USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Topsfield > History of Topsfield Massachusetts > Part 3
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John Whittingham, a trader or early merchant living at Ipswich, acquired by grant or purchase about 800 acres of land that extended from about what is now the Common and Main Street, in the village, to Perkins Street on the south and was bounded on the west by the nameless brook that enters the river below the Agricultural Fair grounds and rises to the west of the village flowing under Prospect and South Main Streets. At the east this holding was bounded by undivided land and by land held by William Paine of Ipswich. Whittingham came from Sutterton, in Lincolnshire, England, and was a grandson of William Whittingham, Dean of Durham, in the time of Elizabeth. He reached Boston, about 1635 and was living in Ipswich as early as 1637. There he married a sister of the Rev. William Hubbard. Sept. 9, 1648 he sold to Capt. Bryan Pendleton, late of Watertown and later of Portsmouth, N. H., the above described land.
Captain Pendleton sold this land to George Bunker within a short time, probably in 1649, and Bunker came to Tops- field and lived here with his family until his death in 1658, by drowning.
William Paine, the Ipswich merchant, not only had bought the Capt. Daniel Patrick grant of 300 acres at some time be- fore 1640, but had acquired by grant or unrecorded purchase about 700 acres lying on both sides of the Whittingham land and extending to the river on the south and west and to the Bradstreet grant on the east. On the north it was bounded by the land granted to Samuel Symonds.
The grants of land made by the town of Ipswich to Thomas Dorman on Feb. 22, 1649/50 amounted to about 70 acres. Most of the land lay north and east of Pye brook with the Samuel Symonds land an easterly bound and the Winthrop grant at the northeast. Dorman was the only one of the large owners of land in the New Meadows who lived on his grant and much of this land remained in the Dorman owner- ship until the widow Phebe Dorman sold it in 1821.
CHAPTER II THE EARLY SETTLERS
It is greatly to be regretted that the earliest records of the town were destroyed by fire at the time John Redington, the town clerk, lost his house in 1658. This makes necessary the weaving together of scraps of information found here and there in order to picture the beginnings of the town. Land was sold to new comers and the deeds were never recorded. The somewhat isolated location of the new town was also a factor; moreover, the settlers were too much occupied in build- ing houses for their families and shelters for their stock and in clearing land for planting, to devote time to making a per- sonal record of their affairs.
Because of the scanty records it is impossible to state who was the first settler in Topsfield and where he built his house. The names of those known to have been there at an early date were mentioned in the first chapter. The location of their homes will be described more in detail wherever it is possible to do so. The list of thirty commoners in 1661 found in the Topsfield town records gives the first record of the early vil- lagers.
It has been previously noted that Thomas Dorman was prob- ably the only one of the men to whom Ipswich granted large tracts of land at "New Meadows" before it became a town, who lived on his grant. William Paine and Mr. Symonds may have resided on their grants at intervals but it is quite un- likely. Most of the proprietors were prominent men in the Colony and had their homes in Ipswich or elsewhere. They were given this land for service rendered the Colony and hoped to induce settlers to buy land there for farms and build their homes. However, the aim was not wholly to enlarge the set- tlement of the Colony but to increase their own fortunes by the sale of this land.
Governor Simon Bradstreet either leased or rented the Tops- field farm granted to him by Ipswich to various tenants, while part of it was later occupied by his son John who became the progenitor of the Bradstreets in Topsfield, many of whose de- scendants still live in the town. Abraham and John Reding- ton may have been early tenants; the former deposing in 1662
(21)
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
that some time before, when he "went up to hire the farm," Mr. Bradstreet showed him the boundary lines. Abraham became one of the first settlers of Boxford.
When the men were rated in 1664, Thomas Averill and Thomas Hobbs were "on Mr. Bradstreet's land." Thomas Averill was the brother of William who bought a farm in Tops- field in 1663. Thomas did not spend many years in the town but removed to Portsmouth, N. H., about 1668. Thomas Hobbs may have been the man from Ipswich in Capt. Lothrop's Company who was killed at Bloody Brook, Sept. 18, 1675.
On February 1, 1692, Governor Simon Bradstreet, then of Boston, for £250, sold to John and Nathaniel Averell 200 acres of land, "all his messuage or tenement farm lands in the pres- ent tenure of John Hawkins." The latter was also called Huck- ins, Huggins and Hunckins in various records. This land laid between Howlett's and Mile brooks and joined land of William Howlett, Tobijah Perkins, Daniel Boardman and John French. 1 The Averills were sons of William who had set- tled nearby.
Governor Bradstreet did not give his son John a title to any of his farm in Topsfield during his life. It may make it clearer to quote from the former's will which was probated in Suffolk County in 1697. He stated in the beginning that he had already given all of his eight children "such portion as I thought meet and equal & divided my plate and House- hold Stuff amongst them."
Among the bequests to his wife was £5 a year "oute of my Farme at Topsfield where in one John Huckins now liveth." He gave his grandson John, son of Samuel, twenty acres of meadow on the south side of Ipswich river, "sometime belong- ing to my Farme wherein my son John now liveth," but sep- arated from his other meadow by the river.
The Governor gave his son John and his heirs: "my House and Farme at Topsfield where in he now liveth That is to say All the Upland adjoining to the sd House with a parcel of Land lying betwixt that and the House of John Wiles, also the Lot of Wood ground or Upland belonging to the sd Farme on the other side of the River with that parcel of meadow of about fourscore acres be the same more or less, lying entirely together betwixt the River and a certain Brook there, with the Island of Upland in the meadow, Also I give unto him - that parcel of meadow lying near the House on the same side of the Brook which I purchased of Robert
1 Essex Registry of Deeds, book 11, leaf 255.
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THE EARLY SETTLERS
Muzzey together with all the swamp adjoining with about 10 or 12 acres of Upland, lying on that side the Brook betwixt the sd Swamp and the land of John Redington, sometime be- longing to and used with the Farme which William Smith lately lived in, to which I have laid about 26 acres of Upland upon an Island which was part of, & belonging to my other Farme, on the other side of the Brook, as judgeing this Div- ision equal and most convenient for both Farmes. Also I give unto him the sd John the Sum of Sixty pounds. (This £60 I intend to pay his just Debts or at least some pt of them &c) and to each of his children living at my decease ten pounds apiece. And whereas I have intailed the House and Land herein bequeathed him, to his heirs &c, my meaning is and so it is to be understood, the one halfe of moiety thereof to his eldest son and the other halfe to be equally divided amongst the rest of his children."
He gave his daughter Mercy, wife of Nathaniel Wade, the rest of the farm in Topsfield which he describes as follows : "My Farme at Topsfield wherein one John Huckins now liveth. That is to say, the dwelling house and outhouse, Hortyards and gardens together with all other Lands both Upland and Meadow belonging to the sd Farme and all lying and being betwixt a certain Brook and River, commonly called Ipswich River with twenty six acres of Upland or arable ground being part of an Island compassed about wth meadow which was formerly part of my Farme as aforesd. Also I give unto her the Lot of Upland or Woodground on the other side of the River containing the quantity of forty acres."
Later, in a codicil to his will, the Governor revoked the gift of the farm to his daughter Mercy Wade, as the Averills were in "treaty with me about the purchase of it. Instead his daughter was to have £150 out of the purchase price.
In 1710, according to the terms of Governor Bradstreet's will, John's daughter Mercy, and her husband John Hazen of Boxford, and later of New London, Conn., deeded their right in the Topsfield farm to her father for £30. 2 On Feb. 1718/9, John Bradstreet's other children, namely Simon, John, Sarah, wife of Samuel Porter, and Dorothy quit-claimed all their share in one half of the father's farm to their brother Samuel. On Feb. 4, 1722/3, Samuel and his brother Simon, John's eldest son, who was given the other half the farm by his grandfather. the Governor, "being equally interested in 157 acres and 74 poles, make a division thereof." 3 Simon had the
2 Essex Registry of Deeds, book 23, leaf 61.
3 Essex Registry of Deeds, book 48, leaf 18.
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
part next Mile brook and Deacon Reddington's and Samuel had the remainder. It was also agreed that "the several buildings standing on the above divided farm each of them to their respective numbers where on they stand." This land remained in their respective families nearly two hundred years until heirs sold it to Thomas E. Proctor.
John Bradstreet was born in Andover and early records give his residence as Salem. He married Sarah Perkins, the daughter of Rev. William, June 11, 1677, and probably came to live on the Bradstreet farm about that time. Three months after his marriage his name appeared in the town records as head of a family to be inspected by tithing-man Deacon Thomas Perkins, one of four men appointed by the selectmen for that purpose. John Bradstreet took the oath of allegiance Dec. 18, 1678, and contributed to the minister's rate in 1681. He did not inherit his father's characteristics and took no part in public affairs, but his son Simon held many offices.
Governor Endicott's grant of 550 acres was not occupied by any member of his family for some years. By his will in 1665 he gave his son, Zerubbabel "a farm out of the farme lying upon Ipswch river contayning 300 acres whereof 40 acres is meadow lying along the playne by the river's side next to Zacheus Gould his Land wch lyeth by the brookside that runneth into Ipswich river at the furthest end of the playne."
In the inventory an additional two hundred and fifty acres, "part of a farme upon Ipswich river given by the cuntry" was valued at £80. It was listed as part of the farm in Topsfield, "undisposed of."
Zerubbabel Endicott was a doctor and lived in Salem. He later acquired the entire farm. In his will, dated 1684, he gave his sons Zerubbabel, Benjamin and Joseph "my farme upon Ipswich River adjoining Topsfield, being 550 acres to be equally divided between them." It was then valued at £650. The doctor's son, Zerrubbabel, was born Feb. 14, 1664. He married Grace, daughter of Samuel Symonds, and was the first of the Endicotts to live on the Topsfield farm. He died 1706, leaving one son, Zerrubbabel, who lived there and died childless. All his property then went to his sisters when all the land given the Governor in Topsfield and Boxford in 1640 went out of the Endicott name. The Killam, Sawyer and Curtis farms in the southern portion of the present town of Boxford were once part of this land.
Zaccheus Gould came from England about 1639, settling first in Weymouth, but his residence there appears to have been brief. During the next five years he dwelt in Lynn
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THE EARLY SETTLERS
where in 1640, it is said, he owned a mill on Saugus river. Early in 1644 Zaccheus Gould was a resident in what was then Ipswich. His petition that the portion about his farm be set off as a Village, was granted May 29 of that year. However, it remained a precinct of Ipswich for six years longer until Oct. 18, 1650, when the General Court allowed the "village" to be made a town with power "to order all civil affairs." His land was across Fishing brook from that of Governor Endicott.
In the earliest days, Boxford was known as Rowley Village and included part of the present towns of Groveland, George- town, Topsfield and Middleton (See Perley's History of Box- ford). There was considerable dissension between the people of Topsfield and those at Rowley Village, regarding the boundary line. Although Zaccheus Gould had probably bought the Capt. Patrick grant of 300 acres from William Paine by 1644, the deed was not dated until Nov. 4, 1652, 4 when it was called the farm "upon which the said Zaccheus now dwell- eth." His estate was intersected by the line claimed by Boxford. On Feb. 23, 1658, at a town meeting he "joined himself with his estate to ye Town of Topsfield for seven years . . . until a minister be settled in Rowley Village." Six years later his declaration of adhesion to the town of Topsfield was confirmed by the General Court when it was ordered that his farm "shall be liable to pay all charges to Topsfield . . and have priviledges accordingly." The chief reason for disagreement on boundary lines between the towns of Boxford and Topsfield, was the Gould and Endicott farms. Both had been originally included within the limits of Rowley Village. However, Gould had been allowed to join his farm to Tops- field and Boxford wished to have both within its limits for they were large and would contribute a generous share of the town's rate. It was finally ordered by the General Court that Boxford should have the Endicott farm and Topsfield that of Zaccheus Gould which was the Patrick grant and the committees from the two towns so established the boundaries. Mr. Gould became one of the largest land owners in the vicin- ity. In 1664 it is estimated his property consisted of about 3000 acres, only 580 acres of which was within the boundaries of Topsfield, the remainder being in what is now Boxford. He was one of the 30 men entitled to share in common land in Topsfield in 1661.
Zaccheus Gould's original farm was bounded on the south
4 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 1, page 175.
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
and west by Ipswich River and Fishing Brook and extended to near where the town house and meeting house now stands. His house stood near the corner of what is now Mill and Washington streets. An old account of family traditions states "the first house built on the farm by Zaccheus Gould was a block house to defend the inhabitants against the depre- dations of the Indians and a garrison was kept in it for several years." Zaccheus Gould was fined £3 in 1659 for entertain- ing Quakers and the following spring had his fine remitted "in consequence of his great loss lately sustained by fire." It may be that his home was destroyed by fire at this time and a second house built on the site. A third one was erected in 1724 which was burned in 1878 while it was used for a barn.
Four years before his death in 1668, Zaccheus Gould, con- veyed to his son John "for natural love of son and other consideration," the farm "I now dwell on." The deed was dated June 12, 1664. 5 John Gould, like his father, became a prominent man in the community and few names are more frequently found in the town, county and court records. It was upon his land in Boxford near the Topsfield line that the celebrated "iron works" were located and he was one of the owners of the company formed. The venture did not prove successful, however. John Gould held many public offices until his death in January, 1710. His extensive estate was divided among his five sons, the eldest, John, receiving the old homestead.
While the name of Curtis is not found among the list of commoners in 1661, it was one of the early families to settle in Boxford and Topsfield. Zaccheus Curtis had come from England in 1635 and was living in Salem in 1643. In 1655 he rented land of John Gould in Reading. Three years later he moved to Gloucester but returned to Salem the next year. On June 8, 1663, when he was called of Topsfield, he bought a parcel of land of Zaccheus Gould for £80, bounded on the north and west by Fishing Brook and south and east by other land of Zaccheus Gould. It was partly in Rowley Village, and partly in Topsfield. The house he built was in what is now Boxford.
Zaccheus Curtis's son John lived in Topsfield and his name is first found in the town records in 1680/1, when he was chosen one of the tithingmen. A few days later the town granted him "to be a free commoner." He occupied a prom- inent place in local affairs throughout his life. Members of
5 Essex Registry of Deeds, book 8, leaf 164.
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THE EARLY SETTLERS
this family are still living in Topsfield, Boxford and Middle- ton. John Curtis lived on what was known in later years as the Pike-Wheatland farm on Rowley Bridge Street. He bought 40 acres of land being the first two lots in the first division of common land laid out to the commoners in 1669. This land was the extreme western end of the division. The first lot of 30 acres belonging to Zaccheus Gould and the second lot of 10 acres, Uselton's, later John Pritchard's, were sold to Thomas Baker. On Oct. 25, 1678 Mr. Baker sold this land to John Curtis then of Topsfield for £69.6 The deed also included 4 acres of meadow near Ipswich River.
Here John Curtis built his home a short distance from the present house which was built by Benjamin Pike in 1803. The older house was taken down about that time. On the opposite side of the road between Rowley Bridge and Hill Streets is the cellar hole of a house, built by Mr. Curtis's son, John, Jr., on 121/2 acres of land he bought of his father in 1714. 7
Sergeant Joseph Bixby settled in Boxford about 1660, go- ing there from Ipswich. He also bought land in Topsfield at an early date. February 3, 1669/70, Edmund Bridges sold to John Ruck and Joseph Bigsbe his two lots of ten acres each, one in the first division of common land and the other in the second division. 8 On May 9, 1674, John Gould sold Joseph Bixby 20 acres of upland and 5 acres of meadow. 9 The former was bounded by land of Robert Smith and John Gould.
Joseph Bixby's son, Benjamin, was called "of Topsfield" March 2, 1689, where he bought 32 acres of his father for £40. The 5 acres of meadow and an additional 4 acres were also included in the sale. A son was born to Benjamin Bixby in Topsfield in 1678 (Topsfield Vital Records) and his name was on a list of men who contributed to the minister's rate in Topsfield in 1681.
The records do not show that this Benjamin ever lived on the "Donation Farm" as has often been supposed. His farm was on the "old way to Boxford." It is mentioned in the town records when this was laid out from the road that "goes by Mr. John Capens to ye road that goes by Thomas Andrews barn." It passed between Benjamin Bixby's house and barn to the brook.
6 Essex Registry of Deeds, book 5, leaf 16.
7 Essex Registry of Deeds, book 29, leaf 60.
8 Essex Registry of Deeds, book 3, leaf 81.
9 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 4, page 249.
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
On February 11, 1722, Benjamin Bixby gave his son Nathan "one half of all lands and meadow I am now pos- sessed of with house he now dwells in, and one-half barn, orchard and planting land, the whole containing about 50 acres." If Nathan took care of his parents, paid their debts and legacies to his sisters Mary, Elizabeth, Jemima, and brothers Caleb and Samuel he was to have the other half after the decease of his parents. No record of a Caleb has been found and it is likely it should have been Jacob.
George Bixby is supposed to have been another son of Ben- jamin but he is not mentioned in the above deed. He married Mary (Bayley) the widow of Joseph Porter, Jr., in 1718 and the Bixbys continued to live for some years on the Porter farm in the northeastern corner of Salem Village; all their children were born there, the births being recorded in the Salem Vital Records. While living in Salem Village, George Bixby began buying common land laid "for perpetuity" when the 500 acres reserved was divided among the proprietors about 1720 on the south side of the river in Topsfield. He probably was living there on what was later known as the "Donation Farm" on Cross Street in 1730 when a way was laid from his land to the road by Jacob Towne's house through Israel Towne's land. It began at the southeast corner of Bixby's land "where his dwelling house now is." He later bought the farm of Israel Towne, which adjoined his when the latter moved to Amherst, N. H.
George Bixby gave his son, Daniel, the Israel Towne land on Nov. 20, 1740, including one-half "my dwelling house, barn, etc." When George Bixby died in 1783 he left his grandson Daniel all his farm amounting to 45 acres with the other half of the buildings. Daniel's father, Daniel, had died in 1775 and his son had inherited his property, also.
William Paine, the "merchant," who acquired about 700 acres either by grant or purchase, besides the 300 acre grant he bought of Capt. Patrick, sold the latter about 1644 to Zaccheus Gould as well as nearly 300 acres of his other land. Several other men bought land from Mr. Paine before 1661 when they were listed as commoners. Still more bought land and settled in town soon after that time. William Hughes may have been the first to live on William Paine's land. (See Chap. I, page 21)
John Redington, who is said to have been a joint tenant with his brother Abraham on Governor Bradstreet's farm at an early date, bought a farm of 100 acres of William Paine
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THE EARLY SETTLERS
in 1653. 10 It was bounded by Mile Brook, land of Thomas Dorman and Simon Bradstreet. It stated in the deed it was land "upon which the said John hath built and now dweleth." Trouble arose over the boundary line between his farm and that of Governor Bradstreet. The case was taken to court and John Redington lost his suit. About the same time there was another controversy over the line between Mr. Whittingham's farm (Bunker's) and Paine's "now in posses- sion of John Redington." A witness in Court testified in 1661 as follows: "Some little time after Topsfield made a township Wm. Howard asked for nook of land against his farmhouse and part of farm he bought of Wm. Paine. The book in which the record was kept, the inhabitants of Topsfield now say was burned when John Redington's house was burned." He was then town clerk. 11
John Redington married Mary, the daughter of Zaccheus Gould about 1648 and probably settled in Topsfield at that time. His home was near that of his brother-in-law, Thomas Perkins, on what is now Perkins Street. As previously stated the Redington house was destroyed by fire about 1658 while he was the town clerk and the early town records burned.
John Redington's son, Daniel, inherited the ancestral home near Ipswich River in 1690. Like his father he was a promi- nent citizen holding offices in the town, church and militia. The Redington farm bordered on that of the Wildes family and just before Daniel's death an agreement was made be- tween the two families to end the strife and "let the bound- aries remain as their forefathers had established." By his will Daniel divided his land, a large amount of which he had added to his father's original estate, among his numerous sons. Daniel's son Jacob lived south of Ipswich River in the vicinity of what is now Hill and Cross Streets. This was common land being the 6th lot containing 30 acres in the first division given to John Redington in 1669. It was near the easterly side of what is now Hill Street and adjoined Jacob Towne's lot. The latter's house was on the westerly side of this road. In the division of the 500 acres, the remainder of common land south of the river, in 1722, 24 acres was given to John's son, Daniel. It adjoined the former piece of land. In 1738 Jacob Red- ington set off a small piece of his land there to a committee for a school-house. He later moved to Connecticut when he sold his farm to Deacon George Bixby.
10 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 2, page 43.
11 Essex Co. Quarterly Court Records, Vol. II, page 268.
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
In Feb. 1651, William Paine sold William Howard,12 then living in Topsfield, his farm house, barn and 82 acres of land for £69.12.9. Little is known about William Howard. He was born about 1609 and was in Topsfield in 1649. He be- came the first town clerk after the town was established. In 1653 he bought another parcel of land of William Paine for £10, which had been "at one time in possession of Walter Roper.18 Howard did not live in Topsfield more than ten years when he had disposed of his property and left town. His name is not found on the list of commoners in 1661. He went to Boston where his widow Alice, in 1675, petitioned to dispose of his estate.
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