USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > History of the early settlement of Newton, county of Middlesex, Massachusetts, from 1639-1800. With a genealogical register of its inhabitants, prior to 1800 > Part 6
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THE COMMON AT NEWTON CENTRE.
This elevated, pleasant, and useful spot, ought long ago to have been shaded by rows of majestic elms.
It is bounded west by the Dedham road, about one-fourth of a mile, and contains about three acres of land, after deducting fifty feet in width for the road.
The Town records and papers on file, with the volumes of Deeds and Wills, have been examined, with reference to the laying out of this Common, but not a syllable of record has yet been found, public or private, to explain its origin. It appears, on examination, to have been taken from the lands on its westerly side, where there was an ancient private passage way, one rod wide, laid out by Jonathan Hyde, Senior, at the southerly boundary of his farm, and the northerly boundary of Elder Wiswall's farm. The first record of this way is found in the marriage covenant between Jonathan Hyde, Senior, and his second wife, in 1673. In 1703, he confirms this one rod way to his son Samuel, whose house was the same that Francis Blanden afterwards occupied, and describes it as the one rod wide way that leads from his son Samuel's house to the great road, giving also his son Eleazer and wife Mary a free right in the way, to bring hemp or flax to the Pond, sheep to washing, or such like necessary occasions to come to the Pond .*
This rod wide lane has been known for the last one
* See Conveyances, page 29.
77
COMMON AT NEWTON CENTRE.
hundred years, as Blanden's lane; it has recently been widened and straightened, and called Pond street.
The current tradition is, that this Common was given to the town by Jonathan Hyde, Senior, for a training field ; but the land south of the lane, now Pond street, could not have been given by Hyde; that was Elder Wiswall's, and has always been owned by his descendants, until within a few years. In the absence of all records, we follow the tra- dition, so far as relates to the land north of said Pond street, and believe that nearly two-thirds of the Common was given by Jonathan Hyde, Senior, who died in 1711. And so much as lies south of Pond street, upwards of one third of the Common, we think was given by Elder Wiswall, or by his sons, Captain Noah, and Lieutenant Ebenezer Wiswall.
That such a beautiful tract of land should have got into the possession of the town, and no scrap of record found to show how it happened, is a strong indication that it was laid out at a very early day ; it may have been done through the influence of Captain Noah Wiswall, an enterprising and public spirited man, who fell in the defence of Portland, in 1690. A few extracts from the record will show that the town considered it theirs, and used it for the same purposes that other New England towns used their commons. This Common has been used more or less by military companies, as a training field, and for other purposes. In 1700, the Town voted to build a school house upon it. In 1730, the Selectmen staked out a lot there to build a noon% house, twenty-eight feet square, which was built, and the marks where it stood are still visible. Not long after, another noon house was built there, and a small family occupied one of them several years.
* A small house for the accommodation of those church-goers, where at noon they ate their bread and cheese, and drank their cider.
7*
78
EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
The Town voted to give Dr. King liberty to set out trees on the town's land, near his house. In 1799, the town built a brick powder house there, &c. Jonathan Hyde, Senior, by deed of gift, conveyed to his youngest daughter Ann, thirty acres of land, in 1710, from which tract a large part of the Common was previously taken. Ann sold it in 1715, to Nathaniel Parker, for one hundred and forty pounds, being at the rate of about five pounds per acre ; at that rate, the gift would have been about nine pounds, and Wiswall's gift about five pounds. But if it was given before 1690, which is probable, the gift of both Wiswall and Hyde would not have been worth then more than six or eight pounds. The next year after Nathaniel Parker bought that thirty acres, he sold about one and a half acres of the same to the town, for a Meeting-house; being the same spot ever since, and now occupied by the Centre Meeting-house.
If the Common was given to the town before 1690, it is quite probable that no deed was ever given, by either Hyde or Wiswall; the erection of bound marks, or of a fence, and a possession by the town, of about one hundred and seventy years, constitute a sufficient title.
At the westerly part of the town, another training Com- mon was laid out, at what is now called Newtonville, by Captain Joseph Fuller, the father of Judge Fuller, in April, 1735 .*
This Common and the old road that ran to and from it, may be seen upon a plan on the Town files. The town discontinued both the Common and the road in 1787, and laid out a straight road near to it, and the old road and the Common reverted to Judge Fuller, and he paid the town therefor two pounds."
* See Conveyances, page 34.
79
NONANTUM INDIANS.
INDIANS.
The early settlers of Cambridge found Indians dwelling in wigwams, on Nonantum, at the north-east part of Cam- bridge Village, (who, according to Mr. Gookin, were a sub-division of the once numerous and powerful tribe of Massachusetts,) among whom Waban was their chief man ; with him they "bargained to keep six score head of dry cattle, on the south side of Charles river, and he was to have the full sum of eight pounds, to be paid as followeth : Thirty shillings to James Cutler, and the rest in Indian Corn, at three shillings the bushel, after Michaeltide next. He is to bargain to take care of them twenty-one days of this present month, and to keep them until three weeks after Michaelmas ; * and if any be lost or ill, he is to send word unto the town, and if any shall be lost through his carelessness, he is to pay according to the value of the beast, for his default.
his
+ WABAN." mark.
It was here that the Rev. John Eliot made his first attempt to christianize the Indians. Having previously learnt their language, he went, on the 28th of October, 1646, with three others, (two of whom were, probably, Daniel Gookin and Edward Jackson,) to address them on the subject of Christianity. Waban, a wise and grave man, met him a small distance from their settlement, and welcomed him to a large wigwam on the hill Nonantum.
A considerable number of Indians assembled here, from the neighborhood, to hear the new doctrine.
After a short prayer, Mr. Eliot delivered a sermon which occupied an hour. He began with the principles of natural religion, acknowledged by themselves, and then proceeded
* September 29.
80
EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
to the leading doctrines and precepts of Christianity. He repeated and explained the Ten Commandments. He informed them of the dreadful curse attending the violation of the Divine law. He then spoke to them of the person of Jesus Christ, and of the place of His present existence and exaltation, and of His coming to judge the world. He taught them the blessed state of all those who know and believe in Christ. He related the creation and fall of man ; and spoke of the infinite greatness of God, of the joys of Heaven, and the punishment of Hell; finally, persuading them to repentance and a good life.
Having closed his sermon, he was desirous of knowing whether he had conveyed his sentiments intelligibly, in a language so new to himself. He then inquired, whether they comprehended his meaning-to which their unanimous reply was, " We understood all." Mr. Eliot and his friends then devoted about three hours to familiar and friendly conference with them, to hear and answer questions which were naturally suggested by the discourse. This first visit was received with cordial and general satisfaction.
At his second visit, on the 11th of November, a still larger number of the Indians attended.
His third visit was on the 26th of November, when some of the Indians absented themselves through fear of their Powaws, or Priests, who had threatened them with their secret power of inflicting the penalty of death upon those who should attend. One of these Priests was, however, immediately and solemnly addressed by the intrepid mis- sionary, who silenced and convinced him.
At the next meeting, all who were present offered their children to be catechised and instructed by the English, who resolved to set up a school among them. To accom- plish this, it was necessary to reduce them from their savage life, and to bring them into a state of civil society.
81
NONANTUM INDIANS.
This was conformable to a frequent observation of Mr. Eliot, which claims our attention in the efforts to convert the aboriginals upon the borders of the United States, namely : "that the Indians must be civilized, as well as, if not in order to their being christianized."
Accordingly, the General Court gave the Indians of the neighboring parts, a tract of high land at Nonantum .* Agreeably to the advice of Mr. Eliot, who furnished them, by the public aid, with shovels, spades, mattocks, and iron crows, and stimulated the most industrious with money, they soon built a sufficient number of wigwams, not with mats, as usual, but with the bark of trees, and divided them into several distinct apartments. The houses of the meanest were found to be equal to those of the Sachems, or chiefs, in other places.
They surrounded the town with ditches and stone walls. Some of their walls were removed within the memory of Mr. Abraham Hyde, who died in 1794, aged seventy-eight, who informed the Rev. Mr. Homer that he helped to remove them, in very early life. At that time, some fruit trees were still standing, towards the foot of Nonantum, on the south side, which were reported to have been planted there by the Indians, in some remote period of their resi- dence ón that spot ; probably in the Spring of 1650.
"In 1649, Mr. Eliot wrote to a gentleman in England, who had advised him to encourage his christian Indians to plant orchards, and cultivate gardens. This he had already done. He had promised them several hundred trees, which were reserved in nurseries for them, and which he hoped they would plant the next Spring. They were engaged in fencing a large corn field, and had finished two hundred rods
* Mr. Shattuck doubts whether there was any grant of land to the Indians at Nonantum; he thinks they lived by sufferance, on lands claimed by the English .- History of Concord.
82
EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
of ditching, securing the banks with stones gathered from the fields. He complains of bad tools, and of a want of tools, and says that a magazine of all necessary implements must be provided for them. He tells his correspondents that they were able to saw very good boards and planks, and that they would do all these things better, and in a more orderly manner, if he could be with them more fre- quently. He found them willing to follow his advice, but was prudent enough not to require a great deal of them at first." "I find it absolutely necessary," he observes, "to carry on civility with religion."-[Life of Eliot, by Dr. Francis.]
The Indians thus settled, were instructed in husbandry, and were incited to a prudent and industrious management of their affairs. Some of them were taught trades ; several of them worked with the English, in the vicinity, in hay- time and harvest; but they were neither so industrious, nor capable of hard labor, as those who have been inured to it from early life. The Indian women of Nonantum soon learnt to spin, and to collect articles for sale at the market, through the year. In Winter they sold brooms, staves and baskets, made from the neighboring woods and swamps, and turkeys, raised by themselves ; in the Spring, cranberries, strawberries, and fish from Charles river; in the Summer, whortleberries, grapes, and fish.
The success and settlement of Nonantum, encouraged further attempts of Mr. Eliot to extend the knowledge of the Gospel to the aboriginals of other places, which occa- sioned the Parliament of Great Britain, then under the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, to pass an Act, in July, 1649, for the advancement of this good work, by incorpo- rating a company, with a president and sixteen directors, whose duty was to superintend the business of devoting the monies which should be given for christianizing, instructing,
83
NONANTUM INDIANS.
clothing, and civilizing the Indians. A general collection was ordered to be made for these purposes, through all the churches of England and Wales. The Ministers were required to read the Act in the churchies, and to exhort the people to a cheerful contribution to so pious a work. Cir- cular letters were published at the same time, by the Uni- versities of Oxford and Cambridge, recommending the same object. A fund, which in Charles the Second's time produced six hundred pounds per annum, was thus pro- vided, the benefit of which was received till the period of our independence and separation from the mother country .*
The first civil laws which were ever established in this country, for the regulation of the aboriginals, were made for the settlement of Nonantum; they were designed for the promotion of cleanliness, decency, chastity and industry, and the discouragement of the opposite qualities and vices. In 1651, the "praying Indians came together, and laid the foundation of a town, on the banks of Charles river, which was called Natick ; and thither Waban and the Nonantum Indians removed, in 1651."
The foregoing account of the Nonantum Indians, was extracted from the Rev. Mr. Homer's History of Newton.
Waban married Tasunsquam, eldest daughter of Tahal- tawan, Sachem of Concord. From documents in this history, and others in my possession, it appears that he originally lived in Concord, where he probably was born. He is called "merchant" in the record, probably on account of his occupation. He was not a Sachem by birth, as some have asserted, but acquired rights in the soil, and assented to its sale, by virtue of his marriage into the "royal family." After the English settled Concord, he removed to Nonantum,
* " And a part of the time since the Revolution; but remittances from that fund ceased for several years before 1797."-[Rev. Mr. Badger's letter.]
84
EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON. 1
where, in 1646, he became the first convert to Christianity, under the instruction of Eliot.
He assisted in gathering the church and society at Natick, of which he was chosen chief ruler during life. He is represented as a man of great prudence, piety and useful- ness. He died in 1674, aged 70 ; his widow was living in Natick in 1684. His son, Thomas Waban, received a tolerable education, and was many years Town Clerk of Natick. His name frequently appears in Indian deeds, granting rights to the English, which he acquired rather indefinitely from his father, and like many others, as an associate of the praying Indians .*
In 1719, Thomas Waban, Senior, and Thomas Waban, Jr., of Natick, both joined in a deed conveying an orchard to Samuel Umpatowin, of Natick.
We have never seen any record of a grant of lands, by the General Court, to the Nonantum Indians, and do not believe there ever was any such grant; nor does there appear to be any conveyance by the Indians on record, of the lands they occupied at Nonantum ; those lands were no doubt considered part and parcel of the common lands of the Cambridge proprietors, and were disposed of by them, like other common lands, by sale or division among the proprietors.
By the Colony law of 1633, it was declared, that "what land the Indians possessed and improved, by subduing the same, they have just right unto." At Nonantum, they not only subdued and cultivated, but fenced much of it by walls and ditches, set out trees, &c.
Their title was therefore lawful, as well as just, and as they had Eliot, and many other stanch friends, we may be assured they did not surrender their rights, without an
* Shattuck's History of Concord.
85
NATICK INDIANS.
equivalent. It is probable that the proprietors of Cambridge, or some of them, acquired their title by mutual agreement.
The township of Natick was granted to the Indian converts in 1650, at the urgent request of the apostle Eliot, by the inhabitants of Dedham, with the sanction of the General Court. The Indians gave to the Dedham people the township of Deerfield, in exchange. The original grant contained about six thousand acres .*
The town was laid out in 1651; the Indian church was formed in 1660. In 1670 there were between forty and fifty communicants ; in 1698 the number was reduced to ten ; and in. 1716 the church was broken up.
The Indian town government of Natick outlived that of the church, and continued to a later date, but finally passed into the control of the white inhabitants. The number of the tribe, in 1749, was one hundred and sixty- six ; in 1763, was thirty-seven ; in 1797, was twenty; in 1826, was extinct.
The principal causes of thé decline and extinction of that once flourishing and celebrated Indian town, were set forth by the Rev. Stephen Badger,t in his letter to the Massa- chusetts Historical Society, dated February, 1797, and published in the fifth volume of the Society's Collections, from which the following extract is taken :
" The Indians are generally considered, by white people, and placed, as if by common consent, in an inferior and degraded situation, and treated accordingly. This sinks and cramps their spirits, and prevents those manly exer- tions, which an equal rank with others has a tendency to call forth. If they have landed property, and are inter- mixed with white people ; or if these last settle near their
* Bigelow's History of Natick.
t He was an ordained missionary for propagating the gospel among the Indians at Natick, from 1753 to 1799.
8
86
EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
borders, they encourage their Indian neighbors in idleness, intemperance, and needless expenses, to involve them in debt, and prepare the way for the_ sale and purchase of their lands, at a very low rate, by which they have been impoverished and disheartened. Near a hundred years ago, they were the exclusive proprietors of this plantation, which I suppose contained eight or nine thousand acres ; but at this time, the remnant of them are not owners of so many hundred acres.
" At the beginning of the present century, they were embodied into a military corps, were invested with military titles, made choice of town officers, and had the counte- nance and support of the Chief Magistrate, and other persons of distinction. They then held up their heads, and considered themselves of some importance, and were stimulated to continue in the profession of the Christian religion, and to conform to the manners of their English neighbors ; but their examples of irregularities and excess, (it is to be apprehended,) had too great and predominant effect upon them. This, with that strange propensity in their constitutions to excess, brought them into disrepute ;. their military parades were followed by drinking frolics, and at length discontinued ; the English were gaining settlements among them, and joined with them in the administration of their prudential affairs.
" Some English from the neighboring towns, who, through indolence and excess, had neglected the cultivation of their own farms, were necessitated to sell, purchased small tracts of the Indians, became settlers, and by degrees obtained possession of more.
" The Indians were dispirited, adopted vicious manners, of which they had too many examples ; became more indolent and remiss in improving their lands ; lost their credit ; their civil and military privileges were gradually lessened, and
87
SLAVERY.
finally transferred exclusively to the English, who were become more numerous, and some of whom took every advantage to dishearten and depress them. Under these circumstances, those habits which have a direct tendency to beget and promote bad morals, to injure health and shorten life, were fully indulged, and answerable effects followed."
SLAVERY.
There were a few Slaves among the first settlers in Massachusetts. The first body of Laws, printed in 1648, contain the following sections relative to the
"LIBERTIES OF SERVANTS."
85. "If any servants shall flee from the Tiranny and crueltie of their masters, to the house of any freeman of the same Towne, they shall be there protected and sus- tained, till due order be taken for their relife. Provided, due notice thereof be speedily given to their masters, from whom they fled, and to the next Assistant or Constable, where the partie flying is harboured.
86. " No servant shall be put off for above a year to any other, neither in the life time of their master, nor after their death, by their executors, or administrators, unlesse it be by consent of Authoritie, assembled in some Court, or two Assistants.
87. "If any man smite out the eye or tooth, of his man-servant, or maid-servant, or otherwise maym or much disfigure him, unlesse it be by meere casualtie, he shall let them go free from his service. And shall have such further recompense as the Court shall allow him.
88. " Servants that have served diligentlie and faith- fully, to the benefit of their masters, seaven yeares, shall not be sent away emptie.
88
EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
" And if any have bene unfaithfull, negligent, or unprofit- - able in their service, notwithstanding the good usage of their masters, they shall not be dismissed, till they have made satisfaction, according to the judgment of Authoritie.
91. "There shall never be any bond slaverie, villinage, or Captivitie amongst us, unless it be, lawfull Captives, taken in just warres, and such strangers as willingly selle themselves, or are sold to us. And these shall have all the liberties, and Christian usages, which the law of God estab- lished in Israell, concerning such persons, doeth morally require.
" This exempts none from servitude, who shall be judged thereto, by Authoritie.
" If any man stealeth a man or mankinde, he shall surely be put to death."
According to the census taken by order of the Government, in the last month of 1754, and the beginning of 1755, the number of slaves in Massachusetts was then about two thousand five hundred and seventy, of which one thousand two hundred and seventy were in Boston. The number returned for Newton, was ten males and three females.
There are about thirty-six slaves named upon the Wills and Inventories, and the record of deaths, during about fifty years, held by the following persons, viz. :-
Names.
Died.
No.
Value.
Edward Jackson, Sen.,
1681
2
£10
Capt. Thomas Prentice,
1710
1
Samuel Jackson, Esq.,
1742
1
Rev. Edward Jackson,
1754
2
£430
Capt. John Jackson,
1755
1
Capt. Thomas Prentice,
1730
2
£105
Capt. Caleb Kenrick,
1771
2
Dea. William Trowbridge,
1744
4
89
SLAVERY.
Names.
Died.
No.
Value.
Daniel Cooke,
1754
1
£375
Rev. John Cotton,
1757
2
James Barton,
1729
3
Josiah Hall,
1786
1
Joshua Flagg,
1
Judge Abraham Fuller,
1794
1
John Pigeon,
1
Madam Gibbs,
1783
1
Capt. Joshua Fuller,
1777
1
Alexander Shepard,
1
Edward Durant,
1740
3
Ebenezer Bartlett,
1751
1
Dr. John Allen,
1750
1
Thomas Brown,
1754
1
Robert Brown,
1754
1
Moses Mason,
1
36
.
There were, probably, other slaveholders in Newton, whose names do not appear on any record.
The names of some of the slaves were as follows : Rose, Dimbo, Courtley, Charley, Sam, Phillis, Dinah, Nan- cy, Quartus, Lewis, Jemme, Tidy, Tom, Pompey, Ben, Pete, &c.
The ancestors of these slaves, were, doubtless, brought hither from the West Indies. There was much trade be- tween this colony and Barbadoes, and several families went from Massachusetts and settled there. William Spring, brother of our first settler of that name, was one of them. It is probable that negro slaves were first introduced here, by means of that connexion.
Josselyn, the Englishman, who visited this country, and was here from 1663 to 1673, describing Boston, says, "they have store of children, and are well accommodated with 8*
90
EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
servants ; of these, some are English, and others are negroes."
From a letter, addressed by Governor Simon Bradstreet, May 18, 1680, to the Lords of His Majesty's privy council, containing answers to their inquiries, the following is ex- tracted : -
" There hath been no company of blacks or slaves brought into the country since the beginning of this Plantation, for the space of fifty years ; only one small vessel, about two years since, after twenty months' voyage to Madagascar, brought hither betwixt forty and fifty negroes, mostly women and children, which sold here for ten, fifteen, and twenty pounds apiece, which stood the merchants in near forty pounds apiece, one with another. Now and then two or three negroes are brought hither from Barbadoes, and other of His Majesty's plantations, and sold for about twenty pounds apiece, so that there may be within our government about one hundred or one hundred and twenty; and it may be, as many Scots brought hither and sold for servants, in the time of the war with Scotland, and most of them now married and living here; and about half as many Irish brought hither at several times as servants."
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