USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lexington > History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1868, Volume I > Part 4
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"It is ordered, with the consent of Watertown, that the meadowe 1 See Paige, History of Cambridge, pp. 9-19, 23. Ed.
TO ITS INCORPORATION AS A TOWN
17
BILLERICA 1655
CAMBRIDGE AS BOUNDED IN 1644 - 1655
BEDFORD 1729
Extending from Dedham to the Merrimack River
LEXINGTON 1713
ARLINGTON 1807
CAMBRIDGE
BRIGHTON 1807
NEWTON 1691
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
on this syde Waterton weire, conteyneing aboute 30 acres, be the same more or lesse, & nowe vsed by the inhabitants of Newe Towne, shall belonge to said inhabitants of Newe Towne to enioy to them & their heirs for euer.
"Also it is ordered, that the ground aboute Muddy Ryver [now Brookline] belonging to Boston, & vsed by the inhabitants thereof, shall hereafter belonge to Newe Towne, the wood & timber thereof, groweinge & to be groweinge to be reserved to the inhabitants of Boston, provided, & it is the meaning of the Court, that if Mr. Hooker, & the congregacon nowe setled here shall returne to Watertown, & the ground att Muddy Ryver to Boston."
But, notwithstanding these grants, and the further enlarge- ment of the boundaries of Newe Towne, so as to "extend eight myles into the country, from their meeteing howse," 1 in 1636, about one hundred of the inhabitants of Cambridge, consisting of the principal part of Rev. Mr. Hooker's church and congregation, which came there in 1632, removed "through a hideous and trackless wilderness to Connecticut, and commenced a settlement at Hartford." 2 This Colony consisted of men, women, and children, including Mr. Hooker and Mr. Stone, their pastor and teacher; and, being entirely unacquainted with the way, and having no guide but a compass, they passed over hills and through swamps, and thus rendered their journey through the wilderness more protracted, tedious, and trying to them than it otherwise would have been. They drove their cattle, to the number of about one hundred and sixty, with them, and subsisted mainly upon the milk of their flock. They had on their jour- ney, at least, no reason to complain of "being straitened for the want of land, especially meadow." Their journey was long and trying. Mrs. Hooker, the wife of the pastor, was so feeble that she had to be carried upon a litter; and having but few comforts, and being compelled to make the ground their bed, and the sky their covering, they must have suffered · severely. But their strong religious feeling, mingled, perhaps,
1 This eight-mile line ran across the present town of Lexington, from a point on the Burlington line, near the Granger's Pond, through the meadow back of the Old Cemetery, and near the Town Pound to Lincoln line near the residence of T. H. Rhodes. [The Town Pound stood near the junction of Lincoln road and Hastings road. T. H. Rhodes's place is now a part of the property of the Cambridge Water- works. Ed.]
2 Holmes's History of Cambridge; Massachusetts Colony Records; Winthrop's Journal.
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TO ITS INCORPORATION AS A TOWN
with a little worldly enterprise; their desire to build up a flourishing church, and, at the same time, to possess them- selves of a large tract of land, sustained and supported them.
The removal of so many persons from Newe Towne was a matter of deep regret not only to the people of the place, but to the Colony. The General Court took every reasonable step to retain them; but being unable to satisfy the desires of these adventurous people, they at last gave their consent for their removal, on condition that they should consider themselves within the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Colony, and hold themselves subject to her laws.1
But though Mr. Hooker and his flock had departed, and the boundary of the town had been enlarged, those who remained still regarded their limits as too circumscribed, and manifested a desire to emigrate. The thirst for landed posses- sions, so peculiar to the first settlers in every country, appears to have infected our pious ancestors. They were enduring the hardships incident to a new settlement, and undoubtedly looked with anxiety to a time when they might, in some degree, rest from their severe toil, and have the consolation that when they should be called home, they could leave their children in a condition more favorable than that in which they commenced life. But that the small settlement at Newe Towne was not particularly pressed for room will appear from the fact that the township at that time included what is now Newton, Brighton, a part of Brookline, Arlington, one half of Lexington, and a portion of Belmont - a territory sufficiently large, one would suppose, to contain and support a few hundred inhabitants.
In 1636, the General Court contemplated the erection of a public school at Newe Towne, and appropriated four hundred pounds for that purpose; this laid the foundation of the University. In 1638, Rev. John Harvard, of Charlestown, endowed this school with about eight hundred pounds. Thus endowed, the school was exalted to a college, and assumed the name of its principal benefactor; and the General Court, in compliment to the college, and in memory of the place where many of their fathers received their education, passed, in
1 Winthrop's Journal; Trumbull's History of Connecticut; Massachusetts Colony Records.
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
1638, the following order: "That Newe Towne shall hencefor- ward be called Cambridge." 1
To heal the dissatisfaction which existed among the people, and to prevent any further emigration from the place, the General Court had taken measures to extinguish the Indian title within the boundaries of Cambridge, and had instituted inquiries concerning other unappropriated territory, with a view of annexing it to Newe Towne. In 1636, a committee was appointed to view the Shawshine country, and report whether it be fit for a plantation. In 1641, the Court passed the following order: -
"Shawshine is granted to Cambridge, provided they make it a village, to have ten families there setled within three years; other- wise the Court to dispose of it."
The Shawshine country being rather vague in its extent, and the character of the country being but little known, a committee was appointed to examine the premises and report to the Court. As their report, made in 1642, casts some light upon this subject, and fixes in some degree the territorial limits of Cambridge in that quarter, we give it entire: -
"Wee, whose names are underwritten, being appointed to viewe Shawshin, & to take notice of what fitness it was of for a village, & accordingly to our apprehentions make return to the court: we therefore manifest thus much, that for the quantity, it is sufficient; but for the quality in our apprehensions, no way fit, the upland being very barren, & very little medow there about, nor any good timber almost fit for any use; we went after we came to shawshine house, by estimation some 14 or 16 miles at the least compass, from shawshin house wee began to go Downe the ryver 4 or 5 miles near east, then wee left that point, & went neere upon North, came to the Concord Ryver, a little belowe the falls, about one mile or neare; then wee went up the ryver some 5 miles, untill wee came to a place called the two bretheren; & from thence it is about two miles & } to Shawshine, & the most part of all the good land is given out already; more land there is at the South side of the house be- tween the side of Concord line, & the heade of Cambridge line, but
1 The present village of Cambridge appears to have been designed as a fortified camp rather than a town. It contained only about one thousand acres, and was to have been inclosed by a ditch and stockade. In 1632, the Court ordered "that £60. be levied out of the several plantations toward the making of a pallysadoe aboute the Newe Towne." The fosse which was then dug about the place, says Dr. Holmes, in his History of Cambridge, is, in some places, visible to this day.
21
TO ITS INCORPORATION AS A TOWN
littell medow, & the upland of little worth; and this is that wee can say hearin.
"SYMON WILLARD,
"EDWARD CONVERS."
This Report, being rather unfavorable as to the character of the country, the Court enlarged their grant to Cambridge, and gave them further time to effect a settlement. The grant was in these words: -
"All the land lying upon the Sashin ryver, & between that & Concord ryver, & between that & the Merrimack ryver, not form- erly granted by this Court, are granted to Cambridge, so as they erect village there within 5 yeares, & so as it shall not extend to prei- udice Charlstowne village, or the village of Cochittawit, nor farmes formerly granted to the now governor of 1,200 acres, & to Thom: Dudley, Esq., 1,500 acres, & 3,000 acres to Mrs. Winthrope; & Mr. fflint, & Mr. Stephen Winthrope are to set out their heade line towards Concord."
This liberal grant was made in 1642, but no permanent settlement being made, the church in 1644 was about to remove to Muttakeese (now Yarmouth?), where a settlement had recently been commenced. To counteract this move- ment, the General Court, in 1644, passed the following order: -
"Shawshin is granted to Cambridge without any Condition of makeing a village there, & the land between them & Concord is granted them all save what is formerly granted to the military Company, or others, provided the Church & present elders continue at Cambridge." 1
This grant of Shawshine, like most of the grants at that day, was very indefinite, so far as limits are concerned; it is impos- sible to say, with precision, what was included. It is gener- ally admitted that the Shawshine grant extended to the Merrimack River. It is sufficient to our purpose to know that it included all the town of Billerica, the greater portion of Bedford, and all that part of Lexington north of the eight- mile line. Billerica was incorporated in 1655 into a town by the consent of Cambridge. It was at that time a large terri- tory, bounded on Cambridge Farms, Chelmsford, Andover, Woburn, and Concord.
1 Massachusetts Colony Records. Williams's Century Sermon, preached at Lex- ington, March 31, 1813.
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
It is difficult to determine, with precision, the date of the first settlements at Cambridge Farms, as the territory was ineluded in Cambridge; and the records of any event in that town do not generally specify in what part of the town it occurred. Had Lexington been an independent community, with records of its own, many dates could have been fixed which are now left to conjecture. This part of the town appears to have been regarded as the wood-lots and the hay- fields of Cambridge. We have seen, already, a complaint that they had a deficiency of meadows. Such land at that time was held in high estimation, as it was generally free from wood,1 and in a condition for mowing fields without the labor of clearing. The people could therefore avail themselves at once of the grass from the meadows, and thus support their herds of cattle, much earlier and more easily than if they were com- pelled to clear dense forests and subdue the soil. Lexington, at that period, had a considerable share of open land; hence it was sought by those who resided in the old town. The consequence was that the first lands taken up were held in a good degree by non-residents.
As early as 1642, Herbert Pelham, Richard Champney, Edward Goffee, John Bridge, Edward Collins, John Russell, Golden Moore, Edward Winship, Richard Parke, John Betts, and Thomas Danforth were proprietors of land within this township.2 It is probable that most of them, instead of removing to their lands, continued their residence in Cam- bridge proper, or in some of the settlements near Boston. Most of these gentlemen were among the early and prominent settlers of Cambridge, and were largely engaged in land speculations, not only in Cambridge Farms, but elsewhere. Such men would not be very likely to remove from comfort- able homes in Cambridge to a new settlement, where they would be subjected to many privations and hardships.
1 At the first settlement of the country, most of the meadows and some of tht uplands, were found free from wood and brush, like the prairies and openings at the West. This is generally ascribed to the periodical fires set by the Indians, for the purpose of destroying the hiding-places of their game, and at the same time to enable them to discover, in open land, the approach of an enemy, and to give them an opportunity of attacking them from their coverts, while the enemy was exposed in the open ground. The fact that these meadows are so strongly inclined, in these . days, to grow up to wood and brush, shows that some such cause must have kepe them open then.
2 See The First English Proprietors of the Site of Lexington Village, by Rev. C. A. Staples, Proc. Lex. Hist. Soc., Vol. II, p. 5. Ed.
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TO ITS INCORPORATION AS A TOWN
Nor is it easy to determine where their lands were situated. The Proprietors' Records cast but little light upon the sub- ject. Where A is bounded upon B, and B upon A, we are simply informed that these lands were contiguous, without knowing the locality of either. Occasionally we find an item bearing upon the location of some of the lots. In 1642, we find a grant 1 to Herbert Pelham: "At the further side of Vine brooke one house and Six hundred Acr of land Concord Lyne north John Bridge West." The same record the same year contains the following entry in favor of Edward Goffee: "By vyne Brooke, Six hundred Acr of land more or lesse Herbert Pelham Esqr. & John Bridge north." Under date of January 15, 1645, we have an entry which not only shows to whom the grant was made, but also the indefinite character of the description or boundary, so common at that day. "According to a former act of the townsmen in the year 1643, as appears unto us by their acknowledgment under their hands, it is now also ratified by these presents, 15 (11) 1645 John Bridge, a grant unto him as appears in the grant book Twenty Acr of plowe-land, on this side Vine-brooke Eastward, neere vnto the place where his stacks of hay did stand. In lieu of a lott of vnbroken land in the necke of land."
It is impossible to state when the first settlement was made at the Farms. As this part of Cambridge was used to obtain hay, it is most likely that the first residents spent only a por- tion of the year here, and, like fashionable gentlemen at this day, had both a summer and a winter residence. But, be this as it may, it appears that Pelham's grant, in 1642, had a house standing upon it, and that John Bridge had stacks of hay upon his land near Vine Brook, prior to 1645. These lands must have been situated in the southwesterly part of the town near the source of Vine Brook, and were probably among the first lands settled. There is one peculiarity in re- lation to the settlement of this township, viz., the earliest settlers were generally located near the respective borders of the town, as we shall have occasion to show hereafter. This probably arose from the fact that it was an appendage to another town.2 Had it been an independent, original grant,
1 This grant was undoubtedly made first to Roger Herlarkenden, whose widow Pelham married. Ed.
2 Mr. Staples's later investigations would seem to show that this peculiarity of settlement was due to the fact that the greater part of what is now the centre of Lexington was held in the single so-called Pelham grant. Ed.
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
some central point would have been selected, around which the population would cluster. Then they would have had their own records, and any act of an individual would have been set down as a part of the history of the place. But as it is, we have to look to the Records of Cambridge, and are unable to say whether they resided at the Farms or in Cambridge proper.
Without pretending to state the exact order or the date of their settlement, we can safely say that the Bridges, Win- ships, Cutlers, Fiskes, Stones, Bowmans, Merriams, Russells, Wellingtons, Munroes, Tidds, Reeds, Whitmores, and Smiths were among the earliest settlers and the most numer- ous families.1 We will endeavor to give the general location of these and the other early families. To begin with those who settled on or near what is now the line of Arlington (formerly West Cambridge 2) : Edward Winship was one of the original owners of land within the present limits of Lexington, though he probably never lived within the township. He owned a large tract bordering upon the Arlington line, extending from near the Main Street or Concord Road, as it is called in the old Records, north of Gilboa,3 including the lands now oc- cupied by one of his descendants, and also Mount Ephraim, which took its name from his eldest son, Ephraim, who resided near it. Edward Winship, or Lieutenant Winship, as he was generally called, erected a sawmill on what was then denom- inated Mill Brook, on or near the site of the present fur fac- tory.4 This was undoubtedly the first mill set up within the township. At what time it was erected, we are not able to say; probably as early as 1650. Lieutenant Winship, accord- ing to the custom of that day, kept his property in his own hands during life, and left it by will, in 1688, to his sons Ephraim, Edward, Samuel, and Joseph. The greater part of this property remained in the Winship family for several generations. They were large landholders, and were promi-
1.Compare Genealogies (Vol. II). Ed.
2 The tract of territory formerly known as West Cambridge was a part of Cam- bridge till 1807, when it was erected into a town. Its Indian name was Menotomy, and it was afterwards known as the West Precinct. In 1867, the inhabitants petitioned the Legislature for a change of the name of their town, and it was altered to Arlington.
3 Now known as Crescent Hill. Ed.
4 For an account of the fur industry, see Proc. Lex. Hist. Soc., Vol. II, p. 171, article by G. O. Smith. The factory referred to long ago disappearcd. Ed.
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TO ITS INCORPORATION AS A TOWN
nent among the early settlers. Nor were their possessions confined to the northern side of the Concord Road; 1 they owned land on the hill on the south side.
Francis Whitmore was an early settler in Lexington, and must have resided on the southerly side of Main Street, below Cutler's Tavern,2 near the present line between Lexington and Arlington. The act constituting Cambridge Farms a legal precinct, refers to the residence of Francis Whitmore in describing the boundary line as "running on the southerly side of Francis Whitmore's house towards the town of Cam- bridge." Mr. Whitmore married a daughter of Richard Parke, one of the first proprietors of lands at the Farms, about 1648, and probably came to the place soon after his marriage. He became a large landholder in Cambridge and the neigh- boring towns. He died in 1685, and his son Samuel succeeded him on his place.
Southwesterly of Francis Whitmore, and near the present Arlington and Belmont lines, was the Bowman family.3 Na- thaniel Bowman, of Watertown, purchased land of Edward Goffee, in Cambridge Farms, to which he removed. He died in 1682, leaving his real estate to his son Francis, by will, dated 1679. Francis died in 1687, leaving, among other chil- dren, Francis and Joseph, who became very prominent men in Lexington. They resided on or near Watertown Street, in the neighborhood of the present residence of the Lawrences.
Southwesterly of the Bowmans were the Wellingtons, the descendants of Roger Wellington, of Watertown, though they did not come to town till a later period. No portion of the original farm is in possession of the Wellingtons at the present day.
Farther to the west were the Smiths, who came to Lexing- ton from Watertown and Waltham, then a part of Water- town. They were in possession of a large portion of the southerly part of the town, where many of their descendants reside at the present day. They were not, however, among the earliest settlers at the Farms.4
Westerly of the Smiths, on lands now partly in Lexington
1 Now Massachusetts Avenue. Ed.
? Afterwards known as the Willard House. Now a private residence. Ed.
See Genealogies (vol. II.) Also The History of the Bowman Family. Ed.
4 See article entitled Kite End, by A. Bradford Smith, Proc. Lex. Hist. Soc., Vol. II, p. 99. Ed.
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
and partly in Lincoln, were the Abbots, who came from An- dover; the Stones, who came from Cambridge; and the Mer- riams, who came from Concord. Northerly of these and nearer the centre of the town, were the Bridges,1 who came from Cambridge, and were among the very first permanent resi- dents in the place. There were also living in the south- westerly part of the township at a later period, John Parker, Daniel White, Thomas Hastings, John Palfrey, Benjamin Stearns, George Adams, Daniel Hoar, Judah Clark, Thomas Nelson, and Nathaniel Whittemore. Still more northwest- erly, on what was then the Concord line, James Cutler, the ancestor of those of that name in Lexington, settled as early, perhaps, as 1648, and consequently was among the very earli- est settlers. He took up his abode on what is now known as Wood Street, on or near the estate where William Hartwell now resides (now owned by Francis Maguire).
In the northerly part of the town, on Bedford Street, and on land still in possession of his descendants of the same name, William Reed from Woburn settled about 1685. He was a large landholder, and had numerous descendants. He and his son William became prominent in the town. North- westerly of the Reeds, on the other side of Tophet Swamp,2 so called, Thomas Kendall, probably from Woburn, settled at an early day. On Bedford Street, at or near the late resi- dence of James Pierce, originally from Watertown, resided, as early as 1694, John Lawrence. He was the ancestor of the Groton family of Lawrences, of whom Amos and Abbott were prominent members. Northwesterly of this, and on what is now known as the "Page Place" in Bedford, Joseph Fassett, for many years a prominent citizen of Lexington, resided as early as 1700. Jonathan Trask was a resident in Lexington at a period somewhat later. He lived on the northerly side of the meadow westerly of Bedford Street. He was one of the larg- est farmers in the town. In the neighborhood of Lawrence and Fassett, Nathaniel Dunkley resided; and William Grimes had his abode northwesterly of John Lawrence, and near the present line of Burlington.
The northerly part of the town bordering upon Woburn, now Burlington, was first settled by the Lockes,3 who came
1 See Matthew Bridge, Lex. Hist. Soc. Proc., Vol. I, p. 54. Ed.
2 Now largely converted into arable land. Ed.
3 See Amos Locke, Proc. Lex. Hist. Soc., Vol. I, p. 67. Ed.
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TO ITS INCORPORATION AS A TOWN
from Woburn; their houses were on the Woburn side of the line. Thomas Blodgett, from Woburn, came to Lexington about 1690, and settled on Adams Street, near the Gibbs . place.1 Between the Blodgetts and the centre of the town were William Carly, John Johnson, and John Harrington, who was the ancestor of one branch of the numerous family of the name of Harrington.
The Tidds, who came from Woburn, settled in Lexington about 1680. They were at one time quite a numerous family, and lived where Mr. Charles Tidd now resides.2 The resi- dence of Mr. Nathan Chandler 3 was originally a Tidd place. In the same neighborhood Mr. Joseph Simonds settled about 1681. He was also from Woburn, and, marrying into the Tidd family, located himself near his father-in-law, on the place now owned and occupied by Mr. Charles Johnson.4
Farther to the east, on what is now Woburn Street, Wil- liam Munroe, the ancestor of the numerous family of that name in Lexington and vicinity, settled at an early day near Woburn line. He became a large landholder, and six of his sons settled around him. As the Munroes were of Scotch descent, they gave the name of their fatherland to that section of the town, which has retained the name of "Scotland" to the present day. He probably came to Lexington about1670.5 In the same neighborhood, but nearer the centre of the town, the Russells, who came early from Cambridge, fixed their abode. They were also large landholders, and owned several tracts of land on the easterly side of what was then famil- iarly known as "Mill Brook." Colonel Phillip Russell resides upon land long in possession of his ancestors of the same name. 6
The Fiskes, a somewhat numerous family, were among the first settlers at the Farms. They were located on East Street near the residence of the late Joseph Fiske. One branch of the family fixed its residence on the place now occupied by
1 Corner of Adams and North Streets. Ed.
2 The house was removed a number of years ago. Ed.
¿ No. - Hancock Street. Ed.
4 No. - Hancock Street. Ed.
5 See History of the Munros, by Alexander Mackenzie, Inverness, 1897. Also The Book of the Lockes. Ed.
6 Now the property of George H. Harlow and W. L. Reynolds on Woburn Street. Ed.
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
Joseph F. Simonds, on Hancock Street.1 Some of the family subsequently settled on the Concord Road, and hence the name of "Fiske Hill."
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