That all those Lands Lying on the West side of Charles River, now part of the Township of Medfield, be Erected and made into a Distinct and Separate Town by the name of Med- way, the River to be the Bound betwixt the Two Towns. And that the Inhabitants of Medway have, use and Exercise and En- joy all such power and privileges which other Towns have, So by Law use, exercise & enjoy. So that they procure and Settle a Learned, Orthodox Minister of good Conversation among 'em and make provision for an Honable support & maintainance for him, and that in Order thereto, they be Discharged from further payment to the Ministry in Medfield from and after the last day of February next.

" Provided also that all Province and Town Taxes that are already Levied, or Granted, be Collected and paid, and all town Rights and Common undivided Lands remain to be divided among the interested as if no separation had been made.

" And Mr. George Fairbanks, a principal Inhabitant of the said Town of Medway, is hereby Directed and Impowered to Notify and Summon the Inhabitants duly Qualified for Voters to Assemble and meet together for the Choosing of Town Offi- cers to stand until the next Annual Election according to Law. " A true Copy-examined.

" JSA. ADDINGTON, Sec'ry.

In the order of incorporations Medway was the sixty-ninth town in the Massachusetts Colony. Tra- dition says it derived its name from the locality, being situated meadway or midway, i.e., by the way of or between the meadows. Or midway, it being the half-way stopping-place on the old Post road from Dedham to Mendon. Some have derived the name from Medway River, in England.

The following are the names of the forty-eight original founders of the town of Medway, Mass., Oct. 25, 1713:

Daniel Adams.

John Ellis.

Jasper Adams.

Joseph Ellis.

John Adams.

George Fairbanks.

Jonathan Adams.

Henry Guernsey.

Jonathan Adams, Jr. Abraham Harding.

Joseph Adams. Abraham Harding, Jr.

Obadiah Adams.

John Harding.

Peter Adams. Thomas Harding.

James Allen.

Samuel Hill.

William Allen.

Samuel Hill, Jr.

John Barber.

Ephraim Hill.

Joseph Barber.

Michael Metcalf.

John Bullard.

Samuel Metcalf.

Malachi Bullard.

Benoni Partridge.

William Burgess.

John Partridge.

Theophilus Clark.

Jonathan Partridge.

Timothy Clark.

Samuel Partridge.

Edward Clark.

Daniel Richardson.

Joseph Curtis.

John Richardson.

Ebenezer Daniel.

John Rockwood.

Jeremiah Daniel.

Josiah Rockwood.

Ebenezer Thompson.

Joseph Daniel. Joseph Danel, Jr.

Nathaniel Whiting.

Samuel Daniel.

Nathaniel Wight.

544

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Topographical .- Medway is bounded on the north by Holliston and Sherborn, on the east by Medfield and Norfolk, on the south by Franklin and Belling- ham, and on the west by Milford and Holliston. The Charles River separates it from Medfield, Norfolk, and Franklin, almost entirely on its eastern and southern boundaries. It embraces only about fifteen square miles, although its extreme length south and west is six miles and its extreme breadth northwest and southwest is four miles. There are nearly ten thou- sand acres, about one-half being unimproved or pasture land, one-quarter under cultivation, and one-quarter wood and sprout land. The valuation of land being about three hundred thousand dollars. The town is traversed by nearly a hundred miles of highways, and by railway from east to west in direct connection with Boston. Its topography is peculiar by reason of the meadow-lands, which extend for miles along its eastern border, and traverse midway almost its entire breadth from north to south. These meadows along the river Charles are productive of grass. Those lying along the western border of the Old Grant are known as Black Swamp, and considerably covered with forest trees.

The water system of the town is limited ; consist- ing of the Charles River which flows along the eastern boundary in a very irregular and serpentine course ; Boggastow Brook crossing the northern and easterly corner of the town, flows into Boggastow Pond, which has its outlet into the Charles River; Chicken Brook, which enters the extreme western part of the town from Holliston, flows through that entire section from the north to the south, and empties into the Charles River ; and Winthrop Pond, which is partly in Medway and partly in Holliston. These waters furnish but limited mill power and at but a few points. The surface of the uplands of the town is level with few hills in the easterly section. While to the south, west, and north the country is uneven and hilly. The most elevated land is a range of hills west of Black Swamp. The soil in many parts of the town is excellent for agriculture. The broad meadows furnish large quantities of hay for the cut- ting, and an abundant crop of cranberries for the picking. Medway is well furnished with highways. From east to west the " Old Mendon Road," laid out in 1670, called the "County road," along which Washington rode on his way to Cambridge to take | command of the American army in 1775. It is said that Washington, in making this passage through the town, dined at Richardson's Hotel in the East Parish, at the house now standing and the residence of Mrs. Cyrus Ballard.

By an act of incorporation, passed March 9, 1804, the Hartford and Dedham Turnpike Corporation came into existence. And there was constructed a turnpike through the town from east to west, called the Hart- ford Turnpike. This road was opened to travel in 1807, and a toll-gate established near the " Hammond Place." This point is now marked by the railroad- crossing in East Medway.

Tolls were collected for nearly twenty years. The Medford Turnpike was laid out and established as a public highway June 4, 1838, and received the name of Main Street. It is the longest highway in the town, extending from Medfield to Bellingham. The old county road, which is the oldest highway in town, and nearly as long as Main Street, running in the same direction nearer the river, is called Village Street.

A movement to secure railroad communication to Boston from Medway took form in a meeting of prominent men in the region, held Nov. 30, 1836, in Medway. In this meeting were Artemas Brown, M.D., Luther Metcalf, Esq., Hon. Warren Lovering, Lyman Adams, and others of Medway. This move- ment for a long period was a contest and a struggle. It had a history of almost twenty years, for not until January, 1853, was the puff of an engine and the rumble of a railroad train heard within the precinct of Medway. The first railroad opened to the public was the Medway Branch of the Norfolk County Railroad, January, 1853, having its terminus in Medway Village. This was discontinued in 1864, and the rails removed in the night. The New York and Boston Railroad, which was an extension of the Charles River Railroad, from Dedham to Woonsocket, was completed and opened to Medway in 1861, and to Woonsocket in 1863, and merged into the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad. Financially this railroad has been a failure ; it is now the Woonsocket Division of the New York and New England Railroad.

There are four principal villages in Medway, viz., East, West, Rockville, and Medway Villages. The New York and New England Railroad passes im- mediately through three of these so as to furnish easy transportation to Boston, to Providence, and Worcester. Rockville has coach connection with the Southern Division of the New York and New England Railroad at Norfolk Station, so that all parts of the town are well accommodated.

The amount of freight and passenger business to and from the three stations in Medway on the New York and New England Railroad for the year ending Jan. 31, 1883, was $41,843.23.

Population .- The exact population resident within the territory embraced by the town of Medway at the

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MEDWAY.

date of its incorporation is not stated. The number of householders and voters was 48, which would indicate a population of some 250 or 300 people. By the first census taken and published in 1765 there were 123 houses, 138 families,-males 380, females 388; and 17 negroes; making a total of 785 inhabitants. In 1776 there were 912, in 1790 there were 1035, and in 1800 there were 1050. As reported in the State census of 1875 there were 4242 inhabitants,-males 2066, females 2176; na- tives of the town 1567; natives of Massachusetts 2931 ; natives of United States 3421 ; foreign-born 742; and unknown nationality 79. The number of polls were 1038. The population of the town has hardly increased during the last ten years. The business of the town is largely manufacturing. There are some 500 boot-makers, 150 straw-bonnet makers, 200 farmers, 50 merchants and traders, 12 black- smiths, 54 carpenters, 5 physicians, 2 lawyers, and 10 clergymen.

In the population of Medway by census of 1875 there were 204 persons who were illiterates ; 31 of i these were natives, and 173 foreign-born. 80 of the number could read, but 124 could neither read nor write. About five per cent. of the population is illiterate.

Municipal .- The first town-meeting of Medway was held " November ye 23d, 1713 . . . to choose town officers to stand untill the next annuall ellection are chosen, which will be in March 1714.'

After making choice of town clerk, selectmen, and constable, the town

" Voted, That John Rockett and Jonathan Adams, Sen., Sergt Samuel Partridge, and Sergt Jonathan Adams and Edward 'Clark to be a Committee to take care to procure the Meeting- house built."

" Voted, That Abraham Harding, Sent, John Partridge, and Theophilus Clark to procure and carry in a petition to the town clerk of Medfield in order to the procuring of accommoda- tions for the setting of the metting hous upon the place com- monly called bare hills, and some conven't acomodations for the ministry near ther abouts."

The business of the town for the first forty years of its municipal history was largely in relation to ecclesiastical matters. This feature, however, disap- pears from the town records, with the following entry :

" March ye 22 Anno Dom. 1748-9, Received of Dea. John Barber, town treasurer, the sum of four hundred pounds old Term Bills in full satisfaction of my salary the past year, and I do hereby acquit and discharge the said Town of Medway for all debts, dues or demands whatsoever on the account of my yearly salary from the time of my first settling with them in the work of the ministry to the first day of this instant, March, as witness my hand

" NATHAN BUCKNAN."

The first road laid out after the incorporation of the town is thus recorded :

"June 4, 1715. The select men met at the house of Nathaniel Wight to lay out high wais for the benefit of this Town, and for the Conveniency of travelers to pass from town to town as followeth : begun in the country Rhode that leds to mendon near twenty rods east from Nat Wight's upon a straight line across part of the plain known by the name of Stony Plain, and cross a swamp place comonly called paradise island, and by the south east side of Ebenezer Thompson's field on to bare hill along at the south west end of the meeting house to the laid out highway through the plain comonly known by the name of hills."

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History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 114

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1534