USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Medford > History of the town of Medford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement in 1630 to 1855 > Part 32
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About eighteen miles of pipe were laid under the original contract. In the spring of that year it was voted, "that the town issue, and hereby authorizes and directs the issue, of its notes, scrip, or certificates of debt, in form required by law, to an amount not exceeding one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, payable twenty years from the date of issue, and bearing interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, payable semi-annually."
The water was first let on to the pipes for the use of the town in the fall of 1870, and was supplied by way of Mal- den, through the Salem-street main. This gave a supply to only a portion of the town ; but, in the spring of 1871, the Forest-street main was finished, and the whole town was supplied with water through our independent main, direct from the pond.
New mains have been laid from year to year, until, in February, 1884, there were thirty-four miles and eight hundred and ninety-one feet of mains. Through these water is supplied to one hundred and fifty-eight hydrants, twelve hundred and forty-four houses, forty-one stores, twenty-two manufactories, one hundred and forty-nine stables, six churches, eleven school-houses, three engine- houses, and four drinking-fountains.
The total amount of water-bonds issued is $300,000, - $250,000 of which are due in 1890, and $50,000 in 1891. The cost of the works, to the present time, has been as follows : For construction, $300,755.48 ; damages and suits, $33,171.25; and cost of maintaining the works, $ 54,675.44.
The amount of water-rates received in 1873 was $10.359; in 1883, it was $19,579.73 ; and the total receipts have been $ 181,504.13. From service-pipes, the receipts have been $21,847.50.
337
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
In 1878 a sinking-fund was started by the town, towards the payment of the water-debt ; and in February, 1886, there was on hand, for that purpose, $59,097.44.
The present board of water-commissioners consists of Messrs. D. A. Gleason, F. E. Foster, and W. B. Thomas. Mr. R. W. Gow, the present superintendent, has been connected with the works since 1871.
BURYING-GROUNDS.
The places used by the first settlers of Medford for the burial of the dead are not positively known. Whether from unwillingness to follow England's example, in providing expensive and well-secured graveyards, or from their in- ability to do so, we cannot say ; but the fact is clear, that such provisions for the dead were not made. The oldest gravestones in the present graveyard, near Gravelly Bridge, were brought from England, and are remarkable for their' width, thickness, and weight. The oldest bears the date; of 1691.
March 20, 1705: "Put to vote, whether the selectmen shall dis -- course Mr. Dudley Wade, referring to the proposals made this meet- ing by Stephen Willis, jun., in said Wade's behalf, respecting the burying-place in Medford, and make return thereof to the town at the next town-meeting. Voted in the affirmative."
It does not appear what this proposition was, or what action the town had upon it. Probably it was a proposal to sell the town some land for a place of burial ; and we. presume it was accepted, because, May 15, 1717, we find the following record : -
" Put to vote, whether the town will choose a committee, to join with the selectmen, to view some land offered by Mr. Aaron Cleavland and John Willis, for the enlargement of the burying-place near Mistick Bridge ; and bring in a report to the town of the same, at the next town-meeting, both of the price of said land, and the convenience of. the same for the use aforesaid."
This passed in the affirmative ; and the selectmen, Capt. Tufts, Deacon Willis, Deacon Whitmore, Ensign Francis, Capt. Brooks, and Ensign Hall, were appointed the com- mittee to plan the enlargement proposed. The committee reported June 10 of the next month, when the town passed the following vote : -
" That the town will give Mr. Aaron Cleavland and John Willis, for a small parcel of land, for an addition to the burying-place, lying be-
338
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
twixt Mistick River and Gravelly Bridge, after the rate of thirty-two pounds per acre."
The portion they bought cost six pounds.
May 12, 1718: " Put to vote, whether the burying-place, some time past bought of Mr. Aaron Cleavland, be continued in said Cleavland's hands, as to the herbage, until the town give further order ; and, when the town see cause to fence it, it shall be fenced at the town's proper cost .; and whether that, forthwith, a board fence be erected at the front of the land, with a gate and lock. Voted in the affirmative."
This vote would lead us to infer that the enclosure was ill cared for ; and the need of new fences is learned from the vote of Nov. 26, 1733, which was as follows : "Voted "to have the front of the burying-place fenced in." At the same meeting, they directed "that the fence should be made of good cedar posts, white-pine boards, with handsome double gates, colored red." We apprehend that extraor- dinary care was not fashionable. One might infer that the "front " only was secured by a fence. From that day to the beginning of the present century, it was not unusual to let these precious, and we may add sacred, spots be exposed to the visits of vagrant animals.
May 12, 1785 : " Voted that no cattle be permitted to ¿graze in the burying-ground."
The "Old Burying Ground," as it was called, being near the most populous part of Medford, was better defended by walls than was common in many towns ; yet we re- member the wall on its east side, as low, broken, and insufficient.
March 5, 1739 : It is, for the first time, proposed to build tombs ; and the north side of the graveyard is designated as the most proper place. None were built until many years later.
The town passed the following vote, May 11, 1786: "Voted to give liberty to any person to build a tomb in the burying-ground." This custom of burying the dead in tombs grew so fast and strong that almost every family had a tomb, or part of one. This prevented the erection of gravestones, and thereby deprived posterity of all the knowledge derived from these authentic records. It was the custom, in the earlier times, for a family to choose the spot in the burying-ground where they would gather their dead ; and for others to invade this spot was considered an outrage on social rights and Christian feelings. In the old burying-ground, there are many remains of this ar-
339
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
rangement ; and we trust that no sacrilegious hand will now be laid on these sacred relics. In the south-west cor- ner of that ground, the slaves are buried; but no monu- mental stones were raised. Are there as many gravestones now standing within the old burying-ground as were there fifty years ago? We think not. Where are they? Can the mouths of the tombs answer ?
There were six tombs built in 1767 by private gentle- men. Benjamin Floyd was the builder. They are those nearest the front gate, on its western side, and are under the sidewalk of the street. The bricks of which they are built were made in the yard west of Rock Hill. The common price of a tomb was then one hundred and two dollars.
Though many new tombs had been built, and some little additional space secured in the old burying-ground, still there was need of further accommodations for burial ; and the town therefore voted, May 11, 1812, to request the se- lectmen to consider what further provisions could be made. This led to the appointment of a committee in May, 1813. A new burying-place seemed to be necessary, and the committee so reported. No definite action was had until May, 1816, when another committee reported, that the land which the town had purchased in Cross Street, near Mr. Turner's ship-yard, for the position of an alms-house, had better be used as a burying-ground. The town ac- ceded ; and then ordered that the land be laid out in lots, that a proper fence be built around it, and that trees be planted in such number and order as to make the enclosure appear as such a place should.
March 7, 1853 : Voted to remove the pound on Cross Street, and extend the burial-ground to the line of said street, and build thereon a suitable iron fence, with stone basement.
The next movement for another burying-ground was March 6, 1837, when the town passed the following : " Voted that the article relative to purchasing land for a burial-ground, in the easterly part of the town, be indefi- nitely postponed."
For many years the eastern wall of the old burying- ground was broken and insufficient. The attention of the Hon. Peter C. Brooks was directed to the subject in 1846; the consequence was an offer of five hundred dollars from that gentleman to the town, for the purpose of building a
340
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
granite wall along the whole eastern front of the ground. The town accepted the offer, and voted thanks, Nov. 8, 1847. There was a strip of land, twenty feet or more, added here to the old limits; and the new granite wall encloses it. This strip was laid out in lots, and sold at auction Aug. 3, 1848.
The establishment of the cemetery of Mount Auburn had created in this neighborhood a strong preference for such burial-places ; and Medford resolved to have one. The following vote was passed, Nov. 13, 1848: "Voted that the subject-matter of the fifth article in the warrant, relative to procuring additional land for burial purposes, be referred to a committee of five, to examine locations, obtain prices, etc., and to report at the next March meet- ing."
Nov. 12, 1849: The committee reported it expedient to buy ten and a half acres of land, at fifty dollars per acre, of Leonard Bucknam. The town concurred, and em- powered the committee to make the purchase.
March 4, 1850: "Voted to choose a committee to lay out and otherwise improve said new burying-ground." Also voted to expend five hundred dollars accordingly.
After further examination of this land, the committee recommended an abandonment of the above plan; and, March 10, 1851, the town voted to build an alms-house on said land.
July 19, 1852: The subject came before the town ; and Messrs. George W. Porter, Robert L. Ells, Paul Curtis, John B. Hatch, and Sanford B. Perry were chosen a com- mittee "to purchase land for a cemetery." These gentle- men examined several spots, and finally recommended one owned by Mr. Edward Brooks, situated nearly opposite the head of Purchase Street, in West Medford, and contain- ing twelve acres. It had a varied surface of hill, valley, and plain ; was well covered with young oaks and beau- tiful forest-trees ; its soil was dry, and not liable to injury from rain; the absence of ledges made digging easy ; and its retired and accessible position rendered it peculiarly fit for such a sacred appropriation. The committee obtained the consent of the owner to sell, and the price was five thousand dollars. They recommended the purchase; and the town accepted and adopted their report, Aug. 16, 1852. Thus an extensive and beautiful cemetery was secured to future generations.
34I
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
The committee declined further service ; and Messrs. Sanford B. Perry, Paul Curtis, Edmund T. Hastings, George T. Goodwin, and James R. Turner were chosen to attend to all further business connected with the subject. March 7, 1853, the town instructed the committee to build a re- ceiving-tomb, to lay out roads and paths, to erect fences, and make such improvements as they saw fit.
Oct. 13, 1853 : The committee made their first report. They recommended that the cemetery be called OAK GROVE CEMETERY. Among the rules and regulations were the following :-
" The cemetery shall be under the care of the selectmen, who shall appoint a superintendent. Any citizen, who may become the owner of a lot, must submit to the conditions. Fences appropriate to the place may be built to enclose lots. No lot can be used for any pur- pose except the burial of the dead. No tree shall be cut down with- out the consent of the Cemetery Committee. Any funeral monument or structure may be erected, except a tomb. Trees, shrubs, and flowers may be planted and cultivated. Any improper structure or offensive inscription shall be removed by the committee. No tomb shall be built within the cemetery, except by special vote of the town. No burials for hire. No disinterment, except by permission ..
" The town-clerk shall be clerk of the Cemetery Committee. All deeds shall be executed in behalf of the town. The lots shall be ap- praised, numbered, and recorded, and the right of choice sold. at public auction. Lots may afterwards be sold by the selectmen. Duplicate keys of the gates and receiving-tomb shall be kept by the officers. No dead body shall remain in the receiving-tomb, during warm weather, more than twenty days. No grave for any person, over twelve years of age, shall be less than five feet deep. All burials in the free public lot shall be in the order directed by the committee. No body shall be disinterred without permission of the committee. No carriage shall be admitted within the grounds, unless by permission, or when accom- panied by the owner of a lot. No refreshments, smoking, unseemly noise, discharge of fire-arms, or disorderly conduct, allowed. Vehicles admitted must be driven no faster than a walk. All writing upon or defacing of structures, all breaking of trees or gathering of flowers, forbidden. No individual shall be the proprietor of more than two lots. The town of Medford will forever keep in good repair the fence, gates, carriage-ways, and footpaths of the cemetery, and make a secure place of burial for the dead, and an attractive resort for the living."
This brief abstract of the report of the committee shows the town anxious to make the most generous appropriations for this sacred and cherished object.
March 6, 1854: The town accepted and adopted the re- port of the committee appointed to direct the preparation of the cemetery for use. The items of their bill of costs
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
will sufficiently explain the very beginning of the noble work. They are as follows : -
Paid for land
$5,000.00
66 labor on streets
774.89
66 receiving-tomb 359.10
stone wall and posts
715.63
66 sundries 280.98
$7,130.60
Due Mr. Wadsworth, for plan, etc.
$275.00
Dennis and Roberts, for iron gates . 60.00
N. A. Chandler, for work 45.00
$380.00
$7,510.60
The place was solemnly consecrated by religious services, performed within the enclosure, Oct. 31, 1853; and then the lots were offered for sale at public auction. Thirty- one lots were sold on the first occasion for $634.50; and the highest price given for choice was $15, and the low- est $1. The highest price fixed upon the best lots was $20; and the lowest price for a lot, $5.
February, 1855 : The whole number of lots sold was fifty- one, and their cost was $1,025.
Several who bought commenced immediately the prepa- ration of their grounds, erected fences, and planted flowers, shrubs and evergreens.
From this time constant improvements have been made on the grounds. Every year new lots have been sold, thus increasing the interest in the cemetery. The town has made liberal appropriations for beautifying and pro- tecting the place. Lots were taken so freely that the question as to enlarging the grounds arose; and in March, 1873, the town passed the following vote : -
"Voted that the Cemetery Committee be authorized to see Mr. Edward Brooks, and ascertain the price of the land lying south of the cemetery, and report at the next town meeting."
This committee reported progress ; and on March 8, 1875, the following vote was passed : -
"Voted that the proper committee be authorized to purchase the land of Mr. Edward Brooks, adjoining the cemetery, at a price not exceeding $1,000 per acre."
The additional purchase consisted of nearly twenty-two acres, and the price paid was $21,724.47.
Until 1880 the cemetery was under the control, first of the selectmen, then of a Cemetery Committee; but in
343
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
February, 1880, it was placed in the hands of five trustees. The present board of trustees consists of James Bean, B. C. Leonard, Japhet Sherman, Henry Burridge, and John P. Perry.
THE GREAT TORNADO.
Medford long bore a sad testimony to the effects of the terrible tornado of Aug. 22, 1851. The tornado com- menced about 5 o'clock, P.M., in Wayland, passed through Waltham and Arlington, and entered Medford a few rods south of "Wear Bridge." From this point it moved west by south to east by north, and kept this line till it ceased in Chelsea. Such extensive destruction of property from such a cause had never before been witnessed in this State. At a meeting of citizens, Aug. 28, 1851, the fol- lowing votes were passed : -
" Voted that a committee of five be appointed to appraise damages.
" Voted that Gorham Brooks, Charles Caldwell, Franklin Patch, Albert Smith, and Jeremiah Gilson, constitute the committee.
"Voted that the committee be instructed to consider the circum- stances of the sufferers, and report cases (if any) where charity is deemed necessary.
"Voted that the committee be authorized to communicate with similar committees from other towns, in relation to the publication of the results of their investigations.
"Voted that Rev. Charles Brooks be a committee to collect and arrange the facts in reference to science."
REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF APPRAISEMENT.
The amount of individual losses, as estimated by the committee, is as follows :-
Edward Brooks. - Barn $25 Estate belonging to T. P. Smith and others. - Buildings, $300; fruit-trees, $600 ; carriages, $75; vegetables, $10 . 985 Charles Rollins. - Two dwelling-houses unfinished, which Mr. Rollins was building by contract, both entirely demolished, including, in one case, the cellar wall. One of these build- ings was on the property belonging to T. P. Smith and others, $4,320; the other was for the Rev. Mr. Haskins, $1,450 . 5,770 House building by J. F. Edward, on property belonging to T. P. Smith and others . 12
Boston and Lowell Railroad Company. - Freight-car blown from track, and buildings injured 40
J. M. Usher. - Buildings, $442; fruit-trees, $30; fruit ; orna- mental tree (horse-chestnut), $50 . 522
L. B. Usher. - Buildings, $50; fruit-trees and fruit, $58; orna- mental trees (elm in road, and horse-chestnut), $100 208 Heirs of Leonard Bucknam. - Buildings and fences, $450 ; fruit- trees, $25 475
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
J. M. Sanford. - Fence, $10; vegetables, $5 ; furniture and cloth- ing, $150 ; carriages, $75 2.40
H. T. Nutter - Vegetables, $5 ; furniture and clothing, $400 405 Joseph Wyatt. - Buildings, $250 ; fruit-trees, $150; fruit, $10 410 Town of Medford. - Buildings (school and poorhouse fences, etc.), $410; ornamental trees, $50; fruit-trees, $50 ·
510 George E. Harrington. - Buildings, $30; fruit-trees, $50 ; fruit, $8 . 88
J. Vreeland. - Fruit-trees, $150; fruit, $12
162 A. L. Fitzgerald (house slightly damaged).
Samuel Teel, jun. - Buildings, $800; fruit-trees, $200; fruit, vegetables, and hay, $61 ; wagons, furniture, etc., $120 1, 181 George Caldwell. - House, $25 ; fruit-trees, $20 45
George F. Lane. - Buildings, $600 ; fruit-trees, $250 ; vegeta- bles, $16. . 866
Thomas Huffmaster. - Buildings, $275; fruit-trees, $500; fruit and corn, $45 . 820
Wellington Russell. - Clothing and furniture 25
E. T. Hastings. - Fences, $30 ; fruit-trees, $100; fruit, $20 1 50
J. B. Hatch. - Fences, $5 ; fruit-trees, $75; fruit, $25 105
Nathaniel Tracy. - Fence IO
John W. Hastings. - House and fence 25
Rev. John Pierpont. - Buildings, $500; fruit-trees, $100
600
Heirs of Jonathan Brooks. - Buildings and fences, $677; fruit-
trees, $500; ornamental trees, $200; fruit, vegetables, and hay, $80 ; carriages and hay-rack, $175 . 1,632
Alfred Brooks. - Buildings, $350; fruit-trees, $100 450
Noah Johnson. - Buildings, $445 ; hay and grain in barn, $40; ox-wagon and farming-tools, $42 527
James Wyman. - Fruit-trees
30
Moses Pierce. - House
John V. Fletcher. - House, $25; fruit-trees, $20
45
Joseph Swan. - Fruit-trees
20
P. C. Hall. - Fruit-trees, $920 ; ornamental trees, $50; fruit, $80; 1,050 Jonathan Porter. - Fruit-trees, $75; fruit, $35 IIO
William Roach. - Fruit-trees 25
Dudley Hall. - Fruit-trees 25
Samuel Kidder. - Buildings, $50 ; fruit-trees, $400 ; ornamental trees, $50 500
Thatcher R. Raymond. - Fruit-trees, $100 ; ornamental trees, $100 ; fences, $IO .
210
John A. Page. - Fruit-trees, $150; ornamental trees, $50 ; fences, $50 Russell. - Ornamental trees I 50
250
Orchard (East of Andover Turnpike) 40
$18,768
The loss of property in West Cambridge was $23,606; in Waltham, $4,000.
The other report of facts, in their relation to science, fills forty pages of a little pamphlet which was published Oct. 30, 1851, and which may be found among the papers of the Smithsonian Institute.
25
345
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
FIRES.
For the first two hundred years of our settlement, there were very few fires, and those few were mostly in the woods. The Indians had been used to clearing their planting-fields by the summary process of burning; and they occasionally lighted a fire without regard to bounds or proprietorship.
Not more than one or two buildings were burned at the same time for many scores of years ; but during the last fifty years it has seemed as if former exemptions were to be cancelled by rapidly increasing alarms and widely extended conflagrations. Many worthy citizens have thus lost their barns at seasons when those barns were most full, and most needed.
The greatest and most distressing conflagration that ever occurred in Medford was on the night of the 21st of November, 1850. It destroyed every building on Main Street and its neighborhood which stood between the bridge and South Street. The number, including dwell- ing-houses, workshops, and barns, was thirty-six. It com- menced in the old tavern barn, at the north-west corner of the settlement, when the wind was blowing a gale from that quarter ; and it spread with such speed as to prevent all passage over the bridge from the north, where ten or fifteen engines were collected, waiting for the first oppor- tunity for duty. There was but one engine in town north of the bridge, and but one bridge across the Mystic River. If, instead of a large barn, the first building burned had been a dwelling-house, or if the wind had been at any other point, the terrible destruction might have been stayed ; but, as every circumstance favored the spread of the flames, their progress seemed like lightning, and they appeared to leap with frantic fury from one building to another, as a starving man rushes to devour the first food within his reach. Before two o'clock the whole district was in ashes. It must have gone farther, had not engines from towns south of us arrived, and a few engines from the north been ferried across the river in scows. Nine- teen engines were present, mostly from other towns ; and every fireman and citizen did his utmost.
Next to the sufferings of those personally interested in the losses of the conflagration, were those of the neigh- bors and firemen who were stopped on the north side of
346
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
the bridge, and who saw no way of going to the relief of their friends but by rushing through sheets of fire. If there be acute agony on earth, it is in witnessing calamities and pains which we have the wish, but not the power, to relieve.
The deprivations and exposures consequent upon such a catastrophe can better be imagined than described. Every heart and hand in Medford was ready to administer re- lief ; and all was done for the sufferers that an active sym- pathy could suggest. Before the first barn was consumed, couriers were sent to the neighboring towns ; and the fire- men in each one answered with promptitude, and arrived in season to arrest the devastation. The amount of in- surance. on the buildings was in many cases small, and losses fell on those who could very ill afford them. $1,335 were immediately raised by subscription in Medford, and distributed by a committee to the greatest sufferers among the poor. To the honor of the sufferers, be it said, they met the waste of their property, the derangement of their business, and the suspension of their comforts, with firm- ness and patience. Before the ruins had ceased to smoul- der, the sounds of shovel, hammer, and trowel announced the work of reconstruction; and, before two years had passed, a new village, phoenix-like, had risen out of the ashes of the old.
The committee of investigation chosen to estimate the losses examined each case ; and their report was $36,000, after all insurances were deducted. About half of the property was insured.
POUNDS.
In Medford, there were fewer "lands common " than in other towns. The making of fences was difficult at first, and the "pound " came early into use. It was placed so near a stream of water as to allow the cattle in it to drink. Where the first one in Medford was placed, we know not. The first record is as follows : -
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