USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Dunstable > History of the town of Dunstable, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to the year of Our Lord 1873 > Part 6
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Pond, lying between the towns of Dunstable, Groton, and Tyngsborough." under a penalty of fifty cents for each fish so taken. See Massachusetts Sixth Annual Report on Inland Fisheries, p. 96.
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"THE GULF."
1700]
natural dam at " The Gulf," and erected thereon the first grist- mill in the town of Dunstable.
It is related that in the time of a great freshet Mr. Adams left his mill in charge of a negro servant, who, from being kept on a very scanty allowance of cold bean-porridge, bore no good- will towards his parsimonious master. While this ill-fed negro was running the mill, he observed that the swollen waters of the lake - here more than thirty feet in depth - had made a small opening through the sand of the embankment. He might have stopped the current with his hand or hat, but thinking, as he said, of the smallness of the bits of meat in his bean- porridge, he concluded to let the water have its course ; and so, gradually enlarging the opening, and gathering force as the sand gave way, it soon broke with irresistible impetus through the mound, and sweeping the mill, the dam, with every other barrier before it, completely flooded the whole valley below. By this catastrophe the pond was greatly reduced in size and depth, the old outlet on the east was left on high ground, an immense number of fish perished in those places whence the water had been drawn, the course of the Salmon Brook, as it now appears, was determined, and a new pond of some fifty acres, called the LOWER MASSAPOAG POND, was created .*
This is in part traditional, to be sure ; yet no one standing at " The Gulf," and observing the marks of the disruption of the embankment, together with the water-marks encircling the fine peninsula near by, can for a moment doubt that some such catastrophe has in former times occurred.
Some time after the breaking of the dam, another grist-mill was erected at " The Gulf," and Jonathan Woodward, Sr., who
* Jonathan Danforth, who surveyed Massapoag Pond in 1688, represents it as " full of small islands." On the 21st of May of the same year, the town of Groton granted a small pond near Buck Meadow to Samuel Adams, and also permission to drain it by a brook running into Tyng's Cove. At the same time the town offered the wood on the easterly side of Unquetynasset Brook to any one that would set up iron works on Massapoag Pond. The time of the destruction of Mr. Adams's mill is a matter of conjecture. Timber trees more than two feet in diameter were cut fifty years ago from places formerly covered by the waters of the old pond. In his history of Groton (p. 245), Mr. Butler places the date of the flood at about 1700, and says the area of the pond, anterior to the catastro- phe, was " equal to a square mile or more,"
5
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1794
attained the remarkable age of one hundred and one years seven months and thirteen days, was the miller. His wife, née Sarah Read, a very stout woman, assisted him in his labor, and easily removed the bags of grain from the back of a horse to the hopper of the mill. She is said to have weighed nearly four hundred pounds. In an old account-book kept by Joel Parkhurst, Esq., I find the following items : "Dunstable, Novr. ye 25th 1775, then Mr. Jonathan Woodward Came to live at ye Goulf. Sept. 6th 1776, then began to Repare, the mill at the gulf." Leonard, son of Joel Parkhurst, had charge of this mill nearly up to the close of the last century. An Indian family long resided in the vicinity, supporting themselves by fishing, and making baskets.
According to a plan of Dunstable drawn in 1794, Massapoag Pond covered an area of only seventy-four acres. A fulling- mill, in charge of Joseph Tucker, took the place of the grist- mill at " The Gulf" in the early part of the present century. To-day the water is controlled by manufacturers on Salmon Brook in Nashua, and the music of the cascade is broken only by the shrill whistle of the locomotive engine as it speeds along through the sequestered valley. As its waters are clear and pure, it will doubtless soon be made to furnish ice for market.
This pond was a favorite resort of the aborigines, and many of their rude implements have been found in this vicinity. They are made of a hard, white, gray, or black stone not found in Dunstable. Mrs. Zebulon Blodgett, living in a very old house near the pond, has twelve Indian relics, all of black stone. Three of them are gouges, and the edge of one of these is very sharp. Another is a very curious instrument, used perhaps for scraping skins ; another is a kind of axe or toma- hawk ; another polished article, together with six arrow-heads, make up the little cabinet. An Indian hearth near the house is still visible. Mrs. Peter Kendall, in the same vicinity, has also many curious Indian relics discovered near the pond, the use of some of which it were not easy to determine.
Messrs. John A. and Albert L. Parkhurst, whose ancestors owned the mill at " The Gulf," have an Indian gouge about
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MASSAPOAG POND.
1794]
fourteen inches long and made of hard stone, the edge of which is very keen and finely polished. They have also pes- tles and arrow-heads of seven different kinds of stone, one of them being very long and slender. They have also an instru- ment in the form of a spinning top, a hollow stone cylinder, and other articles. These old implements, together with the Indian names of "Nashua," " Massapoag," and " Unquety- nasset," are almost the only memorials now remaining of the race of red men who, a little more than two hundred years ago, called the lakes and streams of Dunstable their own.
The natives certainly manifested much skill, as well as patience, in the production of their implements. The few that have been preserved should be held as precious treasures by their owners, being associated, as they are, with men who once lighted their council-fires on the margin of the pond, and from its vast expense of water gave it the name of MASSAPOAG, which appellation one of their chiefs is said to have assumed.
A son of Dunstable thus gracefully refers to the departure of the red men from Massapoag Pond : -
LINES ON THE GREAT POND AT DUNSTABLE.
Oft have I gazed upon the scene Where curve thy shores so brightly green, When evening tinged the glowing west And heaven was mirrored on thy breast.
Fairest of lakes, along thy shore The Indian hunter strays no more ; The white man's iron heel has crushed His every hope ; his voice is hushed.
And yet when Luna's pearly light Falls softly on thy waters bright, To Fancy's eye dark forms appear, And slowly, sadly, wander near.
Their tribes are gone ; we careless tread Upon the graves which hold their dead ; And where the wigwam's smoke arose Our flocks and herds in peace repose.
.
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1873
The dark-browed brave shall breathe no more
His tale of love along thy shore ; Nor Indian maid within thy bowers Twine in her hair the woodland flowers.
But beauty lingers round thee still, -
The wave, the shore, the wooded hill ; And the red chieftain's name in thee Has found an immortality.
DANIEL H. JAQUES.
THE HILLS OF THE TOWN. - Dunstable has many beautiful eminences, which diversify and enhance the beauty of its scenery. FLAT ROCK HILL, in the northerly part of the town, forms, with its rounded sides and wooded summit, a very pleasing feature in the landscape. It commands a fine view of the valley of Salmon Brook, and from its extensive granite quarries promises to be of great value to the town. The extensive forest on this hill abounds in partridges, rabbits, squirrels red and gray, and here "the wild fox digs its hole unscared." A more solitary place is seldom seen. A pile of stone in the midst of the tangled wood of this hill still reminds the visitor of the northern terminus of the line that once formed the boundary between Dunstable and Groton. The Nashua, Acton, and Boston Railroad enters the town between this hill and Salmon Brook.
BLANCHARD's HILL rises, as a twin sister of the former, on the west, and is a favorite resort for berry parties in the sum- mer season. From its summit may be seen the spires of the churches in Hollis, Pepperell, and Londonderry. The valley, winding along the western base of this eminence, and through which a cool, clear trout brook makes its way, is very charming.
On the opposite or eastern side of Salmon Brook rises a long and well-cultivated eminence, over which extends the main road to Nashua. The southerly part is called ROBY, and the northerly part KENDALL HILL. The farms and buildings on this elevation appear from several of the adja- cent hills to great advantage. The stately elms and ample barns attest the excellence of the land.
Directly east of this pleasant eminence is the wooded rise
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THE HILLS OF DUNSTABLE.
1873]
of land called NUTTING'S HILL, which has perhaps an altitude of two hundred feet, and which affords a delightful prospect of the surrounding country, diversified by meadow, forest, and glade, and dotted with white farm-houses where peace and plenty dwell.
FOREST HILL is a conspicuous eminence in the southeast angle of the town, from which a splendid view of the Tyngs- borough forests, of the Merrimack River, and of Lowell is obtained in the east ; while towards the west and northwest the eye ranges over the village at the centre, the distant towns of Pepperell, Hollis, and Brookline, and rests upon the summits of the Wachusett, the Watatick, the Grand Monad- nock, and the Peterborough Mountains. It is the highest point of land in Dunstable, and was made a station in the trigonometrical survey of the State. A good road extends nearly to the summit, and a cool spring refreshes the traveller by the way.
HORSE HILL, partly in Groton, overlooks Massapoag Pond and the valley of Unquety Brook ; and WALL HILL, near the preceding elevation, was divided for the railroad bed, when a fine specimen 'of blue clay was brought to light which may prove serviceable to its owners.
HOUND MEADOW HILL, in the northwesterly section of the town, is said to have received its name from the circumstance that when Groton was assaulted by the Indians during Philip's War, a pack of hounds, employed by the English, pursued a party of the savages to this eminence, on which two of them were slain.
SLATESTONE HILL is a precipitous and picturesque emi- nence on the right bank of Nashua River, composed of slate- stone, and covered with a fine growth of timber.
SPECTACLE HILL, so named from its resemblance to a pair of spectacles, rises in the northeast part of the town and extends into Nashua, N. H. It is also covered with a fine growth of timber.
Several other rounded eminences, either wooded or culti- vated, serve both to increase the scenic beauty of the town and to furnish a variety of soil for the requirements of the
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1873
agriculturist. The valley, along which the main road to Tyngsborough extends, is remarkably pleasant, and seems intended for the construction of a railway. The land in the southwestern section of the town is level or undulating.
Although the natural scenery of Dunstable cannot be con- sidered grand or imposing, it still is very beautiful. Its numerous hills and streams, its quiet valleys and well-culti- vated farms, with their neat and comfortable dwelling-houses, often shaded by the elm and maple, form a 'landscape which the eye contemplates with delight. So far as varied, rural, peaceful prospects are to be regarded, few towns in Middlesex County present more attractions to the eye than Dunstable. One must travel long and far to discover any scene as truly beautiful as that which charms the eye on Forest Hill.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. - The underlying rock is what is called Merrimack schist. It is a gneissic formation of the Eozoic Period. It is evidently metamorphic, having been subjected to the agency of fire. Such rocks sometimes exhibit traces of the lower forms of vegetable and animal life. Several ledges afford building stone, improperly called granite, of a good quality, which may yet prove lucrative. There is an extensive one on Flat Rock Hill, which yields fair returns for the labor expended. It was opened many years ago, and from it pillars thirty feet in length have been quarried. The grain of the stone is fine, the color a light gray, the cleavage easy, and in quality this rock is considered equal to any in the State. The supply is inexhaustible. The upper surface of some of these ledges bears the marks of glacial action. The groves or striæ run from north to south, and indicate that some solid bodies moving in that direction once furrowed out the lines on the face of the rock. There is a remarkable ledge of this description on the farm of Dexter Butterfield, where these glacial marks are distinctly seen. The dip of the ledge is slightly towards the east, and from the summit to the meadow below there is a perpendicular descent of about forty feet.
In the westerly part of the town, between the Worcester and Nashua Railroad and the Nashua River, there is a
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SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS.
1873]
wooded eminence of more than fifty feet in altitude, consist- ing of an extensive ledge of slatestone, which may at some future time be quarried to advantage. A clear, cold spring issues from the western base, over which the rock rises almost perpendicularly. This picturesque elevation is very appropri- ately called " Slatestone Hill." Specimens of slate are also found above the saw-mill on Unquetynasset Brook.
Bowlders, varying in form and size, are strewn in liberal profusion over the surface of the town, having been borne hither in remote ages by some Titanic force for some benef- icent purpose. They are used for building walls and bridges ; also for stoning wells and cellars, with which the dwelling- houses are amply provided. Though somewhat troublesome to the farmer, they still, by disintegration, improve his land, and constitute the very best material for enclosing it. One of these huge bowlders, on the farm of the late Francis Fletcher, has, by some tremendous agency, been rent asunder, and from the cleft a pure spring of water gushes forth. There is another large cloven bowlder near the Tyngsborough line.
Good bog-iron ore is found on the farm of the late Jasper P. Proctor, about one half a mile southeast of the centre of the town. About half a century ago this ore was carried to Chelmsford and worked up to advantage. Excellent peat, and also clay for making brick, are found in several localities. Crys- tallized quartz, conglomerate, ferruginous gneiss, and asbestos are of common occurrence. An immense ledge, two thirds of a mile east of the centre, furnishes several kinds of minerals, and sea-sand of an excellent quality is found near Massapoag Pond. A mineral spring near the margin of this lake attracted some attention several years ago, and a hotel was erected for the accommodation of visitors ; but the patronage was never extensive, and the spring is now covered by the waters of the pond. Another small spring, strongly impregnated with iron, has lately been discovered on the margin of Sewall's Brook just above its entrance into Massapoag Pond.
SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS. - The soil of Dunstable is in the main a gravelly or sandy loam, with here and there an intermixture of clay. It is in general, even to the summit of
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1873
the hills, productive, and well adapted to the growth of hay, corn, oats, rye, barley, potatoes, garden vegetables, fruit and forest trees. The number of acres in woodland is about 1,325, and the timber growth consists of red and white oak, maple, chestnut, walnut, white and yellow pine, gray and yellow birch, alder and poplar. Here and there the white or canoe birch, the black and white ash, the willow, the spruce and hemlock, Norway pine, beach, butternut, cornus, hornbeam, rock or sugar maple, and.hackmatack occur. Apple orchards are numerous, and the landscape is in many places beautified by stately elms and other ornamental trees, which have been wisely spared in clearing off the forests or planted by the owners of the soil. The long rows of elms in the centre of the town furnish grateful shade and give an air of rural beauty to the quiet village.
The meadow lands abound in cranberries ; the hills, pastures, and roadsides, in blueberries, whortleberries, blackberries, and grapes, whose annual gathering affords both profit and diver- sion to the young people. In the lowlands are found the side- saddle flower, the fleur-de-lis, the cardinal flower, and the blue gentian ; the ground laurel (epigeæ repens) and the mountain laurel appear in one or two localities ; while the spring beauty, the white-weed or gowan, the aster, golden rod, and coreopsis blossom profusely in their respective seasons.
THE INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN. - The people of Dun- stable are mostly farmers, occupying to a large extent the lands laid out, and eating the fruit of the orchards planted by the hands of their forefathers. Many families, as, for example, those bearing the name of Cummings, Butterfield, French, Fletcher, Blood, Kendall, Blodgett, Parker, Parkhurst, Proctor, Woods, Woodward, and Swallow, trace their lineage back to the original settlers, and in some instances live in the houses which they built.
The house occupied by Mrs. Zebulon Blodgett is very ancient. It was once the homestead of William Blodgett, who was out in the old French War. It was once or twice, in the absence of the men, assaulted by the Indians, who were kept at bay by the stratagems of its female occupants. The house
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OLD HOUSES.
1873]
now owned by Alpheus Swallow, Esq., was built by one of his ancestors, and prior to its being repaired had over a door the date of 1757. A part of the house of John French, great- grandfather of Benjamin French, Esq., now forms one of his sheds for grain. The age of Dexter Butterfield's house, built upon the site of that once occupied by Robert Blood, is about one hundred years. One of the oldest houses in town is that now owned by James T. Burnap, Esq. It was built by Dea. Joseph Fletcher about one hundred and forty years ago, and is still in a very good condition. The house now occupied by Nathaniel C. Kendall is more than one hundred years old. It was built by Capt. Oliver Cummings, and long used as a tavern. Mr. Kendall has a quarto Bible, of the date of 1747, and a copy of the Worcester Collection of Music, published in 1788, from which his parents learned the art of singing. He has also two very large pewter platters which were used by the Cummings family more than two hundred years ago, and a small teapot used by Israel Whitney, who died at Cape Breton in 1745.
The present citizens of Dunstable are industrious, frugal, and temperate. They are are noted for their republican sim- plicity, well-cultivated farms, pleasant homesteads, and ample barns. Their school-houses, highways, and bridges are kept in good repair. The town is out of debt, and in respect to good order, friendliness, equality, and fraternity is a most desirable place of residence.
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
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CHAPTER VI.
LINE BETWEEN THE STATES ESTABLISHED. - FIRST RECORDED TOWN-MEET- ING IN DUNSTABLE PROPER. - ANCIENT ORTHOGRAPHY. - NAMES OF THE TAXPAYERS IN 1744. - NOTICES OF THE SAME. - FIRST INNHOLDER. - PETITION FOR A FORTIFICATION. - AGITATION IN RESPECT TO THE SITE FOR A MEETING-HOUSE. - VOTE IN RESPECT TO GROTON PEOPLE. - FIRST MENTION OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL. - WILD ANIMALS. - CON- TROVERSY ON THE LOCATION OF THE MEETING-HOUSE. - ORDER OF GEN- ERAL COURT IN RESPECT TO GROTON FAMILIES. - ERECTION OF THE MEETING. HOUSE. - ACCIDENT AT THE RAISING OF THE FRAME. - ROADS LAID OUT.
"Every church hath power of government in and by itself, and no church or officer hath power over one another but by way of advice or counsel, saving that the General Court now and then overrules some church matters." THOMAS LECHFORD.
" Where is that glad and happy throng, With heart elate and flashing eye, Who sported here ? The young, the strong, - Where are they ? Let the grave reply." D. C. COLESWORTHY.
THE celebrated line between the provinces of New Hamp- shire and Massachusetts was surveyed and established by Richard Hazen during the month of February, 1741, bringing about two thirds of the inhabitants of the old parish into this State, and it is presumable that town officers were that year elected in Dunstable, Mass .; but the few first pages of the earliest book of records are unfortunately gone, and it is now impossible to ascertain who were the public officers of that and the ensuing year.
On the 8th of February, 1743, Eleazer Tyng, Joseph Eaton, and Jonathan Taylor petitioned the General Court for permis- sion to choose town officers, since the previous selectmen had neglected to issue a warrant for that purpose. The petition
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ANCIENT ORTHOGRAPHY.
1744]
was granted, and a town-meeting, the first recorded, was held at the house of Ebenezer Kendall,* March 5, 1743, when the following officers were chosen : Eleazer Tyng, moderator ; Eleazer Tyng, John Kendall, and John Woodward, selectmen ; John Woodward, clerk ; Abraham Kendall, treasurer ; Oliver Farwell, constable; Thomas Chamberlain, tythingman; Andrew Foster and Benjamin Farwell, surveyors of wood ; Jonathan Robbins and John Woodward, Jr., field-drivers ; Joseph Davis and Stephen Adams, fence-viewers ; Benjamin Scott and David Taylor, hog-reeves ; and it was voted that Josiah Blodgett " shall be a Dear Reave to preven ye killing of Dear out of season."
At another meeting, held at the house of Simon Thompson, t Eleazer Tyng, Ebenezer Parkhurst, and John Kendall were chosen " to assist John Woodward, ye Town clerk, in record- ing all ye Town votes." It is not at all surprising, though such aid were rendered the recorder, to find specimens of orthography on the archives of the town indicating that the schoolmaster had not then been abroad ; the arduous work demanded in the planting of a town leaves but little time or taste for the grammar, spelling-book, or dictionary. The church was then the principal school, the minister the in- structor, and these were steadily supported, as the next record in the old stained and mutilated folio testifies : " March ye 28, 1744, voted yt Twenty Pounds in Lawful money shall be Raised & assessed to Suporte ye gospel among us." Eleazer Tyng, Esq., John French, and Ebenezer Kendall were then chosen " to treate with the Reverend Mr. Swan, & to see if any Thing was due to him from ye Town of Dunstabell before ye Line was Run between ye said Province."
His house stood a little to the northeast of the central cemetery. He peti- tioned the General Court, Feb. S, 1743, for license to keep a tavern (Massachusetts Archives), and was the first innholder in Dunstable, Mass.
t He lived about one mile west of what is now Tyngsborough Centre.
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE. [1744
THE NAMES OF THE TAX-PAYERS AT THIS TIME (1744), AS RECORDED ON THE TOWN BOOK.
ELEAZER TYNG, Esq.
TIMOTHY BANCROFT.
JOHN FRENCH.
BENJAMIN FARWELL.
JOHN CUMMINGS.
JOHN FRENCH, Jr.
JONATHAN TAYLOR.
JONATHAN TAYLOR, Jr.
JOHN KENDALL.
NOAH TARBOX.
ABRAHAM TAYLOR.
STEPHEN ADAMS.
EBENEZER PARKHURST.
JAMES WHITNEY.
NATHANIEL CUMMINGS.
JONATHAN ROBBINS.
HENRY FARWELL.
SAMUEL HOWARD.
JOHN WOODWARD.
SAMUEL ROBY.
ABRAHAM KENDALL.
THOMAS ESTABROOK.
ANDREW FOSTER.
THOMAS ESTABROOK, Jr.
EBENEZER PROCTOR.
WILLIAM SCOTT.
EBENEZER BUTTERFIELD.
ROBERT BLOOD.
SAMUEL TAYLOR.
MOSES ESTABROOK.
ISAAC COLBURN.
ZACHARIAH ADAMS.
JOSIAH BLODGETT.
DAVID TAYLOR.
THOMAS CHAMBERLAIN.
JOHN WOODWARD, Jr.
JOHN STEEL.
WILLIAM BLANCHARD.
OLIVER COLBURN.
JOHN KENDALL, Jr.
JOSEPH EATON.
THOMAS HOWARD.
ROBERT SCOTT.
JOSEPH TAYLOR.
ADFORD JAQUITH.
JOHN BUCK.
EBENEZER KENDALL.
GEORGE ADDISON.
THOMAS FROST.
THOMAS ADAMS.
OLIVER FARWELL.
TIMOTHY TAYLOR.
BENJAMIN SCOTT.
EPHRAIM ADAMS.
Total, 54.
It may be noticed of the above-mentioned persons that, -
ELEAZER TYNG, son of Hon. Jonathan and Sarah (Usher) Tyng, was born April 3, 1690. H. C. 1712, was justice of the peace, colonel of militia, and one of the most prominent men of the town. His name appears on many deeds and other papers of his day.
JOHN FRENCH was the son of Lieut. William and Sarah (Cummings) French, one of the earliest settlers of Dunstable, and was born May 6, 1691. He lived on the homestead now occupied by Benjamin French, Esq., and a part of his house still remains. July 4, 1719, Samuel, Joseph, John, Ebenezer, and Alice French sell for £50 to Nathaniel Cummings one half of a thirty-acre lot, formerly belonging to John Viall of Boston.
1744]
TAX-PAYERS. 77
JOHN CUMMINGS was the son of Nathaniel Cummings, and was born Jan. 14, 1698. He was a captain of militia, and died Aug. 15, 1770. He gave a bond, Feb. 3, 1729, to maintain his mother Abigail, wife of Nathaniel Cummings, which was witnessed by Eleazer Tyng and William Butterfield.
JONATHAN TAYLOR was descended from William Taylor, who came from England.
Lieut. JOHN KENDALL was the son of John Kendall, of Woburn, and was born Jan. 19, 1696. He died July 27, 1759. He was the father of Dea. Zebedee Kendall, and grandfather of the Hon. Amos Kendall. Several brothers of the name of Kendall settled in Dunstable, a little south of the present line of Nashua, N. H., about the year 1720. John Kendall sold to Nathaniel Cummings, Dec. 14, 1739, " a Sartain peace of meddow Land Lying in Dunstable aforesaid and in Brattles Farm so called and on ye Weste side of Salmon Brook, half an acre by measure." The deed was witnessed by John Woodward and Jonathan Lovewell.
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