USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Medford > History of the town of Medford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement in 1630 to 1855 > Part 3
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We may not doubt that some of these representations were highly colored ; for self-interest prompted those who
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
had made a home for themselves on these shores to paint the land of their choice fairly bright. Indeed, Deputy- Gov. Dudley, in 1631, writes, -
" Honest men, out of a desire to draw others over to them, wrote somewhat hyperbolically of many things here."
The first farmers in New England were taught by the Indians how to raise corn ; but the pupils soon surprised their teachers by the immense crops which they obtained. Their superior culture gave them more corn on an acre than the Indians obtained on two or three acres ; and the natives, thinking it very mysterious, used to say to their white neighbors, "Englishmen, smile on our corn too."
There were many lands held in common by companies of farmers ; and those large tracts were enclosed by fences built by the whole company. At the harvest, each re- ceived according to his proportion in the investment. This complicated plan brought its perplexities ; and the General Court, to settle them, passed the following law, May 26, 1647 : --
" Ordered, That they who own the largest part of any lands com- mon shall have power to order and appoint the improvement of the whole field."
Such an order would, of course, create disaffection among the smaller owners; and in the course of a few years the farms were fields for individual enterprise, and while that system of work gave better satisfaction, it in- creased the spirit of emulation, and multiplied results.
In their corporate capacity, the people offered a small bounty on every acre of planted field, and this encouraged agricultural enterprise. There can be no doubt that the colony of Massachusetts was quite as far advanced in agri- cultural skill and productive harvests as that of Connecti- cut : therefore we can judge, from Mr. Wolcott's farm in Connecticut, what and how much our Medford farmers raised. That distinguished magistrate says (1638), “I made five hundred hogsheads of cider out of my own orchard in one year!" We apprehend these hogsheads were not of the modern size, but were a small kind of bar- rel. He says, "Cider is Ios. a hogshead." He gives an enumeration of products thus : "English wheat, rye, flax, hemp, clover, oats, corn, cherries, quince, apple, pear, plum,
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
barberry-trees." A very tasteful catalogue ! It sounds very little like scarcity or self-denial.
Modern temperance men may object to the great amount of cider above named ; but the opinions and habits of men change with the centuries, and we who have much whiskey and little cider may not be uncharitable towards those who had much cider, and no whiskey. But the point for observation is the fact, that, in Colonial times, the land in this region was rich and productive. Neverthe- less, it needed help from manure ; and Johnson tells us, that in this region "there was a great store of fish in the spring time, especially alewives, about the largeness of a herring ; and that many thousand of these they use to put under their Indian corn." This method of enriching the soil in places near the ocean, and by those streams in which such fish abounded, was continued for many years ; and some farmers practise it at the present time.
The first settlers, as already intimated, found clay in different parts of their plantation where cellars and wells were dug; and they concluded that drought could not extensively injure a soil which had a deep substratum of this water-proof material.
It should be observed that the pioneers in this town, as elsewhere in New England, were the great land-holders. They constituted the company that made the local rules and regulations before the town was organized. There were many adventurers who did not belong to the com- pany, and they settled where they could buy or hire at the best advantage. Oct. 7, 1640, we find the following rec- ord : -
" John Greenland is granted his petition, which is, to plant upon a five-acre lot in Charlestown, bounds on Mistick River."
The rule for planting was : Plant when the white-oak leaves are the size of a mouse's ear. Hence the lines : -
" When the white-oak leaves look goslin gray, Plant then, be it April, June, or May."
Our fathers were farmers after the English modes, and therefore had to learn many new ways from the sky and the climate. The times of ploughing and planting here, in spring and autumn, varied somewhat from those of their native land. Some plants which in cold and misty Eng-
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
land wooed the sun, could best thrive here if they wooed the shade. While land there with a south-eastern expos- ure was worth much more for culture than that which faced the north-west, the difference here was compara- tively small. But a great change has been realized since those days. At the present time, fields in any part of New England that incline to the south-east are warmer and more desirable than those with a north-western exposure.
Our ancient farmers had soon to learn that their stock of all kinds must be sheltered from the destroying cold and storms of an American winter. In the preservation of vegetables and fruits, also, our fathers had to receive new instruction from the climate. Their potatoes, apples, cabbages, etc., they preserved by burying them. It took them several years to adjust themselves to their novel conditions of life.
As the soil and climate must determine what grains, fruits, and vegetables can be raised with profit, it soon became evident to our Medford farmers that Indian corn was to be a staple. Rye, barley, wheat, and oats were found productive grains ; peas and beans yielded abun- dantly ; while turnips, beets, onions, and parsnips gradu- ally grew into favor. It is wonderful how many kinds of fruit, grain, and vegetables were raised in this region only a few years after the first settlers came here. From rec- ords kept by the first farmers, we gather the following condensed items, and preserve them in this history for husbandmen of future ages to consider : -
" 1646, Aug. I. The great pears ripe.
66 3. The long apples ripe.
12. Blackstone's apples gathered.
66 15. Tankerd apples gathered.
18. Kreton pippins and long red apples gathered. 5. We began to cut the peas in the field.
1647, July 66 14. We began to shear rye.
2. We mowed barley.
Aug. 66 Same week we shear summer wheat.
66 7. The great pears gathered. Sept. 15. The russetins gathered, and pearmaines.
1648, May 26. Sown one peck of peas, the moon in the full. Observe how they prove.
July 28. Summer apples gathered. 1649, July 20. Apricoks ripe."
Potatoes were not known to our first settlers ; although among the articles "to send for New England " from
.
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
London, March 16, 1628, "potatoes " are named. Their first introduction to this neighborhood is said to have been by those emigrants, called the "Scotch-Irish," who first entered Londonderry, N.H., April 11, 1719. As they passed through Andover, Mass., they left some potatoes as seed, to be planted that spring. They were planted according to the directions ; and their balls, when ripened, were supposed to be the edible fruit. The balls, therefore, were carefully cooked and eaten; but the conclusion was, that the Andover people did not like potatoes. An early snow-storm covered the potato-field, and kept the tubers safely till the plough of the next spring hove them into sight. Some of the largest were then boiled ; whereupon the Andover critics changed their opinion, and have used them from that day. When the potato was first known in Scotland, it suffered a religious persecution, like some other innocent things. The Scots thought it to be a most unholy esculent, blas- phemous to raise, and sacrilegious to eat. They therefore made its cultivation an illegal act ; and why ? " Because," as they said, "it is not mentioned in the Bible." The prejudice against this unoffending vegetable was so great at Naples, in Italy, that the people refused to eat it, even in the time of famine. The soil in Medford has been found particularly fitted for this plant, owing to a sub- stratum of clay, which keeps it moist. The early mode of preserving potatoes through the winter was to bury them below the reach of the frost, and shelter them from rain.
Raising stock was an enterprise of paramount impor- tance during the first century of our town, and the early farmers were enriched by it more than by any other de- partment of their labor. Proximity to Boston gave them an easy and sure market, and free pasture-lands enabled them to raise cattle at a small expense. The fatting of cattle in the early days of our township was attended with little difficulty or expense ; for they had hundreds of acres over which to range, unlooked to by their owners, till the close of the summer, when they were taken to the stall, and fed with corn. Each quadruped was marked with its owner's name, and was immediately restored when it had wandered into a neighboring town.
The trouble with swine was much greater. March 9, 1637, before the lands under cultivation were generally
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
fenced, the following law became necessary, and was en- acted : -
" All swine shall be kept up in yards, or islands, or committed to keepers, under penalty of Ios. for every swine not so disposed of; and whatsoever swine shall be taken in corn or meadow-ground shall for- feit 5s. apiece to those that shall empound them, and the owners shall be liable to pay double damages."
When mowing-grounds and tillage-fields became fenced, and that was early, then it became a common habit with our ancestors to let "hogs run at large," as they were allowed to run in the City of New York, many years ago ; of which practice something may be said on the score of economy, but very little of its neatness. It is to be pre- sumed that during the first half-century, and even after that, the law of 1637 was so rigidly enforced, that the swine were kept within tolerable limits; but in March, 1721, the fencing of roads and fields had become so gen- eral, that the town voted to let the hogs go at large again. This was such a grievous offence to many persons, that the action was reversed six years later ; and in March, 1770, the town took final action in the matter, and voted that the hogs should no longer go at large. This action wrought wonderful changes in the grounds around private dwellings, gave public roads and walks an air of neatness they never had before, and really marked a new era in the æsthetic history of the town.
It cannot but be interesting to those who in these times pay sixty dollars for an ox, one hundred dollars for a cow, two hundred dollars for a family horse, etc., to read of the following valuations placed upon such animals in 1689. A tax was to be raised at that time, and the oxen were val- ued at £2 Ios. each ; the cows, at £I Ios. ; each horse at £2; and other animals at an equally low rate.
Ship-building and brick-making were among the first lucrative vocations of the people of Medford, and we can thus see that they were favorably situated for the attain- ment of wealth. Spinning and weaving in those days were almost as much a part of farm-labor as the making of butter and cheese ; and the farmer's wife and daughters were not a whit behind him in patient toil or productive results. Hemp and flax were used for clothing ; and the labor of making these into garments for workmen was not small.
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
As Boston increased in population, the neighboring farm- ers found another source of constant gain in the milk busi- ness. This led to raising cows on an extensive scale, while this, in its turn, led to the culture of grass and hay in preference to corn. The amount of butter and cheese made in Medford has been, therefore, comparatively small ; the milk-farms being found more profitable. At the begin- ning of this century, the quantity of milk sold in Boston by our Medford farmers was very large, and its price varied from three to five cents a quart. During the last fifty years, Medford milk has found a good home market.
The cultivation of fruit has been a favorite and profita- ble employment in this town. Many farms have greatly increased in value as the result of this pursuit, which has been a specialty with many farmers in this and surround- ing towns. The rapid increase in population during the last decades has diminished the size of apple-orchards, so that it is no longer usual for them to produce two or three hundred barrels each in a year ; but the quality of fruit has been constantly improved, and pears, plums, quinces, grapes, and some other pomological productions of the best varieties, are abundant in all this region.
To Medford belongs the honor of introducing to the peo- ple of New England the delicious Baldwin apple. The tree that first bore this fair and precious fruit grew on the side-hill within two rods of the former Woburn line, and about ten rods east of the present road which leads from West Medford to the ancient boundary of Woburn. It was on the farm occupied by Mr. Samuel Thompson, forty or fifty rods south of the building that was called "Black Horse Tavern." The author of the first history of Med- ford, at the request of Gov. Brooks, went to see this tree in 1813. It was then very old, and partly decayed, but bore fruit abundantly. Around its trunk the woodpeckers had drilled numerous holes, and, because of this prominent feature of the tree, its apples were called "Woodpecker Apples." In process of time the name was shortened, and the apples were called " Peckers." They had their present name from this cause; viz., Mr. Baldwin of Woburn, the father of Loammi Baldwin, was an intimate friend of young Mr. Thompson (afterwards Count Rumford), and both of them, being lovers of science, asked permission of Pro- fessor Winthrop to attend his course of lectures in natural philosophy at Harvard College. Twice each week, these
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
two ambitious students walked from their homes in Wo -. burn to bring back with them the teachings of the learned professor. One day, as they were passing the "Wood -.. pecker Tree," they stopped to contemplate the tempting red cheeks on its loaded boughs ; and the result was the usual one, -they took and tasted. They were greatly sur -. prised to find the quality of the fruit more excellent than its appearance, and unhesitatingly they pronounced the apples the best they had ever tasted. Some years after this, Col. Baldwin took several scions from this tree to a public nursery ; and from this circumstance they named the apple after him, which name it has since retained. In the gale of September, 1815, this parent tree fell; but it left to us and to posterity a numerous progeny of Bald- wins, that will be highly esteemed wherever known.
That the Baldwin apple is a natural fruit, and not the result of grafting, we have the testimony of Mr. L. R. Symmes, formerly of Medford, but now of Winchester, who says, -
" I well remember that tree. I picked its fruit every season for several years; and, although we called the apples 'Peckers' at that time, they were the same as those that are now called ' Baldwins.'
" My reason for knowing that the fruit of the original tree was natu- ral, and not grafted, is, that a sprout which came up from the roots of that tree bore the same kind of apples that the tree itself did. The tree was not killed when it was blown over ; but a part of its roots remained in the ground, and it lived until it was destroyed by fire, at the burning of the house of the late Mr. Boone, some twenty years ago. It stood so near his house, that some of its branches touched his windows."
The price of land has steadily increased from two shil- lings an acre in 1635, and five shillings in 1689, to fifty dollars in 1778, and one hundred dollars in 1830. From the year 1800 to the present time, favorite house-lots have advanced in price so rapidly, that two thousand dollars would be refused for a single acre. This fashionable re- treat from city to suburban life has induced the owners of farms to cut up into house-lots their tillage-lands, and sell them at public auction, as they could not afford to till land that was so valuable for other purposes.
NATURAL HISTORY. - The rocks are mostly primitive granite or sienite, existing in large masses. Some are in a state of decay, as, for example, the "Pasture-hill gravel." This gravel is used extensively for garden-walks, and its fineness and color make it very desirable. The soil is
1
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
composed mostly of silex and argil, a mixture favorable to vegetation.
The flora of Medford is a fair representation of the botanical products of the State. The high hills, rocky pastures, large plains, alluvial intervales, deep swamps, and extensive marshes in this town, give food to almost all kinds of trees, plants, shrubs, grasses, and sedges. The presence of fresh water and salt, also the mingling of them in Mystic River, produce a rich variety of herbaceous plants ; and the salt-marsh flowers, though very small, are often exceedingly beautiful. Of lichens there are great varieties, and some rare specimens of the cryptogamous plants.
Among our forest-trees we have the oak in four varie- ties, -white, black, red, and gray. Two varieties of wal- nut are found here ; and "nutting," once a great pastime with Medford boys in the month of October, is not all in the past. Graceful elms rejoice our eyes wherever we turn, and our streets are shaded by them. The clean, . symmetrical rock-maple has come among us, and seems to thrive like its brother, the white-maple. Of the chestnut, we have known two large trees in the woods, but have never heard of more. Beach-trees have never been abund- ant or thrifty here ; and we can say the same of the black and the white ash. There are still flourishing specimens of three varieties of birch, - the black, the white, and the yellow.
The class of forest evergreens is well represented in Medford. The white and pitch pines are common, though their use in building, and their consumption by steam- engines, have made them comparatively scarce. One of the most familiar, beautiful, and valuable forest-trees, is the cedar ; and both kinds, the red and white, are here. The hemlock and the holly are only casual among us. Whether all these trees were common when our ancestors first set- tled here, we cannot say ; for there may have been then what we now see, namely, a rotation of forest-trees. We have seen a pine-forest felled, and an oak one spring in its place ; and, where the oak one has been felled, the pine has sprung up. In like manner, the cedar and maple for- ests have been rotatory.
The fruit-trees now so numerous and of so great varie- ty were not indigenous to the soil, but were brought here at different times from other countries. Also the orna-
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
mental trees and flowering shrubs, so extensively culti- vated, are largely from different parts of Europe, and Central and South America; so that we seem to live in the midst of the vegetation of five zones.
Wild animals once abounded in the forests of Medford, as we may learn by consulting the ancient records of the town. May 18, 1631 : " It is ordered that no person shall kill any wild swine without a general agreement at some court." The bear was quite social with our fathers, and for a century haunted their home here. He was far less destructive than the wolf. Wolves and wild-cats were such devourers of sheep that premiums were paid for their heads. Going back to Sept. 6, 1631, we find these rec- ords : "The wolves did much hurt to calves and swine be- tween Charles River and Mistick." Sept. 2, 1635 : "It is ordered that there shall be 5s. for every wolf, and Is. for every fox, paid out of the treasury to him who kills the same." Nov. 20, 1637 : " IOS. shall be paid for every wolf, and 2s. for every fox." Wolves have disappeared from this locality ; but foxes are occasionally seen. Deer were very common when our fathers settled in Medford ; and until the beginning of this century, our inhabitants chose annually an officer whom they called "Deer Reeve." Dec. 25, 1739 : "Voted to choose two persons to see to the preservation of deer, as the law directs." Nov. 15, 1637 : " It is ordered that no man shall have leave to buy venison in any town, but by leave of the town." The raccoon, that used to plunder our cornfields, has disappeared. The mink and muskrat are still around our streams and ponds ; but the boys seldom find them, though often engaged in the hunt for that game. The woodchuck, weasel, skunk, gray and yellow squirrel, are still seen in some parts of the town. Rabbits, that were once abundant, have nearly disappeared ; and the oldest inhabitant cannot recollect seeing a wild beaver. Moles and meadow-mice are still so abundant as to be troublesome ; and, if posterity should wish to know if rats and mice are a pest to us in this generation, we leave on record our emphatic affirmative.
The birds now common in Medford are such as abound in all this region, and such as are usually found in this lati- tude all around the continent. As birds must follow their food, their migration northward in spring, and southward in autumn, enables us to see a great variety of these trav- ellers. How powerful, how mysterious, is this impulse for
1128696
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
change of place ! God seems to have touched them with his spirit, and they became as obedient as the planets.
" Who bade the stork, Columbus-like, explore Heavens not his own, and worlds unknown before? Who calls the council, states the certain day ? Who forms the phalanx, and who points the way?"
Some birds, like wild geese, make their journey in one steady flight, only pausing for food and rest ; while others advance slowly to greet the opening buds, the spring in- sects, and the spawning herring. Some leave the sunny south, and hasten to a cooler clime, passing us at Medford in April or May ; and a close observer might publish regu- lar ornithological bulletins of their successive arrivals. Of those that rest with us, the first-comer in the spring is the bluebird, whose winter home is in Mexico and Brazil, and whose first song here is a soft, exhilarating, oft-repeated warble, uttered with open, quivering wings, and with such a jubilant heart as to thrill us with delight. Then comes the friendly and social robin. The old robins do not, usu- ally, go far south in the winter, and frequently they stay in this region, with the woodpecker and other birds, all through that cold and stormy season ; but the young robins migrate in autumn, sometimes as far south as Texas. A large variety of spring birds, among which are the bunt- ings, finches, sparrows, and thrushes, come in quick suc- cession to rear their young. Snipes, quails, partridges, and woodcocks come a little later. Sandpipers, plovers, teals, and ducks arrive among the latest. Medford Pond was a common resort for several kinds of wild ducks in the long-ago ; but the sound of the hunter's gun, and the progress of civilization, startled them from that retreat, so that in these days very few are seen there.
The barn-swallow, that comes from the Gulf of Mexico to spend his summer with us, is always greeted with a joy- ous welcome about the 10th of May. The rice-bird of Carolina, called the reed-bird in Pennsylvania, and the butter-bird in Cuba, is called here the bobolink, and it amuses us greatly. The male, when he arrives, is dressed up as showily as a field-officer on parade-day, and seems to be quite as happy. Wild with the gush of animal spirits, he appears not to know what to do, and flies and sings as if he needed two tongues to utter all his joy. We might speak of the little wren, that creeps into some hole under
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
our eaves, and there rears its numerous family ; the hum- ming-bird, that builds so skilfully in our gardens that we never find its nest; the yellow-bird, that makes the air resound with its love-notes ; the thrush, that seems made to give the highest concert-pitch in the melody of the woods; the sparrows, that a few years ago were brought from England, and are now very numerous in this country : and to these we might add the night-hawk, the whippoor- will, and many more that spend their summer with us ; but these are enough to show that the dwellers in Medford are favored each season with the sight and song of a rich variety of birds. We find the following record made March 8, 1631: "Flocks of wild pigeons, this day, so thick that they obscure the light."
Another record shows that our fathers preserved the game laws. Sept. 3, 1634: "There is leave granted [by the General Court] to Mr. John Winthrop, jun., to employ his Indian to shoot at fowl " (probably in Mystic River).
The fish most common in our waters were the shad, ale- wives, smelt, bass, perch, bream, eel, sucker, tom-cod, pick- erel, and shiner. Some of these are now rare. We do not now think of any species of fish which frequent either our salt or fresh waters that is unfit for food.
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