USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Acushnet > History of the Town of Acushnet, Bristol County, State of Massachusetts > Part 5
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OLD WIND MILL- Formerly near Fort Phoenix. (Facsimile of one near Parting Ways.)
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"Behold, a giant I am! Aloft here in my tower . With my granite jaws I devour The maize, the wheat, and the rye, And grind them into flour."
"I hear the sound of flails Far off from the threshing floors In barns with their open doors;
And the wind, and the wind in my sails Louder and louder roars."
"I stand here in my place With my foot on the rock below, And which ever way it may blow, I meet it face to face, As a brave man meets his foe."
"On Sundays I take my rest; Church going bells 'begin Their low melodies din;
I cross my arms on my breast And all is peace within."
AULD LANG SYNE We have enjoyed a superficial view of these old houses of Acushnet. It will be interesting to some to recall a little of the social and family life of former times there. One of the charming features of the household life of these old homes was the fireplace, so huge that it could be fed with uncut cordwood and had a flue through which a man could easily pass. About these blazing hearth-stones the family gathered at the end of the day's toil in the winter and passed the evening hours. How beautifully and vividly the poet Whittier describes in that poem of matchless sim- plicity and sweetness, the laying of the fire in one of these mammoth fireplaces in these words :
"We pile with care our mighty stack Of wood against the chimney back ; The oaken log, green, huge and thick, And on its top the huge back stick- The knotty forestick laid apart, And filled between with curious art Of ragged brush; then hovering near We watch the first red blaze appear."
"Heard the sharp crackle, caught the gleam Of whitewashed wall and surging beam, Until the old rude fashioned room Burst flower-like into bloom. What matter how the night behaved ! What matter how the north wind raved ! Blow high, blow low, not all its snow Could quench our hearth fire's ruddy glow."
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CHIMNEY OF THE WEST HOUSE, SCONTICUT NECK, FAIRHAVEN.
There was nothing about the old rural homesteads of long ago more enjoyed and which lingered longer in the recollections of child- hood days than the great farm barn where the fragrant hay was stored and the animals of the premises were housed. It was a place for play at all times; in the winter days when the weather was too severe and when the summer days were too torrid for out-of-door sports. The swings, the ladders and the hay mows were the only indoor gymnasiums for children in those days and grandpa's barn was an especially de-
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lightful place, for there were no don'ts attached to the privilege of romping in it. It was happily called to remembrance as long as that blessed faculty was retained.
"For grandpa's barn was the jolliest place For frolic and fun in a summer day ; And e'en old Time, as the years slip by, Its memory never can steal away."
Many readers of these pages will recall among other interesting and precious objects of the old home the ever fascinating and bewitching grandfather's clock. There, as the poet Longfellow soliloquizes :
"Through days of sorrow and of mirth, Through days of death and days of birth, Through every swift vicissitude Of changeless time, unchanged it stood."
"By day its voice was low and light, But in the silent dead of night, Distinct as a passing footstep's fall, It echoed along the vacant hall- Along the ceiling-along the floor,
And seemed to say at each chamber door, Forever-never ! Never-forever!"
What did the members of the family do in those long ago days? They worked. They had no time to kill, and no demoralizing horse races, disreputable vaudeville and the like with which to kill, and worse than waste their time. There were no "common stocks" and oreless mines, and bottomless bucket shops, and "giltedged" mortgages on valueless property in which to invest-sink-their hard earned dol- lars. It was honest toil and thrift, New England grit and gumption, push, pluck and perseverance that enabled these forefathers and fore- mothers of ours to overcome the tremendous adversities that confronted them, and to surmount the obstacles in the pathway of their humble lives. Not only did father and mother toil to support the roof tree, but to the children were assigned duties that they were not permitted to shirk, which taught them a useful lesson. No comparison will be made in this item of home life and conditions between then and now. Benjamin Franklin described the farmers' condition in 1776 in verse, as follows:
"Farmers at the plough ; Wife milking cow ; Daughters spinning yarn; Sons threshing in the barn- All happy to a charm."
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A facetious rhymster gives his version of the situation a hundred and twenty-five years later, thus :
"The farmer gone to see a show ; His daughter at the piano ; Madame gaily dressed in satin ; All the boys are learning Latin- With a mortgage on the farm."
The question may be asked, What did the earliest settlers have for food? Fish and game were plentiful. Indian corn was the chief cereal. Before a wind mill was erected here the usual way of pulverizing corn was to pound it in the stump of a tree dug out for a mortar, with a wooden pestle suspended from a live limb of a tree or a sapling. From this was made hasty pudding, Indian dumplings, "newsamp" as the Indians called it, which was a porridge, and Johnny cakes. Another popular corn dish was no cake or Indian "noodick." This was also a favorite ration with the Indians on their hunting expeditions. It was made from the whole corn parched in the hot ashes. The ashes were sifted from the corn, which was beaten to a powder. The Indians put this in long leathern bags, which they trussed at their backs like a knapsack, and ate it with the game and fish which they procured, and cooked in the woods or at the water side. Beans were plentiful, but potatoes were scarce. The diet was necessarily simple, limited and changeless. It was "Hobson's. choice," that or nothing. There were no cafes or table d'hotes to resort to. But dyspepsia, heart burn and other stomachic ailments were rare. Some of my readers of 1907 have witnessed home life of the tallow dip and fireplace period; where there was no artificial light but the tallow 'candle and no stove. The kitchen of the old days was also the . "living" room. Here they cooked and ate; here they spent their waking hours indoors, except on rare occasions, such as weddings and funerals. There was seldom any fire elsewhere in the house. Here nearly all the artificial heat was generated, and most of that ascended the throat of the immense chimney. The frigid beds were literally in a shocking state till the sheets had been faithfully ironed with the warming pan filled with live coals. This was performed only for "company," the aged and invalids.
It is interesting to recall the cooking furnishings of the fireplace where all the food of the family was prepared for the table. There were the andirons, the crane, pot hooks, trammels, hakes, pot hangers, pot claws, pot clips, pot brakes, pot crooks, bake kettles, boiling kettles, tea kettles, brass kettles, skillets, gridirons, toasting forks, waffle irons, plate warm- ers, rabbit broilers, dutch ovens, clock jacks, roasting kitchens, and, as auctioneers sometime advertise, "other things too numerous to men- tion." The home spun industries of "ye olden tyme" have been super-
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seded by textile industries run largely by steam and water and electric power. Only as curiosities and heirlooms are to be seen the implements of the home spun days, such as the flax brake, swingling block, swingling knives and hetchels, which were used to prepare the flax fibre for spinning; the dye tubs, cards, spinning wheels, clock and triple reels, niddy noddys, swifts, quilling wheels, and looms. These took flax from the field and wool from the sheep's back and made them into fabrics for family wear. Candle dipping, soap boiling, killing time and house raising are events of the past. The tallow dip, tinder and flint, tinder box, tinder wheel, the tray and snuffers which grandma used, and the smoking tongs which grandpa picked coals from the fireplace to light his pipe with, have been laid aside forever, as have that dear old grandpa and grandma who exist only in precious memory. Absent ones and those who were approaching the sunset of life recalled these rural homesteads in the happy thoughts, if not in these charming lines, of the poet :
"How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood, When fond recollection presents them to view ! The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wildwood, And every loved spot which my infancy knew! The wide spreading pond, and the mill that stood by it; The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell; The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it; And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well-
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well."
ORIGINAL LAYOUTS OF ACUSHNET LANDS This and the three subsequent articles on "The Mill Lot," "The Triangle" and "Acushnet River and Its Tributaries," are abstracts from Henry B. Worth's collection of such interesting matter.
A knowledge of the location of the roads of the town then and now will be helpful in establishing the situation of the trails described below. This information can be found in a subsequent article headed "Layouts of Highways,"
Without the aid of an extensive map it would be impossible to define the different layouts in every part of the town, and as much of the area was woodland it would be of little importance historically ; so it is pro- posed to indicate approximately the location of the Proprietary set-offs along the line of the different roads, which were originally homesteads or subsequently became such.
North of Howland road, the terminus of the Coggeshall street bridge, is a junction of two ways. The line between Acushnet and Fairhaven crosses near this point. Between this line and the road over the bridge at the head of the river were five homesteads extending from the river east a considerable distance beyond the road.
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The first was owned by Jonathan Hathaway and contained 72 acres with a width of 40 rods. There is no information where the homestead house stood. The dwelling of Rebecca Hathaway, later owned by Moses Stone, was built after the Revolution.
The second farm was owned by Thomas Hathaway. It was over two miles in length and half a mile in width, and comprised over 600 acres. The Stephen Hathaway house was the homestead of this farm before its division. The Laura Keene and Captain Franklyn Howland places are on the south edge, and the George W. Lewis farm, formerly the home- stead of Capt. Obed Nye, now owned by Mrs. Ann M. Ruggles, was on the north line.
Next came the homestead of Samuel Spooner, measuring 105 acres and 60 rods on the road. There is no record disclosing the location of the homestead house. The David Russell place, formerly belonging to Thomas and Maj. Edward Pope, was in this farm.
The farm next north was 34 acres in extent and belonged to John Jenney and was one-eighth of a mile wide; the location of his house has not been determined. This included the present Horatio N. Wilbur place.
Between this and the Rhode Island way was the homestead of Sam- uel Jenney, comprising 56 acres. These Jenney farms later came into possession of Stephen West, Jr., whose house on the hill, tradition asserts, was burned by the British soldiers. The part of this farm east of the brook was owned by Bartholomew West, a descendant of Stephen.
Starting at the bridge over the Acushnet at its head, on the south side of the road lay the above-described Jenney land which extended east including the schoolhouse and Friends Meeting property, and down the Mattapoisett road to the angle in the way west of the Philip A. Bradford place.
Next east was the continuation of the Samuel Spooner land, which extended beyond the Cornish, later known as the Lyon place.
On the north side of the road at the bridge was the Mill lot, in later years the residence of Judge Nathaniel S. Spooner, having a frontage on the road of nearly 400 feet.
Between the Mill lot and the foot of Meeting House Hill was a ten acre lot laid out to Samuel Jenney, which he sold to Rev. Samuel Hunt, who built thereon the Summerton house.
Next east was the lot now occupied by the burial ground, where the meeting-house stood, which in 1713 John Jenney conveyed "to the people of God called Presbyterians where their meeting-house now stands."
The northeast corner of Main and Mattapoisett road was laid out to John Jenney, and after 1785 was the residence of Rev. Samuel West, D. D. This land extended east as far as the first angle of the Mattapoisett road.
Bounding Dr. West's land on the east was the farm of John Spooner, having a frontage of nearly 120 rods, and including the homestead of Philip A. Bradford.
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Next east was the homestead of Lieut. William Spooner, which extended east to the woodland.
From the Friends Meeting-house corner on the main road to Long Plain for the next eighth of a mile the road passed by land of John Jenney. It next crossed the homestead of John Spooner, which extended over a mile east from the river and about to the brow of the hill. The John R. Davis place is on the south edge of this farm. Next north was the homestead of Dr. Benjamin Burge, physician from 1735 until his death in 1748. This homestead was afterward owned by Ebenezer Akin and later Ebenezer Akin Pope.
On the east side of the road next north was a tract of over 150 acres laid out to Capt. Thomas Taber for his sons Joseph and John. It extended to the point in the road where it turned due east. It was occupied by Taber as early as 1680, when he built the dwelling known later as the Thomas Wood house, which occupied the same location as the barn of Moses S. Douglass. The brook crossed this farm and furnished water power for the mill as early as 1750, where the mill of Henry W. Cushman now stands. The Jabez Taber tavern is on this farm.
On the opposite side of the main road was land belonging to John Spooner, Jr. The White's Factory road is about in the centre of this farm.
Bounding the Taber and Spooner lands on the north was the Spring Brook farm, laid out to Seth Pope and Samuel Hunt and owned by the former at his death, and by him devised to his son, Elnathan. The junction of the roads on Perry hill was near the eentre of this farm, which comprised over 600 acres. The Mason Taber house was the dwelling of . the last Pope that owned this place. On the west side of the road to Long Plain the Pope Spring Brook farm extended north so as to include the Isaac Vincent (Joseph T. Brownell), Sands Wing (John Perry) and Andrew J. Wing places.
On the west side of the road and north of the Hathaway farm was a set-off to John Tinkham, which extended to the north corner of Old Dart- mouth near a bound stone called "Peaked Rock."
On the east side of the road was a small tract owned by William Allen, which comprised 40 acres, was owned later by Vincents, and in 1904 by Joseph Greenwood. The "Squire" Samuel Sprague house stood near the north edge of the Allen farm. It was surrounded by Pope land, except on the west it was bounded by the road. It was owned recently by Captain Jacob Taber.
Next north was laid out an extensive farm to Stephen Sampson. It extended from the river east nearly to the Rochester line and was half a mile wide.
The next layout was that of James Sampson, Jr., which comprised over 200 acres and extended from the river the same distance as the former.
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Long Plain village lies mostly in a layout to Thomas Taber, Jr .; near its north line is the road to Rochester that passes Col. A. P. Robinson's farm.
The next layout belonged to James Sampson and was of the same extent as the two previous Sampson farms; near the north line of this tract a road now called Quaker lane extended into Rochester. The Reuben Mason house is on this tract.
Next came the Jonathan Hathaway tract comprising over 300 acres, and on the east side of the road approached nearly to the Rochester line. On this side a narrow strip laid out to Seth Spooner completed the Dart- mouth land layout to the line of Plymouth county.
Quaker lane began at the main road near the boundary between the Sampson and Hathaway layouts and nearly half way to the Rochester line it crossed the homestead of Experience Holmes. In 1746 the parish of North Rochester was formed, and they purchased for the minister 40 acres of the Holmes homestead, which lay north of Quaker lane and next west of the Rochester boundary. The parish farm was occupied over 40 years by the minister, Rev. Thomas West, and after his death it was sold.
The Rochester road further south was laid out near the line between the farms of James Sampson, Jr., and Thomas Taber, Jr., and extended in the latter end of its course through the homestead of Joseph Sampson, the east part of which was later owned by Col. A. P. Robinson.
On the west side of the Acushnet river, near the bridge, was the south end of the Mill road which branched at Ball's corner, that extending to the west called the Road to Freetown, and the other the Way over Deep brook.
First it crossed the Mill lot, which extended to the north line of the present mill premises.
Next north was the homestead of Mark Jenney that comprised over 100 acres; bounded east by the river and extended north about to the White's Factory road.
Bounding this on the northeast was a large tract of 107 acres laid out to John Spooner, Jr., which extended northeast about to the top of Whelden or Chapel hill.
Next was the layout to Samuel Jenney which extended from the river northwestward and was crossed by the stream in the early days called Deep brook. It rose in the swamps north of the Peckham road and joined the Acushnet river near the Whelden stone mill and furnished valuable water power in the Jenney premises. The Samuel Jenney house is that on Morse's lane and the mill locations are directly opposite on the south side of the road. This property, like all other owned by Samuel Jenney at his death, was inherited by his daughter, the wife of Stephen West, Jr., who developed and established the mills on Deep brook.
Beyond the Jenney property were tracts laid out to John Spooner
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and at this point the original road turned north into a wood path and crossed the river over what is now the reservoir into Long Plain.
Without attempting to describe the numerous tracts of wild land between Deep brook and the Freetown line, two homesteads should be mentioned between Sassaquin pond and Rochester in the north part of the town. On the west side of the Acushnet river, extending into Freetown, is a way called "the Keene road." It extended through the middle of the tract set off to James Sampson, and by different conveyances in 1741 came into the possession of Ebenezer Keene. His homestead is still stand- ing on the west side of the road, and is owned by Michael Frank. The house was built in 1741. The north end of this homestead farm, which is the northernmost in the town, is still owned in the Keene family.
West of the original Keene homestead farm and east of Sassaquin pond was an extensive tract purchased or set off in 1741 to William White. His homestead built that year is located about half a mile east of the Freetown road and nearly east from the entrance to Sassaquin pond. It was owned by Calvin Harvey ; later by Charles Nestle.
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BUILDINGS ON THE TRIANGLE. 1906.
Second one, Pratt's tavern.
Farther one, Capt. John Hawes' house.
THE TRIANGLE The triangle plat of land, so called, is a three cornered tract in Acushnet Village, the southwest bound of which is the river, the southeast line is the brook, a little east of the Methodist parsonage, which empties into the river, and the north boundary is the road that crosses the river. It contained four acres and
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was a part of the Samuel Jenney homestead. It went to Stephen West, Jr., in 1738.
1738. Stephen West, Jr., to Daniel Spooner.
1746. Spooner to Ephraim Keith; Keith to Paul Mendell.
1748. Mendell to John Crandon, "shop keeper, my homestead where I live." 1801, owned by a John Crandon, who must have been a de- scendant of the other "John." The capital letters refer to the present house lots, commencing at the river.
Lot. A. 1810. John Crandon to Amos Pratt all but I.
1811. Pratt to William Kempton, A, B and C, "Beginning at a point in the south line of the road 8 rods east of the N. E. corner of the new store." Hence the store and house on A was built about 1810 by Pratt, but as neither house is mentioned it is doubtful if houses on B and C were built.
1819. Kempton by execution to Levi Jenney ; to I. and S. Jenney.
1827. Jenneys to William Kempton, "House and Buildings"; to Joseph Kempton by inheritance.
1832. Kempton to Stephen Taber; 1836, Hezekiah Allen.
1860. Mary Ann Allen to Russells. First building from the river.
Lot B. 1811. Pratt to Kempton; 1816, Smith and Billington.
1829. William Kempton to Joseph Kempton. In 1816 deed from William Kempton to Smith and Billington, "my dwelling house where I live," included. Second house east of river.
Lot C. Went with "A" to I. & S. Jenney.
1820. Jenneys to Lemuel Russell; 1822, Allen Russell.
1838. Lemuel Russell to James Thomas; 1847, Mary Cummings.
1850. Cummings to John R. Davis, Jr.
In 1819, in execution from Kempton to Jenney, is included house on lot C, occupied by Worth Pope. It was probably built by Wm. Kemp- ton between 1811 and 1819. The John R. Davis house and store, formerly Pope's tavern.
Lot D. 1816. Set off as dower to Betsy Pratt, widow of Amos, and lot D is described as belonging to William Severance. But no deed to him.
1817. Severance to Swift, Nye and Spooner; 1818, Isaac Vincent. 1828. Humphrey Hathaway; 1852, Geo. T. Russell; 1861, Jonathan P. White.
1863. White to 1st Cong. Society; Lucy Clark.
Lot E. 1852. Said to be owned by Margaret Hathaway. 1863. Owned in some way by Samuel S. Wing and Cyrus E. Clark, 1882. Clark by devise to his cousin, Patience E. Jennings,
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Lot F. 1817. Estate Amos Pratt to Silas Stetson, who lived in house.
1851. Stetson to Melvin H. True; 1865, Jabez Wood.
1867. Job Sisson, Jr .; 1868, Sisson to Thomas Hersom, who owned and occupied the premises in 1906.
Lot G. 1817. Pratt to Silas Stetson, master mariner.
1847. Stetson to School District No. 4 of Fairhaven. The town house on this lot in 1906.
Lots H, I, J. 1801. John Crandon to brother Philip, "where Philip has recently built a house." Land included lots HI and I.
1806. John Crandon to Philip Crandon, lot J.
1811. Philip Crandon to Edward Dillingham, lots H, I and J.
1823. Dillingham to Nathaniel S. Spooner a lot 30 feet front and 45 feet deep, where the latter built office, and ten years later conveyed back land and building to Dillingham.
1852. Dillingham devises lot H with "my shop or small dwelling house, where Sally Gifford lives," to Rebecca G. Sherman and Hannah D. Nye.
Dillingham devised to Methodist Episcopal Society land and build- ings "where the Preacher, Bro. Paine, now resides," bounded north by road, east by Gideon Nye, Jr., south by Silas Stetson and west by Sally Gifford. This included lots I and J.
Probably the house where "Bro. Paine" lived was that built by Philip Crandon in 1800-1801.
I is the Methodist parsonage lot; H is the one between that and the town house lot, and J is in the rear of the parsonage house.
THE MILL LOT, ETC. The "Mill lot" was a tract of land situated on both sides of the river at the Acushnet village bridge, reserved in the original layout for a mill site. The follow- ing are titles of the part of the "Mill lot" east of the river, and the pres- ent house lots eastward of that, on the north side of the road, to Precinct cemetery. The initial letters indicate the present house lots.
Lot A. This part of the "Mill lot" was owned by Edward Wing in 1800.
1817. Edward Wing to Judge Nathaniel S. Spooner, who later built the dwelling house now upon it. This property is now in possession of heirs of George T. Russell, Sr., and occupied by Abram L. Dillingham.
Lot B. Part of "Mill lot." Before the Revolutionary War was the homestead of Lemuel Mendall and his ancestors.
1774. Lemuel Mendall to Andrew Ritchie.
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1795. Ritchie to Benjamin Cummings; 1796, to John Hawes-the west part.
1823. Benjamin Dillingham to John Hawes-east part.
1835. Mary and Elizabeth F. Hawes to Lemuel Russell, "the home- stead" of the late Capt. John Hawes. Later it was owned by George T. Russell, Sr. It was in possession of his heirs in 1906 and occupied by his son, Henry T., and daughter, Robie D. Russell.
Lot C. Part of "Mill lot."
1785. Lemuel Mendall to Benjamin Dillingham.
1841. Dillingham heirs to Edward W. Collins. Owned and occupied by heirs of Hannaniah Collins in 1907.
Lot D. West part of Samuel Jenney lot, and by him sold to Samuel Hunt, who built gambrel roof house at foot of Meeting House Hill.
1719. Hunt to Joseph Clark; 1723, Clark to Isaac Nye.
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