USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Stoneham > History of Stoneham, Massachusetts > Part 4
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A.WARNOLD.
W.H WEED & CO.
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BOSTON STOR
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HELIOTYPE ENG COM
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CENTRAL SQUARE, LOOKING DOWN CENTRAL"STREET.
JAD DOVIDRO
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HISTORY OF STONEHAM.
William Rogers, Daniel Gould, Sr., Daniel Gould, Jr., and Abraham Gould. As before stated, William Rogers was located on the Captain Buck farm .. Daniel Gould, Sr., afterwards Deacon Daniel, a short distance beyond Rogers', on the opposite side of the way. On beyond Daniel Sr., was Abra- ham, and still farther on, Daniel, Jr., otherwise called Lieut. Daniel, who had inherited the home farm of the original John Gould. All of the Goulds were on the left hand side of the road as we go towards Wakefield. A lane, we suppose, led from the road near Rogers' house to Thomas Cutler's (the Doyle place).
Retracing our steps once more to the meeting-house, and proceeding south by the general course of the present Summer Street, we pass between the house of John May on the left and his blacksmith shop on the right. May lived in the old house now owned by Miss Lynde, which is a building of some historic interest, and will be referred to at a later period. Almost op- posite the May house a lane from the road on the west approached the home- stead of Thomas Geary, (the Zac Geary house) which had been sold to him by the children of Deacon Nathaniel Lawrence. Following the circuitous course of the highway in the direction towards Woburn, (now Winchester), our attention is first attracted to a house on the north side of the road, where it is supposed Richard Belcher lived at the time of his death in 1720. It was probably occupied at this time by his children and widow. Here lived a century later Ebenezer Bucknam, and within a few years was owned and torn down by Hiram Marston. On the south side of the way between Bel- cher's and Woburn line, were one perhaps two houses occupied by Joseph and possibly Samuel Holden. On the north side there was a house a few rods east of Woburn line owned at that time by Joseph Underwood, and oc- cupied perhaps then, at all events a few years later, by Stephen Parker. This. was where Eleazer Bateman had established himself forty years earlier. Turning to the present Warren Street where it connects with Marble Street, if we wish to trace the old road we shall follow Warren Street to Central Square, cross the Square to Central, down Central to Elm, up Elm to Wav- erly over Farm Hill by the way of High Street. Of course these modern streets have been widened and straightened but this was one of the old coun- try roads from Reading to Woburn a century any a half ago. When the town was organized Edward Bucknam, Timothy Wright and Peter Hay owned houses on or near it, the locations of which have already been given. It passed by the doors of Grover Scollay and Captain Benjamin Geary, on and over Farm Hill. The central part of the village was then largely a for- est. East of the road a path led down to the mill near which John Gould is supposed to have lived. Near the junction of Central and Elm streets a private way ran towards the Woburn road by the houses of Timothy Bald- win, Sr. and Jr. From near the house of Peter Hay, Sen., a bridle way led easterly towards Reading by the house of Ebenezer Damon. The present
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HISTORY OF STONEHAM.
North Street ran from Reading to Woburn through the Charlestown Farms. Pond Street was an old road extending towards Malden, passing near the houses of Captain Vinton, David Gould and perhaps Anthony Hadley, From near the meeting-house a private way led to Green Lane and Melrose High- lands. Town government and town offices have changed but little since then, but some of the customs which prevailed at that time seem quaint. It carries us back a long time when we read from the records the vote "that Ebenezer Parker shall be tything man, that hogs shall go at large and that no shepherd shall keep sheep in the town of Stoneham, that Deacon Daniel Green shall set the psalm for the Sabbath day, that five pounds be raised to provide the town with a pair of stocks, and five pounds more for renewing the town's supply of ammunition." The town well organized and a meeting- house built measures were taken to secure a settled minister, and procure the services of a school-master. The former was considered a question of such vital importance to the welfare of the people, that it was voted in town meet- ing assembled to set apart a day for prayer to ask God's direction in the choice of a minister, and so strong was their religious faith, that they doubted not their prayers had been answered when in the following month they elect- ed the Rev. James Osgood. In their selection of a person to fill the pastoral office, they seem to have been as difficult to satisfy as their descendants. Several were heard on trial, before one was chosen. The first preacher who was hired for some months was Rev. Joseph Champney. Mr. Osgood, who came from Salem, was called in October, 1728, accepted in April, 1729, and was ordained on September 10th. The ministers assisting at the ordination were Rev. Richard Brown of Reading, Rev. Samuel Fiske, of Salem, Rev. Hull Abbot, of Charlestown, Rev. Benj. Prescot of Salem, Rev. Joseph Emerson, cf Malden, and Rev. Daniel Putnam of Reading. The town had voted him a salary of £110 per annum, £172 for a settlement, and a few years later purchased a wood lot and agreed to furnish him with ten cords of wood each year. Mr. Osgood purchased land and built him a house which was a fine one for those times, and he remained here till his death in 1746. The members of the church who were dismissed from the First Church of Reading, to form the church at Stoneham were Daniel Gould, Daniel Gould, Jr., Ebenezer Knight, David Gould, Ebenezer Parker, Abraham Gould, Edward Bucknam, Thomas Cutler, Joseph Bryant and Jonathan Grif- fin. These with Ephraim Larrabee, Jacob Howard and Samuel Sprague on July 2, 1729, signed the church covenant. The women who severed their connection with the Reading church, some months later to join the Stoneham church, were Anna, wife of Samuel Holden ; Naomi, wife of Joseph Holden ; Eliza, wife of Benj. Gary, Jr. ; Hannah, wife of Thomas Gary, Sr. ; Abigail, wife of James Taylor ; Mary, wife of John Souter; Hannah, wife of Peter Hay, Jr. ; Sarah, wife of John Gould ; Judith, wife of John Gould, Jr. ; Eliza, wife of John Gary ; and Eliza, wife of Benjamin Gould. From the church at
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HISTORY OF STONEHAM.
Malden came Judith Lynde, Mary Green, John Green. Isaac Green, Joseph Green, John Dexter, and the wives of the three latter. From the church in Boston came Elizabeth Holden. Some of those who were dismissed from the church at Malden lived in what is now known as Melrose Highlands, a territory which a few years subsequently was annexed to Stoneham, and re- mained a part of this town till it annexed to Melrose in 1853.
Two of the best sources of information from which to obtain materials for a town history are the records kept by the church and the town clerk. They are pictures of the times, skeletons upon which it requires but little imagina- tion to construct a complete image, representing the customs and habits of life and important events which prevailed in a New England town one and two centuries ago. A most interesting little book is the one in which ap- pears the transcript of the proceedings at church meetings kept for years in the neat and distinct handwriting of Mr. Osgood. For instance, take the occasions when the first deacons were chosen and read Mr. Osgood's record of it. "Att A Chh. meeting in Stoneham Called by the Revrd Pastor of sd Chh on Novembr 27th, 1730, at the meeting House in sd Town. The Pas- tor opened the meeting with Prayer Imploring a Blessing upon their Chh and for Direction & Aid in the work that was before them Viz. in the election of 2 of the brethrn that might be Best Qualified to Sustain the office of Deacons of the Chh. Then the Brethrn at the request of the Pastor brot in ther written vote on Papers. The Ist vote for the Ist Deacon by the Brethrn of this Chh that were present came out upon Brothr Dan' Gould Sen who ac- cordingly accepted of said election. The 2nd vote on written Papers for the 2nd Deacon to this Chh. fell upon Brothr Dan' Green, who accordingly stands elected & has accepted of sd election. Nothing further being agitated or acted upon. The Pastor again prayed with them & Gave thanks to God for his assistance & Recommended the Persons Elected to the office of Deacons to the Grace of Gd that they might be made Blessings to the Chh & Ansr the Charactr of Deacons & be Enabled to fulfill all parts of ye office. So the Brethrn were Dismist by the Pastor.
"As attests James Osgood Clerk of sd Chh."
"The second day of March, 1746, Rev. Mr. James Osgood died and was Interred the fifth when his Corpse was carried to ye Meeting-House and there attended to the grave by several ministers and a great Concourse of People." In 1729 the town voted to raise £9 for a school; and for the first time chose a committee to procure a school-master. In 1731 the selectmen laid out a road on the easterly side of Spot Pond to Charlestown (now Medford) line. Previous to this there had been a private way over which people had been accustomed to travel, but it was necessary to take down bars and open gates, and the time had come when public convenience required a highway. The exact course which the way should run seems to have caused a good deal of contention between the town and some of the land owners, especially Tim-
RESIDENCE OF WALTER S. KEENE, HIGH STREET.
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HISTORY OF STONEHAM.
othy Sprague of Malden, who owned the land at the outlet of Spct Pond. Litigation followed, and Sprague obtained judgment and execution against the town. The country road then run to Malden, and the new road con- nected with it near the northeast corner of the pond running south. Finally in 1734 an agreement was made with Sprague by which the course of the road was fixed and a watering-place secured. Also in 1731 the "selectmen laid out an open Highway over the land of Stephen Parker from the Country Road between said Parker's house and barn" to Woburn. "Said way is to lie open to all people to pass as long as there is free liberty to pass from said way over Richardson's land and the other Woburn land to the Country Road near to Samuel Williams in Woburn; and in case any of the owners of Woburn land do stop or hinder the free passing from said way to the Road by Samuel William's in Woburn as aforesaid, then the way over Parker's land shall no longer be a way." Stephen Parker, it will be remembered lived north of Marble Street, and this was probably the road from Marble Street towards Montvale. It may be interesting to the public-spirited citi- zens of today to know what our fathers raised and appropriated for town expenses. The annual meeting for the election of officers during the first few years was held in March and the meeting for raising money in May. In 1731 they voted to raise £9 for a school for "Reding and Righting, £2 for the Poor and for sweeping the meeting-house and for looking after the meeting house and £40 for the Highways." This was exclusive of the minister's salary, the larger part of which was paid with interest derived from the sale of the Gould farm. John Vinton, Esq., was sent a representative to the General Court in 1734,-the only instance prior to the nineteenth century that the town was represented, except in 1775, when Col. Jos. Bryant was sent a representative to the General Court, and Capt. Samuel Sprague to the Pro- vincial Congress.
Our ancestors loved office and distinction, were punctilious of all titles from ensign to colonel and deacon, but chose to do without a representative be- cause it involved expense for his service. But little of the highway tax was raised in actual money, most of it being worked out on the roads, a custom which prevailed till a comparatively recent time. Great care was taken that no one should obtain a settlement if it could be prevented, lest such one might become a public charge, and so notices were served upon people com- ing into town, of which the following is a sample :
"Middlesex ss. To Mr. Ebenezer Phillips, constable for the town of Stoneham and to you greeting : You are in his Magesty's name required forthwith to warn out of the town of Stone- ham Martha Tidd and her child, late of Woburn, who are at the house of John Vinton, Esq., of. Stonehamn, and that they depart the said town of Stoneham speedily, they and their children, or else they may expect further trouble. Hereof fail not and make a return of your doings to myself at or before the 19th day of May. Dated at Stoneham the seventeenth day of May Anno Domini 1736, and the ninth year of our soverign Lord King George the Second over Great Brit- ain. By order of the select men. Daniel Gould, Jr., Town Clerk."
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HISTORY OF STONEHAM.
One of the great evils with which our forefathers had to contend during the last century was the fluctuation in the value of money on account of the large emission of bills of credit and the consequent inflation of the currency. Prior to 1745, when Louisbourg was captured, specie had almost been driven from the country, and it was flooded with a depreciated currency. Conse- quently many contracts were made payable in the staple products, such as corn and pork. The purchasing value of the pound was constantly falling. No men suffered from this condition of affairs more than the ministers, and for this reason there was a constant friction between the successive pastors and the people about their salary, which is illustrated by the following letter from Mr. Osgood :
"To the select men of Stoneham To be Communicated to the Inhabitants of said Town at their Town Meeting in May, 1737. Gentlemen. I gave my answer to settle among you in the work of the gospel ministry, April, 1729, and in my answer I then Declared my acceptance of what you then voted me for my settlement, and my yearly salary. But in my further answer I inserted this : (That I do expect that you will Readily and Cheerfully come into those Further allowances which in the course of my ministry I shall >tand in need of for my Comfortable Support. I am coming to a Family Relation among you & By Reason of the Bills of Credit Being so much sunk in their value in Exchange Between Silver & ye Paper Currency; for Sil- ver money has risen from 18 shillings to 27 shillings an ounce in Paper Bills; so that the Paper Bills sinking so much in their Credit, Cloathing, Provisions and Fire wood have Rise in their price there upon,that with the one Hundred and Ten Pounds which you voted me for my annual Support I cannot Purchase near equal to the value now in the articles with the said one Hun - dred and Ten Pounds now as I could when I first settled among you. Therefore I would Re- quest of you to allow me a valuable consideration for the sinking of Bills of Credit whereof I may be Enabled to comfortably subsist and Live amongst you. I do spend the Produce of my own place among you. James Osgood, Clerk. Stoneham, May 5, 1737."
In 1739 David Gould and Ebenezer Knight were chosen "to see to the preservation of the Deer," and after that time deer-reeves were annually chosen. The town having buried their first pastor, they sought a successor and secured the Rev. John Carnes, who was ordained Dec. 17, 1746. Mr. Carnes when he came here was a young man twenty-two years of age and a graduate of Harvard College. He remained till 1757, was afterwards in- stalled at Rehobeth, was subsequently a chaplain in the Revolutionary Army from 1776 till the close of the war, and died at Lynn, October 20, 1802. It was during the pastorate of Mr. Carnes that the old parsonage on Central Street was erected in 1747. Mr. Carnes appears to have had more trouble about his salary even than Mr. Osgood, and indulged in some rather pointed correspondence with the town. On May 17, 1750, which was the day of the town meeting he sent them the following letter :
"To the inhabitants of the town of Stoneham, Gentlemen :- I have year after year desired y ou to consider me with regard to my Salary, but notwithstanding this, and notwithstanding I have sunk by ye fall several Hundred Pounds, I have never had since my ordination but a poor pitiful consideration of {So Old tenor. Whatever you think of it, gentlemen, you have been guilty of great Injustice & oppression and have withheld from your minister more than is meet, not considering what you read, Prov. 11, 24, 25, which Verses run thus. There is that scatter-
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HISTORY OF STONEHAM.
eth and yet increaseth, and there is yt witholdeth more than is meet but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat; and he yt watereth shall be watered also himself. You have never made good your contract with your minister, and was it not for some of his good Friends in this Town and other Places, he must have suffered. Time has been when I have had no corn nor meal in my House & when I have wanted many other necessaries and havent had one Forty shillings in ye World, nor yet Thirty shillings, and when I have been obliged to live by bor- rowing; and this is ye case now. But I shall say no more about my circumstances and your Injustice and oppression. What I desire of you now is that you would at this meeting act like honest men and make good your contract that you would make such an addition to my Sal- ary for the present year as that I may be able to subsist. I desire nothing that is unreasonable, make good what you first voted me and I shall be easy. I remain your friend and servant, John Carnes. P. S. Gentlemen-Please to send me word before your meeting is over what you have done, yt I may send you a Line or two in order to let you know I am easy with what you done, or not; for if I cant get a Support by the ministry I must pursue something else, must betake myself to some other business and will immediately do it."
The civil and religious duties of those days must at times have been pur- sued at a disadvantage. The people sat through the long service in a cold and comfortless church, with no means of artificial heat. At the annual town-meetings in March they fulfilled the letter of the law by assembling at the meeting-house, acting upon a part of the warrant and then adjourning, often across the way to the hospitable inn of Lieut. James Hay, where, doubtless amid the fragrant fumes of steaming punch and hot flip, they yield- ed to the seductive influence of good fellowship, and finished the town's business with great unanimity and satisfaction. Competent men were kept in office for long periods. Lieut. Dan'l Gould was town clerk and town treasurer almost continuously from 1725 to 1748, and Capt. Jonathan Green held the same office, with the exception of one year, from 1748 to 1769. As has been said, the women sat on the east side of the meeting-house and in the east gallery, and the men on the west side and in the west gallery, al- though after a few years those of the most consideration were allowed to build for themselves pews. The colored people, though in a state of slavery, were admitted as brethren and sisters to the church. Mr. Carnes, after a good deal of contention and dissatisfaction about his salary, preached his farewell sermon July 31, 1757, went away with a bitter feeling and apparently reflected upon the conduct of the town in the papers, for it was voted "that the town will make an answer to what the Rev. John Carnes hath put into the public print." Mr. Carnes was succeeded by Rev. John Searl in January, 1759. He had been previously settled in Sharon, Conn., and was a graduate of Yale College.
During the first fifty years of the town's history she had been called upon to furnish her quotas to the French and Indian Wars. After the French were driven from Acadia many of them were billeted upon the various towns of Massachusetts. A number were assigned to Stoneham and appropriations voted for their support. An occasional house or barn- raising broke in upon the irksomeness of every-day life, for it was usually made an occasion of
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HISTORY OF STONEHAM.
great hilarity to which came men and boys from far and near. The items of expense which were incurred at the raising of the barn of Daniel Green, Jr., in 1763, indicate how these occasions must have been celebrated : "English cheese for Raising, 6s. 2d. ; 6 Quarts of Rhum, 4s .; New England cheese, Is. 8d. ; Bisket for Raising, 2s. ; brown bread for Raising, Is. 3d. ; sugar for Raising, Is. 2d. ; butter for Raising, 8d. ; malt to make beer for Raising, Id." The training of the military company was also a feature of colonial times, and it is rather a suggestive fact that they were almost always summoned to meet at the tavern of James Hay. There was but one school, a schoolmaster be- ing employed in winter and sometimes a schoolmistress in summer. Reading, writing and a liltle arithmetic were taught, although during the first years the girls did not generally learn to even write, it being considered an accomplish- ment not necessary for female usefulness. Among the teachers were Captain William Toler, Lieut. Joseph Bryant, Hannah Willy and Joanna Burditt. We may form some idea of the educational attainments required, when we re- member that Joanna Burditt, in signing her name, made her mark. Captain Toler was engaged in various occupations, for besides teaching school, he kept tavern and carried on a store in the house heretofore referred to as now owned by Miss Lynde. It was said to have been his custom to send a scholar at eleven o'clock to the tavern across the road from the school to bring him his grog.
Stoneham was one of the poorest towns of the county. Her comparative valuation appears from the Province tax assessed upon the different towns in 1754, which was as follows :
Cambridge, £125 I4S .; Charlestown, £162 13s. ; Watertown, £66 I 3S. 6d. ; Woburn, £117; Concord, £74 I2S. 6d. ; Newton, £117; Sudbury, £126 IOS. 6d. ; Marlborough, £126; Billerica, £73 16s .; Framingham, £96 6s .; Lexington, £55 18s .; Chelmsford, £72; Sherburne, £49 14s. 6d. ; Reading £118 16s. ; Malden, £94 16s .; Weston, £74 7s. 4d. ; Medford, £93 4s. 6d .; Littleton, £50 IIS. ; Hopkinton, £44 2s .; Westford, £48 12s .; District of Shirley, £12 7s. 6d. ; Waltham, £62 5s .; Townsend, {27 Ios. 6d .; Stow £44 2s .; Stoneham, £31 IIS. 6d .; Groton, £88 17s .; Wilmington, £36; Natick, £25 Is .; Dracut, £35 8s .; Bedford, £41 6s. 6d .; Holliston, £40 2s. 6d .; Tewksbury, £35 8s. ; Acton, £26 2s .; Dunstable, £33 IIS. 6d .; District of Pepperell, £28 8s .; Lincoln, £53 4s. 2d .; Carlisle £34 16s.
The inventory of many of the inhabitants in 1761 has been preserved, signed by each individual, and is valuable as it affords us a view of the ma- terial prosperity that then prevailed. Captain Jonathan Green, who, at that time, was one of the most substantial, prosperous and intelligent citizens of the town, owned I dwelling house, 2 servants for life, 3 horses, 6 oxen, 9 cows, 20 sheep, 16 bushels of Indian corn, 14 bushels of rye, 17 bushels of barley, 30 bushels of oats, 30 barrels of cider, 108 acres of pasturage, 12 acres of tillage, 2 acres of orcharding and 33 acres of mowing land. Timothy
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HISTORY OF STONEHAM.
Taylor, who owned the John Bucknam farm, returned I dwelling-house, 2 horses, 4 oxen, 3 cows, 3 swine, 70 acres of pasturage capable of pasturing 20 cows, 8 acres of tillage land (the ordinary produce of which is 100 bushels of Indian corn, 32 bushels of rye and 34 bushels of oats), 2 acres of orchard- ng (the produce was 24 barrels of cider) 18 acres of mowing land, 14 tons of English hay and 6 tons of meadow hay.
Joseph Hill, the father of James and the grandfather of John and Luther, Hill, was at that time a young man, and was taxed for I horse, 2 cows, 4 acres of pasture land, 3 arres of tillage, I acre of orcharding and £6 money at interest. In 1767 there were 78 ratable polls, 50 dwelling-houses, 1 mill, Io servants for life, £27 6s. 8d. trading stock, £1160 6s. 8d. money at in- terest, 42 horses, 41 oxen, 222 Cows, 311 sheep, 33 swine, 2346 bushels of grain, 326 barrels of cider, 102 tons of English hay and 205 tons of meadow hay.
Captain Peter Hay, son of the original Patrick, or Peter Hay, was one of the leading inhabitants during the middle of the century, a prominent man in public affairs, holding many offices and possessing a considerable estate. His homestead was near the Farm Hill Station, the house afterwards known as the Hay Tavern. Through the yard between the house and barn led a private way northerly to the Captain Rufus Richardson Lane, and so on by the houses of Caleb, Elijah, Oliver and Thaddeus Richardson, westerly to the Woburn road. When he made his will, in 1768, the original pioneers were all dead, and a second and third generation had taken their places. Some of the ·changes which had occurred during the first century are indicated by Captain Hay's will. After commending his soul to God, committing his body to the earth and expressing his faith in the resurrection of his body, he gives to his wife, Isabelle Hay, indoor movables, etc., 2 cows, 2 sheep, top-chaise and use of horse, the use of one-half of dwelling-house, 15 bushels of Indian corn and meal, 3 bushels of rye, I bushel of malt, 150 pounds of pork, 2 barrels of cider, 50 pounds of beef, 8 bushels of potatoes, I-2 bushel of beans, 8 cords of wood, etc., per annum.
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