History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 94

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 94

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442

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

from the aborigines, was continued for many years by the settlers, in order that the underbrush on the pub- lic lands might not prevent the pasturage of cattle upon them. The Indian War .- The year 1676 is memorable for King Philip's war and the burning of the town. In the hostilities of the previous summer Mendon had been abandoned, leaving Medfield the frontier The principal town business for the years preceding 1660 was granting house-lots to new-comers, the division of wood-lands, laying out roads in various sections of the town and on both sides of the river, adopting orders in regard to fences and bounds, to the yoking and ringing of swine, and providing the town with a " pair of stocks." town in this direction. After the great fight at the Narragansett swamp in December, the Indians formed themselves into small bands for the purpose of falling upon remote and defenseless settlements. On the 10th of February they attacked Lancaster, burned the town, and carried its inhabitants into captivity. On the reception of the news, Mr. Wilson addressed A school " for the education of the children" was established in 1655, at the town's expense, and Mr. Wheelock was appointed schoolmaster. In 1657 Medfield contained forty families. It had, also, an " ordinary," or place of public entertainment. The State tax was paid in eighteen and one-half bushels of wheat. a letter to the Governor and Council containing an urgent and pathetic appeal for aid. He states that Capt. Oakes had just arrived from Lancaster, and reported the Indians apparently bending their course towards this place. In answer to this appeal the Governor sent a hundred or so of soldiers during the week, who were quartered upon the inhabitants in dif- Our territory west of the river was enlarged in 1659 by what was called the " new grant," two miles east and west, and four miles north and south. It is now included in the westerly part of Medway and Holliston. All owners of house-lots shared in this land, it being mostly laid out in large parcels of from fifty to one hundred and fifty acres each. Soon after this date men began to settle on the west side of the river. ferent parts of the town. Signs of the approaching enemy were discovered on the 20th, and a watch was kept through the night. In spite of this precaution, however, the savages stealthily secreted themselves about the houses and in the out-buildings, and when the watch was taken off, at daybreak, they commenced firing houses and barns in every direction. The sol- diers, scattered as they were, could do but little against the enemy for a time ; but as soon as the people were The first school-house was built in 1666, eighteen fairly aroused they fired the cannon as a signal to feet long and fourteen feet wide. It evidently stood | Dedham, at which the Indians, taking fright, re- on the meeting-house common, near what is now the corner of North Street and Janes Avenue.

The first emigration from this town took place about 1670, when the Hinsdales, Plimptons, and Frairys removed to the Connecticut Valley. At about the same date a post-road from Boston to Hartford was established, and a way laid out from Medfield to Mendon; and the business of tanning leather was commenced by Samuel Rockwood, near the present railroad junction in the north part of the } lost with the barns. The loss of property was esti- town. A tax was levied upon the inhabitants of Medfield, in aid of Harvard College, amounting to £2 4s. 2d.

In 1672, John Awashamog (Indian), of Natick, laid | Our records contain the names of seventeen who lost claim to our territory west of Charles River. It was , their lives at this time. Hubbard relates that some were taken alive and carried off captives, but we have no certain knowledge of any who suffered this terrible fate.

settled by the payment to him of twenty-one pounds. It would seem by this that the region now Medway was originally the possession of the Natick tribe.

Sixty-two persons at Medfield subscribed various sums in money and produce towards the " new brick college." The total amount was £25 1s. In this they were joined by men at " the farms," now Sher- born. In 1675 Medfield had seventy-seven land pro- prietors.

treated over the bridge across the river, setting the bridge on fire as they went. Across the river, on a hill, in full view of the burning buildings, they had a grand feast. Thirty-two houses, besides barns, two mills, and other buildings were destroyed, about half of the entire number in the settlement. The houses in the centre of the village were saved. Four houses burned were on the west of the river in what is now East Medway. The cattle and horses were generally

mated at more than two thousand pounds, and it is said that " seventeen or eighteen person were slain or mortally wounded, besides others dangerously hurt."

Notice of the attack was immediately sent to the Governor, who at once dispatched another com- pany of soldiers hither ; but not finding the enemy, they pushed on to Marlborough. It is by no means probable that King Philip was near this place at the time of the attack, notwithstanding all the traditions

443

MEDFIELD.

about his having been seen on his black horse, career, modation of the people ; it was removed in 1706, and replaced by a new one on the same spot, which stood eighty-three years. There is no definite description of that house. We know that in it the men were required to sit on one side, and the women on the other. ing through the town, leaping the fences, etc. Those who lived in those times, and who wrote a full account of the war, tell us that Medfield was destroyed by Monaco, who boasted of the deed at Groton, and at the same time threatened many other places. He was executed at Boston the following September. Mr. Division of the Town .- The subject of dividing Wilson's house was open to care for the wounded sol- I the town began to be seriously agitated in 1712. In- diers who were obliged to remain here, some of them | deed, at the time the new meeting-house was built, for three months, with the surgeon to attend them.

The Indians did not appear here again till the last of April, when a fresh force of horse and foot was sent out against them ; and on the 6th of May they were finally routed at Boggestow Pond, near Sher- | sent a petition to the General Court; a committee born. They lingered in small force. around this vi- cinity for some time afterwards, and small parties of soldiers went out to hunt Indians during the summer. But after Philip's death, in August, they were seen no more, though alarms were given for several years afterwards, which caused the people here great uneasi- ness, but no disasters followed beyond the burning of a mill at Rockville.

The General Court granted some little relief to the sufferers by this calamity, chiefly in the way of re- mitting taxes. It was several years before the town recovered from the stroke; but most of the houses were finally rebuilt on the original sites. One of the mills destroyed was that of Henry Adams, before re- ferred to, and the other was a mill on Boggestow Brook, now in Medway. «

In 1680, the first resident physician of whom we have any record, Dr. Return Johnson, built his house on North Street. He practiced medicine here up- wards of twenty years.

In 1685, Josias, grandson of Chickatabot, asserted a claim to the land embraced within the limits of Medfield ; the town settled with him by the payment of four pounds ten shillings. The land had been al- ready paid for by Mr. Pynchon, but as no deed could be found the matter was compromised.

Mr. Wilson, the first minister of Medfield, died in 1691, and it was not till six years afterwards that his successor, Rev. Joseph Baxter, was settled. At that date, 1697, the membership of the Parish Church was sixty-five ; twenty-five men and forty women. A few of the members lived in that part of Dedham which is now called Walpole.

The Black Swamp lands were laid out in 1702, to the " proprietors," of whom there were now one hun- dred and twenty-three. Of these at least twenty-seven lived west of the river.

The first meeting-house had become somewhat di- lapidated, and it was now insufficient for the accom-

those living west of the river were promised a refund- ing of half the amount paid by them in case a meet- ing-house should be built in that part of the town within twenty years. In 1713, the west side people was chosen to visit the place and report, which they did, and they reported in favor of a division of the town. It was divided by an act of the Legislature, passed October 25th. Since that date, Charles River has been the western boundary of Medfield. Those set off at this time to form the town of Medway con- stituted about one-third of the householders, and they possessed about the same proportion of the wealth.

Until 1720, but one school had been kept in town, and that at the Centre. At this time it was ordered that a school be kept a part of the time in the north and a part of the time in the south part of the town.

In these days, when there was no artificial heat in the meeting-houses, and those who came from a dis- tance remained through to hear the two sermons, it was common for neighbors to join together and build what was called a " noon-house" near the meeting- house, into which they could go between sermons, eat their dinner, and make themselves comfortable. Several of these noon-houses, in old times, stood on the meeting-house common here. That kind of building is described as being some fifteen feet square, opening toward the south, with conveniences for build- ing an open fire at the opposite end.

Medfield sent at least eleven soldiers into the army to fight against the French and Indians in 1722. At this date the town was held to answer for not main- taining a grammar-school according to law. The law required that every town having a hundred house- holders should maintain a school capable of fitting boys for the college. The selectmen replied that they had but ninety-four families; but the school was es- tablished.

The protest of the Medfield meadow owners against the Natick Dam was first made in 1723. The owner of the dam at that time was compelled to remove it on account of its preventing the drainage of the meadows.

A movement for the division of the county of Suf-

444

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

folk was started in 1731. The division did not take Majesty's arms, they protest that they have received place till more than sixty years later.

Mr. Baxter's health declining, the town settled Mr. Jonathan Townsend as his colleague early in 1745; but Mr. Baxter dying in May of the same year, Mr. Townsend became his successor in the old parish pastorate. A portion of the church was dissatisfied with him, and there was much dissension for a long time. Several members withdrew ; some united with a Baptist Church in Boston and commenced holding Baptist meetings in Medfield about 1752.

There are no records of the old parish church dur- ing the ministry of John Wilson. In 1738 Mr. Baxter commenced a regular book of records for the church, copying into it, evidently from his private papers, the list of members at the beginning of his pastorate, as well as the admissions to the church thereafter. This record was continued by his succes- sors. Mr. Townsend built his house on a lot granted him by the town opposite the meeting-house. The house was that long afterwards made into a straw-shop by Walter Janes.

In early times it is said that shad and alewives ran up Charles River to their breeding grounds. About the middle of the century complaint was made that they were prevented by the obstructions in the river, and this town took action in reference to their re- moval. Further action was taken in regard to the same subject as late as 1785.

During the French and Indian war this town fur- nished its quota of men to serve in the army. In the rolls at the office of the Secretary of State are found the names of forty-five men who served a longer or shorter time in that war. In 1756, when the unfortunate Acadians were driven from their homes and dispersed through the colonies, several of them were quartered upon Medfield. Some of them remained here until 1766, when the town made an appropriation "to enable the French neutrals to re- turn to Canada."

Three new school-houses were built in the town about 1760.

a most unkind return, and express the hope that the remonstrances that were about to be made would bring redress. At the same time, the representative is instructed that he is by no means to express an ac- quiescence, or even a willing submission to the acts of Parliament. The instructions close with these words : " Honor the king, but save the country."

It was voted that these instructions be put on file " as a memorial to ages yet unborn of the present gen- cration's high sense of the importance of our natural and charter liberties."

In 1767, resolutions were adopted discountenancing the use of imported articles, especially articles of luxury, and recommending the encouragement of our own manufacturers. In addition, the representative was urged to contribute his part to the " entire abo- lition of that standing reproach to the nations of Christendom,-the slave trade."

Rev. Mr. Townsend resigned his pastorate in 1769, and was succeeded, two years later, by Rev. Thomas Prentiss as pastor of the old parish church.

The town voted, in 1770, that they "applaud and agree to, and will conform their conduct agreeable to the non-importation agreement entered into by the truly patriotic merchants of Boston, so far as it may relate to themselves." In 1773 voted that "the representative of this town be and hereby is instructed to use his best endeavors in the General Assembly to have the full exercise of our just and invaluable rights and liberties restored, secured, and established on a just and constitutional foundation ; also that he use his utmost influence to have a final period put to that most cruel, inhuman, and unchristian practice, the slave trade."

In 1774, the town voted compliance with the agree- ment and resolves adopted by the Continental Con- gress which met at Philadelphia in October; also voted that those resolutions be entered on the Med- field records. One hundred and fifty-three Medfield men signed their names as personally complying with and indorsing those resolutions. The list embraces, with scarcely an exception, the entire voting popula- tion.

The Revolutionary Spirit .- Medfield entered most heartily into the struggle for maintaining the In accordance with one of the resolves, a committee toward the measures of Congress, and to publish the names of all such as were found hostile to the interests of American liberty. rights of the people against the claims of the crown, . of seven was appointed to observe the conduct of men and during the Revolutionary period we discover many indications of a spirit that would hardly have been expected of our quiet, steady-going citizens. After the passage of the Stamp Act, in 1765, Seth During the exciting times of 1774-75, town-meet- A committee of five was chosen as a committee of correspondence. One-fourth of the able-bodied men Clark, the representative, received very pointed in- | ings were held by adjournment from week to week. structions. Referring to the loyalty of our people, and their efforts to maintain the dignity of his |

445

MEDFIELD.

were enrolled as minute-men, and put under drill, to be compensated for their time by the town,-that is, for three half-days a week.

By the rolls at the State-House we learn that at the Lexington alarm, Capt. Sabin Mann and his com- pany of twenty-seven minute-men marched from Med- field, April 19, and were in service twelve days. Be- sides these, another company of fifty-four officers and men marched at the same time, though their services were not on that occasion retained. In all, eighty-two men from Medfield took the field at the Lexington alarm.

When the Bunker Hill alarm came, Capt. Chenery started for the scene of action ; and though he with his men did not arrive in time to take part in that battle, they served in the siege of Boston.

In the instructions voted to the representative in 1776 is the following : " Whereas, the King, Lords, and Commons of Great Britain in Parliament assem- bled, have declared their right to bind us in all cases whatsoever. We, therefore, if the Congress declare the colonies independent of Great Britain, will sup- port said declaration with our lives and fortunes."

As the struggle of those seven years of war went on, the citizens of this town bore their part with fidelity. They were constantly called upon to furnish men, material, and provisions for the army. From first to last, one hundred and fifty-four men are known to have been in the Revolutionary service, of whom forty-two were in the Continental army.

The first public library in this town was opened in 1786; it was called the " Medfield Social Library," and was owned in shares of four dollars each. It is said to have contained about seven hundred volumes.

The parish meeting-house of 1706 was replaced by a new one, on the same spot, in 1789. The principal part of that building, with many changes, is still stand- ing, and is included in the present Unitarian house of worship.

Until the year 1789, from the settlement of the town, Medfield had sent its own representatives. But in that year Dover and Medfield were united in a representative district, and so continued for forty- seven years. With very few exceptions, however, the representatives chosen during that period were Med- field men.

A very earnest petition was sent in from this town to the General Court asking for the passage of a strin- gent law for the apprehension of thieves. The reasons given were that after the disbanding of the army the country was overrun with vagrants and thieves, from whom this town had suffered much.

The first national census was taken in 1790, at

which time the population of Medfield was seven hun- dred and thirty-one.

A New County .- The agitation which had com- menced more than half a century before, and in which this town had taken much interest, as is shown by the action taken in town-meetings at various times, re- sulted in the formation of Norfolk County in 1793. It was proposed at one time, it is said, to make Med- field the shire-town ; but some of our prudent towns- men objected, on the ground that the practice of visit- ing the court-room during the trial of cases would be prejudicial to habits of industry in the citizens.

The last effort to levy ministerial taxes upon all the inhabitants, irrespective of religious belief, was made in 1794. Ebenezer Clark was arrested for non- payment and committed to jail. The town authori- ties discovered soon after that they had been over- hasty in the matter, and went to Boston for the pur- pose of having him released at once. Mr. Clark, how- ever, brought suit for damages, and the defense cost the town sixty dollars.

The first guide-boards in this town were erected in 1795. They were five in number, and placed at the corners of the principal thoroughfares.

At this period it was customary to tax men for any special skill or faculties they possessed, either profes- sional or mechanical. Twenty-eight men of this town in one year paid a " faculty tax." Doctors had to pay fifteen dollars, then came employers, master mechanics, and various craftsmen, including black- smiths, who gave evidence of the value of their skill by the payment of five dollars.

About 1798 a weekly meeting for reading and conversation was held. It seemed to be a sort of political lyceum. Certain books on political subjects, approved by the society, were read aloud, questions asked, and conversation had on the topics presented. Other subjects might be introduced after the readings at the discretion of the presiding officer.

At this period, also, there was much interest on the part of our citizens in planting trees by the roadsides. Many of the fine trees by the public highways in various quarters of the town were planted during the succeeding years as a result of this laudable enthu- siasm. The streets of our town owe very much of their summer beauty to these early efforts in tree- planting.

The schools had been established in the different parts of the town for many years, but the district system was adopted, and the district lines drawn, in the year 1800. They continued the same till the abolition of the district system sixty-nine years after- wards.

446

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

The straw manufacture, which has since grown to immense proportions, and has been for many years the principal manufacturing industry of the town, was commenced in a small way by Johnson Mason and George Ellis about the year 1801. They kept a common country store on North Street, opposite the head of Dale Street. Rye straw was cut in a green state, prepared by scalding and bleaching, and braided in families. The children's labor was largely utilized, and many of our older people have grievous recollections of the long weary hours they spent, day after day, in braiding straw when they were children. This braid was purchased by Mason & Ellis and paid for in goods from their store, put out to be trimmed and pressed by other families, and yet again to be sewed into bonnets by those who had the requisite skill. The bonnets were sold in Boston and New York. After the death of George Ellis, Col. Mason continued the straw business, and several years after- ward received a premium for straw bonnets manu- factured by him from the Massachusetts Agricul- tural Society.

The Turnpike and Post-office .- The Boston and Hartford Turnpike was built in 1806; it was the property of stockholders, who, though supposing it a paying enterprise at first, realized very little from it. A line of coaches was run through the town for the next thirty years. Toll-gates were erected at several points along the way ; those who traveled by private conveyance were compelled to take the old road or pay toll for traveling on the turnpike. The following year a post-office was established here, and was kept at the store on the corner of North Street. Prior to this time citizens of Medfield went for their mails to Dedham or Medway.

The business of brush-making, an industry new to this part of the country, was started by Artemas Woodward about 1808, in a shop near where the orthodox parsonage now stands, and where he had previously carried on cabinet-making. Several other persons, among whom were John W. Adams, John Harmstad, and George M. Smith, subsequently engaged in the same business, which continued to be carried on in this town for many years.

Several public-houses had been kept in different parts of the town for a long time. One was on North Street opposite the head of Dale Street, com- menced by Samuel Sadey and continued by others ; another was kept in the south part of the town, by Sabin Mann, at the place now owned by W. R. Smith ; another was started by Seth Clark, continued by his son, and by Partridge Holbrook, and was at | years. the place now owned by heirs of Warren Hartshorn,

on Main Street ; and still another, for a few years, was kept by Moses Richardson in the east part of the town, at the place now owned by Mr. Bussey. In 1810, David Fairbanks, who was for several years the prominent business man of Medfield, built the tavern which stood on the site of the present town hall, and which was for half a century the only pub- lic-house. Fairbanks also carried on a store at the corner of Main and North Streets, and did a large business besides in manufacturing straw bonnets.

The old school-houses, built about 1760, proving now inadequate, were replaced by new ones. The north and south districts had been provided with suitable buildings about 1803, and a new house was built for the centre district in 1810. "Academy Hall" was added to it as a second story, and was owned by a company who maintained a select school in it for some dozen years or more.

The manufacture of cut nails was commenced about 1813, and continued several years. The nail-factory was on the stream a little way below the stone mill which stands on the Dedham road.

Rev. Dr. Prentiss died in 1814, and the following year he was succeeded in the pastorate of the old parish church by Dr. Daniel C. Sanders.

Town and parish affairs were separated in 1815. Up to this date from the settlement of the place all matters connected with the parish, the minister, and the meeting-house were settled by vote in town-meet- ing. The First Congregational parish was at this time incorporated as a religious society under the laws of the State.

The first attempt, so far as known, to collect the | leading facts in early Medfield history was made by Dr. Daniel C. Sanders, in his well-known historical sermon, in 1817.

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History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 94

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