USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Topsfield > History of Topsfield Massachusetts > Part 4
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Four days before William Paine sold William Howard part of his farm, the former deeded forty acres for £29.1.2 to William Towne, Sr., of Salem.14 This land bordered on Ips- wich River and was near the bridge, now called Balch's bridge, on Salem Street. In the early days it was referred to as the Town bridge.
This bridge may have been built by Walter Roper, for in the deed 15 when Paine sold William Howard a piece of land it included a way which "belongs to sd ground - nigh to the house of William Town - and soe to the great bridg which the sd Walter Ropper built and cart-waye over the river towards the south." No doubt the growth of the town and need for pasturage and timber caused the building of a rude structure in keeping with the blazed bridge path "leading to the south." It also made it easier to reach Salem and other towns on the south.
William Towne was in Salem in 1640 and perhaps earlier. His house there was on a grant of land of ten acres in the "North Fields" so called, now Danversport, next north of the land upon which the George Jacobs house stood. The forty acres of land William Towne bought of William Paine in Topsfield included six acres by the cellar William Howard built and thirty-two acres to the east of it. William Towne therefore was a commoner in Topsfield in 1661. The house William Towne built was in the field about opposite the present house on the Agricultural Society grounds on what is now South Main street near the corner of "the road that goes to Salem."
When William Towne's son, Joseph, married Phebe Per-
12 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 1, page 147.
13 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 1, page 148.
14 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 2, page 23.
15 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 1, page 148.
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THE EARLY SETTLERS
kins, daughter of Deacon Thomas, in 1663, William deeded two-thirds of his property to his son. Some are of the opinion that the house, or part of it, near the corner of Salem and River streets, now known as the Walsh house, was built by Joseph Towne on a portion of his father's land. April 15, 1703, Joseph and his wife Phebe gave their son John, one-third of all their property and he was to have the remainder after the decease of his parents. John gave it to his sons, John and Bartholomew. After Joseph's decease, his widow Phebe "for support and to relieve me in my necessity in my old age and according to reserve in deed of gift to son John" sold her son-in-law Thomas Nichols for £50, sixteen acres 'given to me by my father Perkins in his last will'. " It was "lying by Serg. Jacob Towne's land at the northwest end of Long Hill." Thomas Nichols sold it some fifteen years later to David Cummings who inherited his father John's homestead there. This lot was between the present Newburyport turn- pike and what was formerly known as the Ezra Batchelder house.
Before 1719, John Towne had sold one-half acre of his land on the present River street to David Balch, who was the first of that name in Topsfield. 16 He came from Beverly and built a house about the time of his marriage in 1713.
William Towne's two sons, Edmund and Jacob were also commoners in 1661. Edmund married Mary, daughter of Thomas Browning in 1652 and Jacob married Katherine Symonds in 1657. Edmund bought land of Zaccheus Gould, Feb. 16, 1656, number of acres not given. 17 His brother Jacob already owned land to the east of this which he may have also purchased of Zaccheus Gould, all of which was probably part of the Paine land purchased by Mr. Gould. On Dec. 2, 1656, Jacob and Edmund Towne paid William Howard £150 for one farm house and farm containing fifty acres of upland, thirteen acres of meadow, also his title in land he bought of George Bunker of Topsfield. 18 This was near their other land, all of which adjoined the father's farm. About this time an old way was laid out from the father William's house near the bridge over Ipswich river through the land of William Howard, Jacob and Edmund Towne and across what is now the turnpike through George Bunker's land (later acquired by Thomas Perkins and John Reding- ton). Here it joined an old way leading to the house of John
16 Essex Registry of Deeds, book 36, leaf 113.
17 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 3, page 57.
18 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 3, page 58.
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
Wildes. It probably followed what is now Maple and so on through Perkins Street to what is known as Meeting House Lane.
Old residents now living recall that years ago they were told that the section around where the first meeting house stood on this lane near the junction of Howlett Street was considered the centre of the town. It is so referred to in the town records when it was voted, Nov. 5, 1703, "the former return of laying out ye highway from the Bridge over the River up in to the town : Should be Recorded in ye Town Book, the way having been laid out by Francis Peabody, John Red- ington, Edmund Towne, and William Howard in 1656."
On the same day in 1656 that William Howard sold part of the land he had bought of William Paine to Edmund and Jacob Towne, he deeded forty-seven acres with "houses and a barn" to Thomas Browning. 19 The latter was living in Salem in 1636 and moved to Topsfield after he bought his farm and was a commoner there in 1661. He had four daugh- ters but no son. His oldest daughter Mary, who married Edmund Town, and her sons, William and Samuel, seem to have acquired most of her father's land in Topsfield after the latter's death in 1670/1, who owned about one hundred acres there at that time. Browning's farm was probably east of that of Jacob and Edmund Towne and Isaac Estey and extended to the Thomas Perkins' farm on the east and Red- ington land on the north, probably running east from the present turnpike in the vicinity of what is now Central Street. His house probably stood near the brook on the eastern side of the present Agricultural Society grounds. Mr. Browning owned meadow land in Topsfield south of the river as early as 1653 when his land is given as a bound in a deed. 20 On Feb. 15, 1660, when a committee took possession of meadow claimed by "goodman" Browning, they stated it "lyes on the east syde of that which was possesst by William Towne, on the other syde of the river, against Goodman Browning's house." Mar. 31, 1659 Thomas Browning sold James Moul- ton of Wenham one half the farm of 70 acres granted him by Salem. Part of the meadow at least was next Topsfield common land. 21
Daniel Clark must have acquired a large part of the Paine land most of which he disposed of at an early date. Clark
19 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 1, page 216.
20 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 1, page 148.
21 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 1, page 583.
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THE EARLY SETTLERS
was in Ipswich as early as 1636 and in 1648 was granted land by that town. He evidently did not gain possession of it, for two years later he had land laid out "beyond Mr. Win- throp's farm." He was probably the first innkeeper in Topsfield receiving a license in 1660 and was a commoner the following year. There seems to be some difference of opinion as to his identity. While his wife's name was Mary, the records show he could not have been the Daniel Clark who married Mary Newberry of Dorchester in 1644 and settled in Windsor, Conn.
In 1652, William Paine sued Daniel Clark for forfeiture of a farm for non-payment, but the matter must have been settled, as Clark sold parts of it later. A year after the law suit, William Bartholomew of Ipswich and Boston sold Wil- liam Evans of Gloucester, for £200, "all the farm he lately bought of Daniel Clark which Clark bought of William Paine." William Evans had land granted to him in Glou- cester, 1647, where he lived until he moved to Topsfield in 1653. The land he bought there included the interest Bar- tholomew had in a parcel of ground near John Redington's house "sometimes belonging to Humphrey Gilbert," with dwelling house, barn, etc. In December, 1665, 22 William Evans sold to Daniel Boardman of Ipswich for £315 his farm of 200 acres with dwelling house, etc. Boardman evidently paid £100 down and mortgaged the remainder to Mr. Evans. 23 He agreed to pay £100 in November 1667, "half in cattle and half in wheat, rye, barley, malt and one firkin of butter, sweet, dry and merchantable, aboard some vessel bound for Boston, the sd daniel to pay half the 'fraite' and stand half the venture till delivered to Evans at Boston wharf." The second £100 was to be paid Nov., 1668, under the same con- ditions and the £15 was to be paid the first week of November, 1669.
Daniel Boardman was the son of the emigrant Thomas and was born in Ipswich in 1639. When he married Hannah Hutchinson of Salem Village in 1662, his father gave him one- half his farm in Ipswich. However, Daniel decided to settle in Topsfield and bought the Evans farm in 1665, selling the half of the Ipswich farm back to his father. His first house is said to have stood in a field on the west side of the turnpike and south of the Peabody grist mill. Later he built the house now standing on the northeast corner of Ipswich Street and the turnpike.
22 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 2, page 275.
23 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 3, page 271.
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
William Averill, son of William who settled in Ipswich before March 1637, was living there when he married Hannah Jackson in 1661. He was a carpenter by trade. In 1663 he purchased of Daniel Clark one hundred acres of land, with house and other buildings lying near Mile Brook. 24 It was undoubtedly a part of the Paine property. William Averill probably removed there with his family soon after. His house is said to have stood on the left side of what is now Ridge Street. It lay south of the Boardman farm. This road from Ipswich Street was first laid out in 1666 and was the way from William Averill's house to the Peabody grist mill. The town gave William Averill and Daniel Boardman liberty to dam Mile brook in 1667. William Averill's house was torn down after his son John built a house nearby.
Many of William Averill's descendants settled near him. His two sons, John and Nathaniel bought the two hundred acres of the Governor Bradstreet grant near their father's farm, in 1692. The neighborhood became known as "The Colleges," for it was said the Averills were considered some of the most intelligent people in town, prominent in town affairs and holding public offices. It has been said that the Averill family was the first one in town to subscribe for a newspaper in early times. Many of them were cabinet makers. William died in 1691 when his estate was divided among his eleven children.
Both Edmund Bridges and his son Edmund were in Tops- field by 1660. The father, who is said to have lived variously in Lynn, Rowley and Ipswich, and perhaps Boxford, had come from England in 1635. He returned to the town of Ipswich within a few years where he died. His son, Edmund, married William Towne's daughter Sarah in 1659/60 and was another of the sons-in-law to settle near William's home. He probably bought land there at the time of his marriage. He is listed as a commoner in 1661 and paid a minister's rate in 1664. When he sold his house and eight acres of land to Ens. John Gould in 1668 it was bounded on the northeast by land of Thomas Perkins, Sr., east and southeast by that of Jacob Towne, west and south by John Robinson and Edmund Towne. The deed was not given until 1670 25 when Edmund Bridges had moved to that part of Salem, now Danvers, not far from the Topsfield line. His house there is said to have stood on the southeast side of Rea's hill, so called. The
24 Essex Registry of Deeds, book 9, leaf 281.
25 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 3, page 101.
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THE EARLY SETTLERS
building was later purchased by John A. Sears, father of Judge George B. Sears and moved to his farm in Putnamville. After Edmund Bridges' death in 1682, his widow married Peter Cloyse and was accused of witchcraft. She is said to have been spirited away by her son and thus escaped execu- tion.
Isaac Estey was another son-in-law of William Towne. He married Mary Towne before 1656 and probably settled in Topsfield about the time of his marriage. He was a cooper and first lived in Salem. No record or deed is found to show how Isaac Estey first acquired land in Topsfield, but as it joined that of his father-in-law, and other members of that family he probably bought a portion of one of the early grants. He was listed as a commoner in 1661. His wife was exe- cuted as a witch in 1692. Isaac Estey owned a part of what is now the Agricultural Society property. He added to his holdings through the years, providing his sons with land as they married. He left his son Jacob the homestead when he died in 1712. His son, Isaac, lived south of the river on what was later part of the Pierce farm. This land was part of the first division of common land. The fifteenth lot of 10 acres was given Issac Estey and later he bought lots next to this. When the 500 acres or the remainder of common land was divided in 1722 the Esteys received additional grants in this vicinity.
John Robinson was of Salem in February 1664/5, when he was granted twenty or thirty acres of land "about Ipswich River" by the Selectmen of Salem. In 1671 he bought 40 acres of John Porter, Sr., which was bounded by land of William Hobbs, John Nichols and John Ruck where his son Thomas later resided. 26 This land was included in what was set off in 1728 as part of the town of Middleton.
John Robinson was living in Topsfield a short time later, before 1668, when the birth of a son was recorded. He was not listed as a commoner in 1661. His house was probably west of William Towne's on what is now South Main Street. On October 30, 1670, he exchanged twenty acres of land with Thomas Perkins for six acres of upland and swamp, and in November he bought a house and about eighteen acres of land from John Gould for £40 which had formerly belonged to Edmund Bridges. 27 John Robinson's name is often found at an early date in the records as a town officer. He was en- gaged to sweep the meeting house in 1676/7 for 25s. a year.
26 Essex Registry of Deeds, book 3, leaf 151.
27 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 3, page 171.
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
John Baker, an innholder and prominent resident of Ips- wich, acquired a farm of one hundred and fifty acres in Tops- field before 1661. On February 8th of that year he gave it to his son Thomas provided he pay his father and mother ten pounds a year for ten years. This land bordered on Baker's pond, later called Hood's pond, and the brook between Ba- ker's farm and that of Thomas Dorman.
Thomas Baker was one of the thirty commoners in Topsfield in 1661 and became a prominent citizen, holding many public offices and serving as captain of the militia. He also served as a deputy to the General Court 1683, 1684 and 1686. He married Priscilla, the daughter of Deputy Governor Samuel Symonds and left all his property to his son, Thomas.
Although the town of Ipswich granted five hundred acres of upland and meadow to Samuel Symonds in 1637, the bounds were not settled until Dec. 16, 1645. 28 About 1650 he sold Francis Peabody one-half of his farm or about two hundred and fifty acres. There is no deed of the sale but in 1690 Lieut. Peabody testified that when he "bought one halfe of Mr. Sy- monds farm" he was shown the bounds that were settled by an Ipswich committee. 29 The farm extended from Hobbs-Bell house on what is now East Street to near the junction of Ips- wich Street and the turnpike.
Francis Peabody came from Hampton, N. H. Like many of the men listed as commoners in Topsfield in 1661, he be- came a prominent citizen and took an active part in the polit- ical and military affairs of the town. He succeeded John Redington as town clerk and was the third to hold that office, serving from 1676/7 to 1681.
On April 20, 1666, William Evans sold Francis Peabody for £4.5.0 an acre of land, called "a cowpen, being by a brook together with the brook and liberty to make a mill dam." Here the first grist mill in Topsfield was built and on March 7, 1670/1, he was also given permission by the town to set up a saw mill nearby, both of which were on the eastern end of his land. When he died Feb. 19, 1697/8 he left his house in which he lived and land which he "bought of Mr. Simons" to his son Isaac who followed his father as a miller and held many public offices. The Peabodys acquired a large amount of land both in this vicinity and south of the river in what later became Middleton. Isaac bought several of the lots of common land in the 2nd division there.
28 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 1, page 13.
29 Essex Co. Quarterly Court Records.
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THE EARLY SETTLERS
October 24, 1672, Francis Peabody sold Michael Dwinnell land which was laid out by the town from common land, on which Dwinnell built his house. Some of this land is still owned by his descendants. Mr. Dwinnell was said to have been a Huguenot and was probably living in Topsfield in 1667 or about the time of his marriage. He purchased other pieces of land and received grants of common land and many of his descendants had homes in the vicinity. He was made a com- moner, March 7, 1675/6. 30
Thomas Dorman was of Ipswich before 1634/5 when he was granted land. He was a commoner there in 1641. His grant of a farm of seventy acres in New Meadows was confirmed by the town of Ipswich, Feb. 22, 1649/50. He probably moved to Topsfield about this time where he and his descendants took a prominent part in the town affairs for many years. Besides the grant from Ipswich he purchased in 1651 from Samuel Sy- monds one hundred acres for £30. This land was also near Pye brook and adjoined his farm and that which Francis Peabody bought of Mr. Symonds. 31 Two years later Mr. Dorman purchased the forty acres Theophilus Shatswell had laid out to him by Ipswich. 32 This was bounded by "Lump- kins land," later owned by Daniel Hovey on the north and on the south by land granted Mathias Curwin. On Dec. 22, 1657, Thomas Dorman bought the Curwin land of fifty-five acres from Evan Morris for £20 which was situated in "pine Plaine. 33 Morris was a servant to Daniel Clark, who in his old age became a public charge. He worked for a time at the iron works in Boxford.
At his death in 1670, Thomas Dorman had become one of the large land owners of the town. He gave the land he bought of Mr. Symonds to his son Thomas and the land given him by Ipswich and what he bought of Evan Morris to his other son Ephraim. 34 The Dorman homestead was probably on what is now Rowley Street and was owned by the family for many generations. There is a tradition that the old house stood on the west side of the road in what was later a pasture.
In 1652 Samuel Symonds sold the remainder of his farm, consisting of one hundred and fifty acres, to Isaac Cumings, Sr., for £30. 35 Isaac Cummings was of Watertown in 1636,
30 Topsfield Town Records.
31 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 2, page 250.
32 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 2, page 90.
33 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 2, page 48.
34 Essex County Probate Court Files, Docket 8, 166.
35 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 2, page 155.
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
but two years later owned land in Ipswich, and probably built a house on his farm in Topsfield soon after he purchased it. This farm was on both sides of Howlett's brook, one hundred acres on the west and fifty acres on the east. His old house stood on what is now East Street. In his will, dated 1679, he gave it with forty acres of land to his son John. His son, Isaac, Jr., is also listed as a commoner in 1661. He married Mary, the daughter of Robert Andrew in 1659 and must have owned land in Topsfield either by gift or purchase at that time. He bought twenty acres of land of William Evans, the deed bearing date of May 21, 1663, not far from his father's farm and on July 16 of that year, his father gave him one hundred acres of his farm bounded on the south by "land sd Isaac purchased of William Evans and other land of sd Isaacs. " 36 Isaac Cummings, Jr.'s son, John lived south of the river. He bought several pieces of land granted to the commoners in the second division and with his father's share, finally owned nearly 200 acres there. It has been said that John's house was one of the first built south of the river. It was south of the home of John Curtis on what is now Row- ley bridge street and was later known as the Foster-Horne house.
John Winthrop's grant of three hundred acres was bought by Edward Parke of London in 1642/3 and sold by him to John Appleton and Richard Jacob of Ipswich in 1655. They in turn, sold it to the Hows soon after this and the family became a prominent one in Topsfield. The larger portion of this land was in what is now Linebrook Parish. The part in Topsfield was at the northern end of the town and the farm remained in possession of the How family for many years. According to family tradition, this farm was acquired from Abraham by his brother James, Sr., who settled in Ipswich as early as 1641. John How, the son of James, probably owned the southern part of the farm, before 1661, when he was on the list of commoners in Topsfield. He may not have lived there until his marriage with Mary (Cooper) Dorman, the widow of John Dorman, about 1662. His brother Abra- ham inherited the father's homestead in Ipswich because he had taken care of his parents. In the deed from James How to his son Abraham the easterly bound was "upon land called Mr. Winthrop's farm." The father James stated in his will he had given his son John of Topsfield real and personal estate, which land he had improvement of and that was all he
36 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 2, page 168.
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THE EARLY SETTLERS
intended him to have as his portion and debarred him from claiming any further part.
George Bunker who bought the Whittingham grant of six hundred acres from Capt. Brian Pendleton, was drowned in 1658. About a year later, his widow, who was Jane Godfrey, married Richard Swain of Hampton, later of Nantucket. In July, 1660, the Swains sold the land that was formerly Mr. Bunker's in Topsfield, in various lots. The house, barn, orchards, etc., with about 227 acres was purchased by Thomas Perkins. At the same time John Redington, who was living nearby, bought one hundred acres of the Bunker farm. Others who purchased the remainder of this land were John Wildes, one hundred acres; Thomas Browning, thirteen acres; Jacob and Edmund Towne, twenty-six acres. 37 It is probable that George Bunker sold, before his death, the balance of the six hundred acres of the original grant which he bought of Capt. Pendleton and the deeds were not recorded. In one instance William Howard states in a deed that he sells the right "I have or ought to have" in land he bought of George Bunker. 38
The Bunker-Perkins house is believed to be one that stood on Perkins Street, not far from the junction of High and Cen- tral Streets, which was taken down in 1887. It adjoined the farm of his brother-in-law, John Redington.
Thomas Perkins was about fifteen years old when he came from England with his family and settled in Ipswich in 1633. He was one of the earliest settlers in Topsfield and a com- moner in 1661. He married in 1640, Zaccheus Gould's daugh- ter, Phebe, and probably came to Topsfield about the same time as his father-in-law. September 25, 1662, Thomas Per- kins and his wife "Phebe" sold Robert Pearce of Ipswich, for £50, one quarter part of a tract of land containing 600 acres belonging to Rowley "which we have by deed of gift of our father Zaccheus Gould." 39 It was on the east and southeast of Fishing Brook.
Thomas Perkins was a farmer and was a deacon of the church there many years. The descendants of Deacon Thomas Per- kins were numerous and were frequently confused with the line of Rev. William Perkins. No near relationship has been found between these two families who were both living in Topsfield at an early date and were men of prominence.
Thomas Perkins died in 1686 and his will was probated at
37 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 1, pages 242-245.
38 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 3, page 58.
39 Ipswich Registry of Deeds, book 2, page 12.
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THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
Boston where such instruments had been ordered to be re- corded by Governor Edmund Andros. He gave three of his sons all the farm he lived on. Elisha was to have the north- west end upon which he already had a house. Thomas and Timothy were to have the remainder. If the latter could not live together, then Thomas should have the father's house and pay Timothy three-fourths "towards building a house the same bigness as Elisha's."
Thomas left his son Zaccheus "the farm he now liveth upon which I had of my father Gould" provided he pay £60 to the executors. This farm was near the northern end of what is now Prospect Street and was probably included in the original Gould purchase from William Paine. In the town records under date of Aug. 19, 1674, Thomas Perkins settled the bounds between "his land at Billingate and the Townes Com- mon Land." It joined Robert Smith's meadow and land of Barzilla Barker who lived in Rowley. This was probably the farm he left to his son Zaccheus. Deacon Thomas lived there until he purchased part of the Bunker farm in 1660.
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