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 8
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June, 1722. "Nathaniel Hubbard, of Dorchester, admin- istrator on the estate of his father, John Hubbard, deceased, in consideration of one hundred and forty pounds conveyed to Jonathan Willard, bloomer, of Newton, part of a tract of land purchased of John Leverett, Esq., with a smith's shop there- on, now in possession of said Willard, with the privileges thereto belonging ; also, all the title and interest, which John Hubbard had to the said four acres of land, formerly of said Leverett, bounding south by the river, and north by the highway, with half the iron works thereon, two fire hearths, hammer wheel, dam, head wares, water-courses, running and going gear, and utensils of said iron works." Willard had occupied the smith's shop, as a tenant, several years previous to his purchase and partnership with Hub-
105
.
LOWER FALLS.
bard. He was an ingenious, upright and conscientious man, and the first Baptist in the town,- the principal man of the iron works, and the village, for near half a century. He died in 1772, aged ninety-five. Various kinds of mills and business have been carried on here, such as iron works, saw mills, grist mills, snuff mills, clothing mills, leather mills, paper mills, calico printing, machine shops, &c., but the manufacture of paper has been the principal business for the last half century, during which time some eight or ten paper mills have been in constant operation.
John Ware, from Sherburne, brother of Professor Ware, of H. C., built the first paper mill at the Lower Falls, about 1790.
" In 1800, there were about eight or ten families in this village ; 1823, there were four hundred and five inhabitants, and about thirty-three dwelling houses; 1837, there were four hundred and ninety-three inhabitants, and about eighty eight families ; 1847, there were five hundred and sixty inhabitants, and about one hundred and three families ; 1850, there were six hundred and twenty-seven inhabitants, and about one hundred and twenty-one families, and eighty dwelling houses." *
There are ten common bridges crossing the river to the adjoining towns, viz : five to Needham, two to Weston, two to Waltham, and one to Watertown. Also, six railroad bridges, three near the Lower Falls, one near the Upper Falls, and two adjoining Waltham.
There are seven dams across the river, viz : two at the Upper Falls, two at the Lower Falls, two at Waltham, and one at Bemis' Factory, built by David Bemis, of Water- town, about 1760, who at the same time erected a paper mill, on the Newton side of the river.
* Benjamin Neale.
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EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
1767. "The Town chose Abraham Fuller, Capt. Joshua Fuller, and Ebenezer Parker, a committee to appear before the Governor and Council, to prevent any more of the water of Charles river being turned out of its natural course." This vote of the Town, undoubtedly refers to an act of the first settlers of Dedham, who dug a ditch in 1639, tapped the river near their village, and turned a large portion of the stream from its natural course, into Neponset river. This ancient theft is thus described in Worthing- ton's History of Dedham :
" About half a mile north of the new Court house, in Dedham, Mother brook starts out of Charles river, and runs in a proper and direct course round the high lands near the village, and then, at the only place where it could find a passage, goes easterly, and joins the Neponset river, forming in its course between the two rivers, five mill seats of great value.
" This stream, thus leaving its principal bed, and running off to join a neighboring stream, has been represented as a natural curiosity ; at least the inhabitants have no knowl- edge of its having been caused by man. When I discov- ered the record of its being an artificial work, a natural but groundless fear was excited, that it would do harm to pub- lish the truth concerning it.
" Abraham Shaw had been encouraged to build a water mill, in the first year of the settlement, 1636, and a com- mittee was appointed to designate the place. Shaw soon after died, but the committee suggested the measure of forming this new stream, which is recorded in these words : ' 28th day, 1st month, 1639. Ordered, that a ditch shall be dug, at common charge, through Upper Charles meadow, unto East Brook, that it may both be a partition fence in the same, and also may form a suitable course unto a water
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CHARLES RIVER.
mill, that it shall be found fitting to set a mill upon, in the opinion of a workman, to be employed for that purpose.' The water mill was soon after built. The source of East Brook was more than one hundred rods east of the Norfolk and Bristol turnpike, where it crosses this stream. At this point, a curious observer may see the truth of this account, in the original state of the ground; he will in vain seek for any natural bed of this stream. In addition to this evi- dence, the tradition of cutting the canal for this stream has been preserved in one family, which, from fear of conse- quences, have refrained from divulging the fact."
Litigation and ill feeling, as usual, followed in the train of this wrong act. About two hundred years after this ditch was dug, the mill owners and all concerned, agreed upon a final settlement, whereby about one-third of the stream of Charles river should forever flow through this artificial ditch, which had from time to time been widened and deep- ened, by day and by night, into Neponset river.
Before the lower dams were thrown across the river, shad, alewives, tom-cod, smelts, and other fish from the ocean, went up the river as far as the Upper Falls.
Fish Reeves were early and annually chosen, for many years, whose duty it was to take care that the laws and regulations of the fishing interest in Charles river were observed.
The first notice of fishing in the river, occurs in April, 1632, when a "wear was erected by Watertown men, up Charles river, three miles from the town, where they took great store of Shads."
In 1738, complaints were made to the General Court, from the people of Newton, Needham, Weston, Medfield, Sherburne, and the Indians at Natick, against the inhabi- tants of Watertown, for stopping the course of the fish in Charles river.
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EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
In 1798, the General Court passed an Act, authorizing the inhabitants of Weston, Waltham, and Watertown, to regulate the fishing within said towns, and the proceeds accruing from this source were to be divided among the three towns, according to the proportion which each town bore towards the 'expenses of supporting the bridge at Watertown.
In June, 1802, upon the petition of the inhabitants of Newton, praying the repeal of certain restrictions laid upon the taking of fish in Charles river, by a resolve passed 25th of March, 1781, on the petition of David Bemis, prohibiting the taking of fish with seine or net, between Bemis' dam and the old dam, a distance of about three-fourths of a mile, which petition was granted, and the resolve of 1781 was repealed.
1805. An Act was passed by the Legislature, giving Newton the exclusive right of taking fish in Charles river, within the limits of the town, and the time and manner of taking shad and alewives were regulated.
For many years after the passage of this Act, the Town sold the right to take shad and alewives, at public auction, annually, for a considerable sum ; but from the numerous obstacles in the shape of dams and bridges across the river, and other causes, shad and alewives have avoided the river, and the fishing interest has become worthless to Newton.
1807. The Town chose a committee to assist the mill holders on Charles river, to defend their natural rights against any invader that may attempt to turn said river out of its natural course. This vote was passed in consequence of a letter from General Simon Elliot to the Town, which states that "for a great number of years, and under various pretensions, a number of persons of the town of Dedham, under the name of meadow holders, have endeavored to divert the waters of Charles river out of its natural course,
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PONDS AND BROOKS.
through a creek called Mother brook, into Neponset river, which they have already very nearly effected. Some years since, these meadow holders obtained an Act from the Legis- lature, for the purpose of more effectually obtaining (what they called) a redress of grievances, to drain their mea- dows."
" The proprietors of mills on Charles river are greatly alarmed for the safety of their property, having already suffered an incalculable loss, in the diversion of the waters from the river, and he asks the Town to adopt measures which may tend to give aid and support in defending their property against further encroachments," &c.
This movement ought to have been made one hundred and fifty years sooner.
PONDS AND BROOKS.
Wiswall's pond, near the Centre, and Hammond's pond, at the easterly part of the town, were so called in remem- brance of two of the early and prominent settlers of the town: Thomas Wiswall, the first ruling Elder of the Church, and the first settler upon the banks of the one, and Thomas Hammond, the first settler upon the borders of the other. Wiswall came into the town in 1654, and died here in 1683. Hammond came in 1650, and died in 1675; both were pioneer settlers, and substantial pillars of the Planta- tion. The descendants of both have been numerous in the town, and the country, and highly respectable. For nearly two centuries, these ponds have been naturally and properly known by the name of Wiswall and Hammond ; they have become part and parcel of the historical facts of the place, and ought to be forever known by these names.
10
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EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
The waters of Wiswall's pond cover about thirty-three and a half acres, and of Hammond's pond about thirty arres. The natural outlet for the waters of Wiswall's pond, was upon its easterly side, crossing the Dedham road a little north of the Wiswall house, thence running through the Wiswall farm in a southerly direction, across the Sher- burne road and the Worcester turnpike, to South meadow brook. The artificial outlet is a deep excavation, made on the northerly side of the pond, by the mill owners on Smelt brook, previous to the year 1700, to conduct the water of the pond into Smelt brook. It is, however, believed that the quantity of water thus drawn from the pond, was not of sufficient advantage to cover the cost of the excavation and repairs. The natural outlet of the waters of Hammond's pond, was from its south-east side, and was the commence- ment of the brook called "Pond brook," or "Palmer's brook ;" from thence running southerly through the mea- dows in the westerly corner of Brookline, where it received sufficient accessions of water to drive the wheels of a saw mill, which formerly stood very near the dividing line be- tween Brookline and Newton, thence by Bald Pate mea- dow, through the south part of Newton, by Palmer's, and through Brook farm to Charles river. A few years since, an artificial drain was made from the westerly side of Ham- mond's pond, running north-west through the low grounds, to the brook which crosses the Dedham road a little south of the Centre Meeting-house, which stream falls into Smelt brook, near the territorial centre of the town. This cut was made for the double purpose of draining the lands through which it was made, and of increasing the force of Smelt brook.
"South meadow brook" rises from several small branch- es in and near the " Great meadows," and formerly from the original outlet of the waters of Wiswall's pond, thence
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FIRST GRIST MILL.
running south-west through the Winchester farm, to Charles river, about one mile above the Upper Falls.
Cheese-cake brook rises at the westerly part of the town, within a few rods of the spot where Deacon Staples' house stood, now William Wiswall, 2d, and runs north-east, through the West Parish Village and the "Fuller farm," to Charles river, near the dividing line between Waltham and Watertown.
Smelt brook, the largest of the four, issues from a cold spring, in the region of Alcock's swamp, about half a mile north of the south burial place, thence running north-east, is reinforced by several small streams; thence through the centre of the ancient " Mayhew farm," "Dummer farm," and " Wear lands," to Charles river, between the first dam and the first bridge ever built across that river.
FIRST GRIST MILL.
The first grist mill in the town, was built upon Smelt brook, near the territorial centre of the town, at a very early period of its settlement, by Lieutenant John Spring ; his house stood on the Dedham road, opposite the old burying place ; his farm extended westerly, to Smelt brook, and he laid open a road through it, from the Dedham road to his mill, which, until recently, has been known as "Mill lane." It is now called "Mill street."
Thomas Park, Captain Isaac Williams, John Ward, Jr., and John Spring, Jr., each became quarter owners in this mill. In the division of Thomas Park's estate, in 1693-4, his quarter was set off to his son Edward. In the division of Captain Isaac Williams' estate, in 1708, his quarter was set off to his son Isaac, who, on his removal to Roxbury, sold it to his brother Ephraim, in 1722.
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EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
John Ward, Jr. was the son in law of John Spring, from whom he had his quarter. Ward, by his Will, 1727, gave it to his son in law, Deacon William Trowbridge, who, by his Will, gave it to his son, Thaddeus Trowbridge; from thence it passed to his grandson, Captain Edmund Trow- bridge.
Other mills were erected on this brook. Judge Fuller had a mill on his place. There was a grist mill upon Gen- eral Michael Jackson's place, and afterwards a chocolate mill, &c. A few rods before this stream falls into the river in Watertown, there was an ancient grist mill, owned by Stephen Cooke, Sen. His house was just within the bounds of Newton. He conveyed the mill to his son Stephen, in 1733, and from thence it passed to his grandson, Stephen Cooke.
Before this brook was obstructed by dams, smelts and other fish from the ocean, passed up this stream to John Spring's dam.
The brook derived its name from this fact.
PLAN OF NEWTON.
We annex a plan of the Town, the outline of which is taken from the survey of Elijah F. Woodward, Esq., and William F. Ward, made in 1831, and so varied as to show the houses of the original settlers, as they were prior to 1700, and the roads they laid open ; also the houses and roads that were built and opened, from 1700 to 1750.
These homesteads of the early planters have been ascer- tained from the Town records for laying out and renewing the bounds of highways, by an examination of the early volumes of deeds and wills, and from the recollection of aged persons in different quarters of the town. Much labor
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PLAN OF NEWTON.
has been expended upon this skeleton plan ; nevertheless, under these circumstances, we cannot claim for it much exactness ; it is a proximate location of the ancient dwell- ings and roads, but the bound marks of their acres, except in a few instances, are past finding out; the stakes, marked trees, and fences, for the most part, have long since dis- appeared. The original grants of land to Jeremiah Dum- mer, Thomas Mayhew, Rev. Thomas Shepard, Joseph Cooke, and Major Samuel Shepard, passed into the hands of Gregory Cooke, Edward Jackson, Richard Park, John Fuller, and Captain Isaac Williams, who were the first actual settlers thereon. These tracts, containing about two thousand five hundred acres, extending from the northerly part of the Watertown and Dedham road, to the West Parish Village, can all be traced out now, with a pretty near approach to certainty.
A white oak tree, whose diameter at its butt measured four feet, was the bound mark of the southerly corner of the Fuller farm, of seven hundred and fifty acres. It was also the bound mark of the north-east corner of the Williams' farm, of five hundred acres. It also marked a side line of the Park farm, of six hundred acres. This oak tree (which the " woodman ought to have spared ") was cut down about ten years ago; its stump still remains, about thirty rods north of the house formerly occupied by Deacon Josiah Bacon, but so much decayed that portions of it can be pulled up by hand.
The " Haynes farm," of one thousand acres, and the Pond, is another important part of the town. Its location, we think, is nearly right, beginning at the centre of the town, and extending south-westerly, it touched the Ken- rick farm southerly, came near to the Woodward farm west- erly, and joined Jonathan Hydes' northerly.
10*
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EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
This was the earliest and largest grant in the town, and was made to John Haynes, Esq., in 1634. He came over in company with the Rev. Mr. Hooker, in 1633; in 1635, was chosen Governor of Massachusetts; removed with Hooker's company, to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1636; was Governor of Connecticut in 1639; died in 1654, and this tract of land passed to his heirs.
This farm, or those portions of it that were not conveyed by him or his heirs, was probably hired by Captain Thomas Prentice many years; the records several times state that it was a long time in his possession, either as agent or lessee.
The first actual settlers upon it were Elder Thomas Wis- wall and sons, (Noah and Ebenezer,) William Tucker, Sam- uel Pettee, Stephen Winchester, Sen., and John Hammond. ..
We have prepared this Plan, not only to show the pro- gress of the settlement, but also to aid those who may be desirous of finding the spot where their ancestors first erected their habitations, which became the birth-place of many generations.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
The first Church in the New Town, (Cambridge,) was gathered on the 11th day of October, 1633, and consisted mainly of the Rev. Mr. Hooker's company, who landed in Boston, in 1632. They had attended his ministry in England, and upon their settlement here, they sent to him in Holland, whither he had fled from persecution, entreat- ing him to become their Pastor again. He consented, and came over in 1633, and took up his abode among them. He was one of the most celebrated and influential of the emigrant Puritan clergy. Samuel Stone, also, a man of eminence in his day, and Thomas Hooker, were ordained, the one as Teacher, and the other as Pastor of the Church, in October, 1633.
1636. The members of this first Church, with its Pastor and Teacher, removed to Hartford, Connecticut.
On the first day of February, 1636, a second Church was organized, and Thomas Shepard was ordained its Pastor. He was called the "faithful and famous Shepard, a preacher of uncommon unction and power." He died August 25th, 1649, aged forty-four years, and was suc- ceeded by Jonathan Mitchell, who was born in 1624, and came to New England in 1635, graduated at Harvard College, in 1647, was ordained August 21, 1650, and died July 9th, 1668, aged forty-four years. He was styled, " Matchless Mitchell."
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EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
During the ministry of Mitchell, the first settlers of Cambridge Village, in the latter part of the year 1654, or the beginning of 1655, petitioned the Cambridge Church to be released from paying rates to them, on the ground that they were about to establish the ordinances of Christ among themselves, and distinct from the Town.
The reply to this request, by the Selectmen of Cam- bridge, March 12th, 1655, was smoothly, but firmly, in the negative .*
Holmes' History of Cambridge states, that "the inhabi- tants of Cambridge Village had become so numerous, by the year 1656, as to form a distinct congregation for public worship, when an abatement was made of one half of their proportion of the ministry's allowance, during the time they were provided with an able minister, according to law." As their petition to the Church found no favor, they tried the General Court next.
1656. John Jackson and Thomas Wiswall, (the Deacon and the Ruling Elder,) in behalf of the inhabitants of the Village, petitioned the General Court to be released from paying rates for the support of the ministry at Cambridge Church.
Cambridge remonstrated against this petition, and the Court's committee reported against it.
The first Meeting-house in Cambridge Village, was erected in the old burial place, in 1660.
Where the meetings for public worship were held during the preceding four or five years, is not known ; there was a hall in Edward Jackson's house, which stood near the present dividing line between Newton and Brighton, and their meetings may have been held there.
The next year after the first Meeting-house was built,
* See page 47.
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FIRST MINISTER, JOHN ELIOT, JR.
1661, the inhabitants of the Village renewed their petition to the Court, to be released from paying Church rates to Cambridge. The erection of their new Meeting-house had greatly strengthened their case, and accordingly the Court granted them freedom from Church rates to Cambridge, for all estates over four miles from Cambridge Meeting-house.
John Eliot, Jr. took his degree in 1656, and began to preach about 1658. It is probable that he supplied the pulpit of the new Meeting-house, in the Village, much of the time previous to his ordination, which took place on the 20th of July, 1664. "The Elders and Messengers of the Churches of Dorchester and Roxbury, including Rev. Richard Mather and Rev. John Eliot, were present, and probably others, and the first Church was organized on the same day. At the same time, and agreeable to the custom of that early period, Thomas Wiswall, lately a member of the Dorchester Church, was ordained Ruling Elder, or assistant to the Pastor, in inspecting and disciplining the flock."
The Newton Church records, and the Rev. Mr. Mer- riam's house, were all burnt, in 1770. The Roxbury and Dorchester Church records confirm these facts, and also that "Thomas Wiswall was dismissed from the Dorchester Church, 5. 4. 1664, for the beginning of a Church at Cam- bridge Village, where Mr. John Eliot doth preach." Also, " 11. 7. 1664, was dismissed the wife of Thomas Wiswall, the wife of Goodman Kinwright, and Margaret, the wife of James Trowbridge, to the Church gathered at Cambridge Village."
The following persons, with their wives, were probably the first members of the Church at its organization.
Rev. John Eliot, Jr., Pastor, from Roxbury Church. Thomas Wiswall, Ruling Elder, Dorchester Church.
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EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
John Jackson and Samuel Hyde, Deacons. Edward Jackson, from Cambridge Church.
Thomas Prentice,
Jonathan Hyde, 66 66
Richard Park, " 66
Thomas Park, son of Richard, from Cambridge Church. John Ward,
James Prentice,
Cambridge 66
John Fuller.
Thomas Prentice, 2d.
Thomas Hammond,
Hingham 66
66
Vincent Druce,
66
John Parker, William Clements,
Cambridge
Isaac Williams,
Roxbury
James Trowbridge,
Dorchester
Abraham Williams,
Watertown
John Kenrick,
Boston
John Spring,
Watertown
Samuel Hyde and Job Hyde, sons of Dea. Samuel Hyde.
Noah Wiswall, son of Elder Thos. Wiswall, Dorchester. John Jackson, son of John Jackson, Senior.
Sebas Jackson, son of Edward Jackson, Senior.
John Kenrick and Elijah Kenrick, sons of John Kenrick, Senior, Boston.
William Clements, son of William Clements, Senior.
Thomas Hammond and Nathaniel Hammond, sons of Thomas Hammond, Senior, Hingham.
John Druce and Vincent Druce, sons of Vincent Druce, Senior, Hingham.
Thirteen of the above were sons of the first settlers, and were past the age of twenty-one, at the ordination of Eliot. Thomas Oliver, (afterwards Deacon of this Church,)
Sudbury
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FIRST MINISTER, JOHN ELIOT, JR.
whose mother was a member of the Boston Church, lived with his father in law, Edward Jackson, in 1664, and was then nineteen years old; and some other minors may have been members, and as Eliot was a popular preacher, there may have been a few members from adjoining towns. The male members, at the commencement of the Church, may be estimated at about forty, and the female members at about the same number; and the number of families about thirty.
This first Church in Cambridge Village, and the third Church within the limits of Cambridge, was formed during the ministry of Jonathan Mitchell, who has left a list of the members of the Church in Cambridge, in his own hand- writing, with the following heading: "The Church of Christ, at Cambridge, in New England, or the names of all the members thereof, that are in Full Communion ; together with their children who were either baptised in this Church, or (coming from other Churches) were in their minority at their parents' joining ; taken and registered in the 11th month, 1658." Upon this venerable document are the names of about ninety men, one hundred and eight women, and four hundred and ninety children, some of which are twice mentioned. This list contains the names of only two families of the Cambridge Village Church, viz .: Thomas Prentice, wife, and five children, and Jonathan Hyde, wife, and six children.
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