USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Topsfield > History of Topsfield Massachusetts > Part 2
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As early as May 14, 1634, the General Court of the Com- pany granted five hundred acres to Simon Bradstreet, after- wards Governor. This land was to be taken "above the falls of the Charles river near the wiere," but for some reason was never laid out to him and in 1639 it was ordered that he "take his farme of 500 acres in the next convenient place that is fit for a farme to that which is granted by this Court to Mr. Endecott." The grant to Governor John Endecott was located north of Salem bounds upon the Ipswich river. Both grants then lay west of Ipswich.
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
John Winthrop, jr., who had founded Ipswich, was given several grants of land but the one that most concerns us.is a three hundred acre allottment "lyinge and beinge in the Ham- lett Village or place called Toppesfield in the Parish of Ipswich in New England," so described when he sold the allottment, March 21, 1642/3, to "Edward Parke citizen and merchant taylor of London," for £250. 4 John Winthrop jr., was living in London at that time. This grant of land that had cost him £20, thereby proved to be a valuable piece of Property. Ed- ward Parke's speculation in land lying three thousand miles away, did not turn out successfully for twelve years later in 1655, he sold it to John Appleton and Richard Jacob, both of Ipswich for "three score and fifteen pounds, " a loss of £175. These men sold the land to Abraham How of Ipswich, and the How family have lived on it until recent years. This allotment was laid out on the northeasterly bounds of what is now Tops- field and was largely in the present Linebrook parish. Win- throp's hill, lying north of Howlett's brook, preserves the name of the first owner of the land in that vicinity. Another intriguing feature in this sale of Ipswich land, in far away London, is the fact that here we find the first mention of the name Toppesfield as applied to "Hamlett Village or place . . in the Parish of Ipswich," our present-day Topsfield. We shall have more to say about this later.
The men who were most largely concerned in grants of land in or near the "village upon Ipswich Ryver," were the follow- ing :
Gov. John Endecott, who received in 1639 a grant of 550 acres of land.
Gov. Simon Bradstreet who was granted 500 acres the same year.
John Winthrop, jr., granted 300 acres, probably in 1639, when Ipswich was ordered to satisfy him for the £20 he had paid the Sagamore of Agawam for land.
Samuel Symonds, an Assistant, living in Ipswich, granted 500 acres at the same time before 1642.
Rev. Nathaniel Rogers, the Minister at Ipswich, who re- ceived a grant of 300 acres, that was finally laid out in Feb. 1650.
4 The original deed was bought by the late George Francis Dow, from M. V. B. Perley who had obtained it from the How family descendants in Linebrook parish, Ipswich, who had inherited it from the first settlers of that name who had bought their land from Edward Parke. It is now in the possession of Mrs. George F. Dow.
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THE SETTLEMENT
Capt. Daniel Patrick who settled in Ipswich in 1637 and was granted 300 acres before 1640 when he sold to William Paine.
John Whittingham, a merchant in Ipswich, who by allot- ment or purchase acquired about 800 acres.
William Paine, a merchant in Ipswich, who obtained by allotment about 700 acres and also purchased before 1640, Captain Patrick's 300 acres.
Thomas Dorman, who was alloted 125 acres at the same time that the Rev. Nathaniel Rogers received his grant.
These grants or allotments of land amounting to about 4375 acres, were all made before "the village upon the Ipswich Ryver" became a town and comprised more than one-half of its present acreage. They represented a considerable prop- erty value as is shown by the sale of John Winthrop, Jr., three hundred acres for £250. The proprietors accordingly felt it desirable to set up a new township and induce settlers to come in and buy their lands and as early as the fall of 1639, they took concerted action and petitioned the Great and Gen- eral Court for such authority. The order of the Court, adopt- ed Nov. 5, 1639, reads as follows :
"Whereas the inhabitants of Salem have agreed to plant a village neare the ryver which runs to Ipswich, it is ordered, that all the land neare their bounds, between Salem & the said ryver, not belonging to any other towne or person, by any former grant, shall belong to the said village."
This grant only mentions land lying between Salem and the river, which would be on its southerly side, whereas, all the above named grants of land, with the single exception of a small part of the grant made to Governor Endecott, were laid out on the northerly side of the river. Nothing now appears in the early records of Salem to show that the inhabitants of that town ever agreed to plant a village near the Ipswich river or even petitioned the Court. The true facts appear in an order of the Court adopted at a session held Oct. 17, 1643.
"Whereas, at the Cort houlden at Boston the 4th, 7th mo 1639, there Was Certaine Lands Lying neere Ipswich Ryver granted for a Village, either to some of the Inhabitants of Salem, or to some of the Inhabitants of Ipswich, who have farmes neere unto the said Land, to bee enjoyed by those who first settled a village there: they both propounding for it to- gether: howsoever the order mentioneth only Salem inhabi-
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
tants, and forasmuch as the said inhabitants of Ipswich have for neare this two years procured & maintained one to dis- pence the word of God unto them which they intend to con- tinue, it is therefore ordered & granted that Mr. John Endecott & the said inhabitants of Ipswich, viz., Mr. Brad- streete, Mr. Symonds, Mr. Whittingham, Mr. William Paine, Mr. Robert Paine, & such other of Ipswich or Salem as they shall associate to themselves, shall have liberty to settle a village neare the said ryver of Ipswich, as it may bee most convenient for them to wch the forsaid land shall belong, viz : all that wch lieth neare the said ryver (not formerly granted to any towne or pson), pvided that any of the inhabitants of Salem, who have farmes neare unto the said land now granted, shall have liberty for one yeare next comeing to joyne with the said village, & have their equall & pportionable priviledge in the same."
The definite statement in this Court order that settlers were living in a village near the Ipswich river, now Topsfield, in 1641, is the earliest record that now exists concerning the founding of the town. Who these men were is not known but undoubtedly they were tenants or squatters on the land granted to the proprietors already named.
The minister who "dispenced the word of God unto them" was Rev. William Knight, a non-conformist, who was received an inhabitant of Salem in 1637 and was living in Ipswich in the winter of 1638-9 when the town voted to grant him two hundred acres of land provided he remain an inhabitant the space of three years. No church was organized in the new village and Mr. Knight's labors must have partaken of the nature of mission work on a very sparsely settled frontier. "Good News from New England," a tract published in Lon- don in 1648, states-"William Knight of New Meadows had gone back to England." The village had been known as New Meadows since 1643 and probably before that.
Now who were these men living in this village that lacked a name until 1643? About the only definite information we now have of that early period is the deed of one William Hughs who was living on the farm in the "New Meadowes" granted to William Paine. It is dated Aug. 13th, 1643. Hughs sells to Richard Barker of Quichicchock (Andover) - the first settler in that town - for £38 in land paid and £18 to be paid, "3 yearlinge hifers 2 yerling bulls at twelve pounds ten shillings twoe kine at tenne pounds 4 calves at 3 pounds one house and house lot of 7 acres broken (land) and twoe
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THE SETTLEMENT
unbroake, with all the corne mee there unto belonginge as alsoe twelve loads of hay with all the straw of the corn there grow at the farme of Mr. Paine where the said William now lives at tenne pound all these above sd particulars it may bee lawfull for the sd Richard his heires or assignes, to sell assigne or dipose of as his owne proper right."5 The witnesses were Adam Ottley who lived in Lynn where he was the agent of Mr. John Humphry, and John Hughes who seems to have been William's son.
This deed pictures a house, 7 acres of plowed land and two unplowed, an unknown amount of grain and its straw, and twelve loads of hay, probably cut on the river meadows, the whole valued at only £10. He valued five yearlings at £12.10.0, and two cows at £10. His house must have been exceedingly primitive and the question at once arises -how could Hughs sell the house and land that was a part of the farm of Mr. William Paine of Ipswich? The answer may be found in the records of the session of the Quarterly Court held at Salem, July 8, 1645, where William Paine brought suit against William Hughs and at the same session Richard Barker of Andover sues William Paine. Unfortunately the court records supply no information as to the outcome, but William Hughs seems to have put over a shady deal.
When Hughs left Topsfield he went to Lynn and in August 1644, was before the Court, with his son John, when both were fined fifty shillings for "deriding such as Sing on the Congre- gacion tearming them fooles." William also had said that Mr. Whiting, the Lynn minister, preached confusedly. John was more rash and charged Mr. Cobbett, the associate of Mr. Whiting, with preaching falsehood in his doctrine. William attempted to defend himself and said that Timothy Coop's wife, a witness against him, was "scandalous through- out the plantation."
To have supplied occasion for the ministrations of the Rev. William Knight presumes a congregation, however small, and it naturally follows that there were living at the New Mead- ows families all trace of whom has now been lost. Abraham Redington and his brother John, were here before 1650 as tenants on the Bradstreet farm. Walter Roper, William Howard, Humphrey Gilbert, Thomas Browning and Thomas Dorman also lived in Topsfield about the same time. Zaccheus Gould probably was here in the spring of 1644, living on the Captain Patrick grant, as the following order of the General
5 Essex Co. Quarterly Ct. Files, Vol. I, leaf 15.
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
Court seems to indicate: "Upon Zaccheus Goulds petition, it is conceived to be for the genrall good, & very convenient, there should be a village about that farme, & that the towne of Ipswich should further them therein." Mass. Colony Rds., May 29, 1644.
After settling at the New Meadows, Gould took an active part in creating a town there and was one of its leading citizens. He had arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony about 1638, at first living in Weymouth, but removing to Lynn in the spring of 1640 where he leased from John Humphrey a farm of three hundred acres, lying "within the liberties of Salem." The annual rental of this farm was 400 bushels rye, 300 of wheat, 200 of barley, with eight oxen, five cows, two heifers, four calves and two mares, showing that Gould was a farmer of ability and possessed capital. The following December he leased from Humphrey, for a term of ten years, another farm in Lynn, called "The Ponds." He was living in Lynn in December, 1643, when his servant William Taylor was severely whipped for stealing. The next spring he va- cated his lease and removed to the New Meadows as appears from his petition to the General Court and also from the deed6 of James Parker of Strawberry Bank (Portsmouth, N. H.) dated Nov. 26, 1644 conveying to Zaccheus Gould of Ipswich, a house and land in Weymouth which Gould, in turn, con- veyed to Capt. William Perkins (afterwards the Rev. William Perkins of Topsfield) on April 2, 1645. The date of his removal to the New Meadows is also shown in the testimony in Court in 1665, of his son-in-law, John Wildes, that about twenty-one years before, William Paine sold land to Zaccheus Gould, where his house now stands. 7
The inhabitants at the New Meadows next appear in a petition to the General Court to relieve them from public rates to support a minister at the Meadows and also the min- ister in Ipswich village. Here is the action of the Court :
"Forasmuch as ys Cort hath formrly granted yt yr should be a village upon Ipswich Ryver, at or neare a place called ye New Medowes, & forasmuch as crteine of ye inhabitants of Ipswich who have farmes impved neer yr unto, & do desire yt a ministr might be settleed yr to dispence ye word to ye psent inhabitants & such othrs as shall plant ymselues at ye said village, whom yet notwthstanding they are no wayes able in
6 Suffolk Deeds, Vol. I, p. 56.
7 Essex Co. Court Records, Vol. III, page 259.
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THE SETTLEMENT
any comfortable mannr to mainetaine a minister, & to defray othr necessary charges of ye place, if wthall they should be lyable to all other rates & publike charges of ye towne of Ipswich."
"This Cort doth therefore herby order, yt either ye whole towne of Ipswich shall equally contribute (wth such othr inhabitants as have lands in or neere ye said village) to ye maintenance of a minister, & all other publike charges inci- dent to such a village, or else ye foresaid inhabitants, yt have lands neer ye said village, & shall contribute to ye mainte- nance of a minister yr & othr necessary charges, shalbe freed from all mannr of rates, charges, or contributions to ye towne of Ipswich for their land or stock in or belonging to ye said village." Mass. Colony Records, Oct. 1, 1645.
"The Cort haveing considred of ye great expence of time occasioned by sevrall psons bringing their suites to ye Cort to be tryed here, thinke it meete that Capt. Smyth should pay twenty nobles for defraying ye charge of ys Cort & ye towne of Ipswich & ye petitionrs of ye Newe Medows should pay £5 for ye time their cause tooke up in ys Cort, fifty shillgs ye towne, & fifty shillgs ye petitionrs." Mass. Colony Records, Oct. 18, 1645.
The Rev. William Hubbard of Ipswich, in his "History of New England," writes concerning this as follows: "And at the General Court, in the year 1645, it was ordered, that divers farms, belonging to Ipswich and Salem (but so far distant from either town that they could not duly repair to the publick worship there), should erect a village, and have liberty to gather a church. This was much opposed by those of the town of Ipswich pleading their interest in the land, etc. But it was answered, that when the land was granted to the towns it was not intended only for the benefit of the near inhabitants, or, for the maintenance of the officers of that one church only, but of all the inhabitants, and of any other church which should be there gathered; and a principal motive which led the court to grant them, and other towns, such vast bounds, was that (when the towns should be in- creased by their children and servants, etc) they might have place to erect villages, where they might be planted, and so the land come to be improved to the more common benefit."
"Many years after, that village was raised to a township called Topsfield, and a church being there gathered 1663, Mr. Thomas Gilbert was the first pastor that was ordained there, which was many years after."
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
This order of the General Court came up for consideration at a town meeting held in Ipswich, Feb. 25, 1645/6, and the following statement appears on their records, viz: "That since this order of (the General Court) they have not demand- ed any charges or contributions of their Inhabytants at the New Meddows, to the Towne of Ipswich, neither are they resolved to require (any) charges or contributions of the said Inhabitants hereafter either the present Inhabytants of the (Towne) of Ipswich or there successors shall see cause (to or) shall require charges or contributions of their Inhabitants at the New Meddows to the Towne of Ipswich, then the said Inhabitants of Ipswich or their successors shall and will forme themselves to the obedience of ye Court's order in ye case."
If the inhabitants at the New Meadows acting under this Order, did obtain some minister "to dispence ye word," no record of it has been preserved. The Rev. William Perkins seems to have been the next to regularly preach there. He was an old acquaintance of Zaccheus Gould and had been minister in Gloucester until his preaching became unaccept- able to some of his congregation. He was living in Topsfield as early as Oct. 4, 1655, when he sold his house and land in Gloucester.
HOW THE TOWN GOT ITS NAME
Meanwhile the proprietors of the lands at the New Meadows were looking for yoemen to buy their farms and develop the settlement beside the river. A new name and an order of the Court creating a town was considered eminently desirable and in the summer of 1648, the following petition was pre- sented to the Great and General Court, viz :
"Wee Humbly Intreate this honored Court that you wold bee pleased to bestowe a name Vpon oure Village at the new medowes at Ipswich Which wee suppose may been an Incor- agment to others to Come to liue amongst vs: and alsoe a meanes to further a ministry amongst vs wee thinke hemp- steed wile bee a fit name if the Court plese to gratifie vs herewith
Will Payne Brian Pendleton Zacheous Goold
"The Dept. have granted this Pet: wth refference to the consent of or honourd magistrates. - William Torrey by order &c."
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THE SETTLEMENT
"The magistrates (upon consideration with these that are principale interested) doe thinke it fitt it should be called Toppesfield as they - to the counsel of or brethern the Depties."
Jo : Winthrop: Govr.
"The Dept: consent wth or honord magistrates in answer to this Pet: - Wm. Torrey by order &c." Mass. Archives, Vol. 112, p. 23.
The entries in the Colony records follow: "The village at the newe medowes at Ipswich is named Toppesfield." Mass. Colony Records, Oct. 18, 1648.
"Vppon the request of those whom it most concernes, the village at the New Meddowes at Ipswich, shalbe henceforth called Toppesfield. By both." Mass. Colony Records, Oct. 27, 1648.
Zaccheus Gould, one of the petitioners, had lived at Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England, not far from St. Albans, and naturally desired to transplant to New England soil the familiar name of his former parish.
Samuel Symonds, one of the Assistants, sitting among the Magistrates when the petition came up for consideration, owned five hundred acres of land at the New Meadows. He had come from Toppesfield, a small parish in the county of Essex, about thirty miles north of London. Undoubtedly it was his influence that led to the adoption of the name Toppes- field to be given to the New Meadows settlement. Moreover, we must not lose sight of the fact that John Winthrop jr., in 1643, when selling his three-hundred acre grant to Edward Parke in London, had described the lands as being in the "Hamlett Village or place called Toppesfield." This was full five years before the Magistrates took official action and it therefore seems likely that the name Toppesfield had been in use more or less for some time. Samuel Symonds, gent., had lived at an ancient messuage in Toppesfield, called "Oli- vers," about three-quarters of a mile from St. Margaret's, the parish church, where twelve of his children had been bap- tized, and when the town of Ipswich granted him five hundred acres having its western bounds on Pye brook, at the New meadows, he promptly named the grant "Olivers" after his old home in England, and so the name still appears in the Ipswich records.
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
EARLY LANDOWNERS
The Governor Endecott grant of 550 acres, made in 1639, remained undivided and was inherited by his son Dr. Zerrubabel Endecott of Salem, who died in the winter of 1683/4 bequeathing his land to his sons Zerubabel, Benjamin and Joseph. The larger part of the grant lay north of the river and to the west of Fish brook in what became Rowley Village, now the town of Boxford. About 1682, a two-story house was built on this part and was occupied by Zerubabel, the grandson of the Governor, until Jan. 15, 1701-2 when he sold it, with one-hundred acres of land, to Thomas Killam of Wenham whose descendants still own the farm. The house was destroyed by fire in 1927. The Endecott land lying on the south side of the river was sold by Zerubabel Endecott, Mar. 18, 1700, to Job and Paul Averill, both of Topsfield.
Governor Endecott also was granted by the General Court, on Oct. 14, 1651, "three hundred acres of woodland, tending to the furtherance of a copper worke he intends to set up in a place called Blind Hole, neere to a farme formerly graunted to him, the said land not beinge formerly graunted, provided he set up his said workes within seven yeares." Cop- per pyrites and carbonate of copper had been found here in small quantity and the Governor had visions of a valuable mine, valuable alike to him and to the colony, that failed to realize. Nothing came of the mine and the grant of three hundred acres was never layed out to him. (See Chapter 23)
The Governor Simon Bradstreet grant of 500 acres was originally made in 1634 and he was to have land "above the falls of Charles Ryver neere the weire." This was a mile above Watertown. Objection was made and Nov. 5, 1639, the Court directed that he take his 500 acres "in the next convenient place that is fit for a farme to that wch is graunted by this Court to Mr. Endecott." Objection seems to have been made to this grant and on Oct. 17, 1643, the General Court adopted the following :-
"Whereas Mr. Bradstreete hath liberty granted him to take his farme of 500 acres in the next convenient place, that is fit for a farme, to that wch is granted to Mr John Endecott, wch may prove prejudical to the said village, it is therefor or- dered, that the said Mr Bradstreete shall have liberty to take his said farme of 500 acres in any other place not yet granted to any towne or person, nor prejudicial to any plantation made, or to bee made, wch when hee hath so done, & mani-
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THE SETTLEMENT
fested to same to this Court, his aforesaid grant shall fourth- wth bee voyde, & the said land shall belong to the village before mentioned, to bee disposd of by the inhabitants thereof for the good of the whole."
Bradstreet was living in Ipswich at that time and no doubt had made a personal inspection of the lands at the New Meadows. We do not find a record of the actual layout of the 500 acres he had been granted but he seems to have selected the land since occupied by his descendants. It bounded on the river on the east and had the way from Ips- wich and Mile brook on the west.
The John Winthrop, jr's grant of 300 acres made to repay him for his expense and time in negotiating the purchase of land from Masconomet, has already been mentioned. The larger part of this land lay in what is now Linebrook Parish, Ipswich. The part that runs over into present-day Topsfield bounds lay at the northern part of the town. Winthrop hill lying at the southeast of the Linebrook road preserves the name of the man who afterwards became Governor of Con- necticut and the location of his early grant of land.
The Samuel Symonds grant of 500 acres, made to him be- fore 1642, and known as "Olivers," has also been mentioned. Its westerly bound was Pye brook and it also ran down Mile brook, as Francis Peabody, who set up the first grist mill in the town, bought one half of the Samuel Symonds grant in 1650. The Hobbs-Bell land in the northeasterly part of the town, was also a part of the Symonds grant he having sold 150 acres here in 1652, to Isaac Cummings of Ipswich. Samuel Symonds, "a gentleman of an ancient family," was living in Ipswich as early as March 1637 and there he spent the rest of his life.
The Rev. Nathaniel Rogers grant of 300 acres, that was at last laid out to him in February 1650, lay between the river on the south, Gravelly brook on the east, and Howlett's brook on the west. This grant was in the possession of Ensign Thomas Howlett of Ipswich, in 1651.
The Capt. Daniel Patrick grant of 300 acres was made to him before 1640 when his sale of this grant to William Paine of Ipswich, was ratified, the General Court directing that it "bee layed out to Rowley bounds, where it may not prejudice any new plantation nor any former grant." Paine sold this land to Zaccheus Gould of Lynn and Gould occupied it in the spring of 1644. Captain Patrick came over with Winthrop in 1630 and was one of the salaried captains sent over to
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
instruct the colonists in military discipline. He was living in Ipswich in the fall of 1637. After selling his land to Wil- liam Paine he removed to Connecticut where he married a Dutch wife and in 1643, while living at Stamford, was killed by a Dutchman. Capt. Patrick's land lay north of the river and east of Fish brook and extended nearly to what is now the Common and Main Street. At Zaccheus Gould's death this land was divided among his children as will be shown elsewhere.
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