USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Medford > History of the town of Medford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement in 1630 to 1855 > Part 5
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But, before the order could be executed, the lands of the several settlers had to be parcelled out and located, and this was done by seven wise and prudent men selected by the town; which work, thus directed by the corporation, was confirmed by the same authority.
The first settlers came to Medford in June, 1630. The
48
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
grant of land to Mr. Cradock was March 4, 1634. Here, therefore, were almost four years in which the first-comers were gathering and settling, before Mr. Cradock came into possession. His prosperous company would naturally in- duce others to come here ; and when they had thus settled they would form a government; and, when all these things were done, it would not be policy for Mr. Cradock to disturb or remove such friends. For more than three years they labored on the land, and made an agricultural beginning, confirmed by Mr. Cradock. In his letter he gives special charge concerning all such ; that every thing be done for their safety and comfort. These were the fathers of Med- ford. 1633, an historian says of the colonists, " Although they were in such great straights for food, that many of them ate their bread by weight, yet they did not faint in spirit." Gov. Winthrop, Sept. 9, 1630, says, "It is enough that we shall have heaven, though we pass through hell to it."
· As soon as Gov. Winthrop had settled himself on the Ten Hill Farm, in 1630, he recommended Gov. Cradock's men to plant themselves directly opposite him on the north side of the river. They did so. A promontory there, jut- ting towards the south into the marsh, was the only safe place then to build upon. It is about sixty rods south-east of the ancient house standing on the farm belonging to the heirs of James and Isaac Wellington, now known as "Welling- ton." The marshes stretch away from this promontory on every side except the north, where it joins the mainland. On its highest point they built the first house erected in Medford. This was in July, 1630. Thirty years ago there were persons living who knew an old lady, named Blan- chard, who was born in that house. It was probably a log- house, of large dimensions, with a small deep cellar, having a chimney of bricks laid in clay. The cellar was walled up with stone, and has been destroyed but a few years. The bricks, very similar to those in Gov. Cradock's mansion- house, were removed years ago ; but on the 25th of April, 1855, some of them were collected as souvenirs, and are preserved by Medford antiquarans.
Names of Some of Medford's Earliest Freeholders. - How many of the first settlers became freemen, we shall not know until the lost records of Medford are discovered. We find the following Medford names among the list of freemen between 1630 and 1646 : Nathaniel Bishop, Thomas Reeves,
49
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
John Collins, Jonathan Porter, Richard Bishop, Thomas, Brooke, John Waite, William Manning, John Hall, Richard: Francis, William Blanchard, Henry Simonds, Zachery Fitch,, Richard Wade, Richard Bugbe, John Watson, Abraham Newell, Henry Brooke, Gamaliel Wayte, Hezekiah Usher, Thomas Bradbury, Richard Swan, John Howe, Edmund' Angier, Thomas Oakes, Hugh Pritchard.
In the county records we find the following names of men represented as at Medford :-
George Felt
1633 | Jonathan Wade I668
James Noyes
1634
Edward Collins
1669,
Richard Berry
1636
John Call .
1669.
Thomas Mayhew
1636
Daniel Deane
1669
Benjamin Crisp
1636
Samuel Hayward 1670
James Garrett .
1637
Caleb Brooks 1672
John Smith
1 638
Daniel Markham
16%5:
Richard Cooke .
1640
John Whitmore
1678.
Josiah Dawstin . Dix
1641
Daniel Woodward
1679
Ri. Dexter
1644
Isaac Fox
1 679
William Sargent
1648
Stephen Willis
1680
James Goodnow
1650
Thomas Willis
1680
John Martin
1650
John Hall
1680.
Edward Convers
1650
Goulden Moore
1654
Gersham Swan . Joseph Angier John Bradshaw Stephen Francis Peter Tufts. .
1684
Richard Russell
1656
1685
Thos. Shephard
1657
Thos. Danforth
1658
Jonathan Tufts
1690.
Thomas Greene
1659
John Tufts
1690.
James Pemberton
1659
Simon Bradstreet
1695
Joseph Hills
1662
The following persons owned lands in Medford before 1680 : -
William Dady.
Increase Nowell. Zachary Symmes.
Rob. Broadick.
Mrs. Anne Higginson.
John Betts.
Caleb Hobart.
Jotham Gibons.
John Palmer.
Richard Stilman.
Nicholas Davidson.
Mrs. Mary Eliot.
684
Robert Burden
1655
1685
I686.
1641
John Greenland
1678.
Mathew Cradock. - Gov. Cradock, although he never came to this country, took an important part in the opera- tions of the London Company, and no other man was so helpful as he to the early settlers of Medford. Indeed, Medford owes its early prosperity, and we may almost say its settlement, more largely to him than to any other man. He was the richest member of the New-England Company,
.50
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
and he spent his money in promoting its interests with all the liberality of an enthusiast.
We first hear of him as a distinguished merchant in the «city of London, who took a deep interest in the Puritan cause, and who, for that reason, became active in promot- ing the settlement of New England. He lived in Swithin's Lane, London, near London Stone, and "had a furnished 'house at Rumford in Essex." He was instrumental in the formation of the Company of Massachusetts Bay, and, in the petition for a charter, his was the foremost name ; and when the King (Charles I.) granted the important boon, March 4, 1628, he named Mathew Cradock as the first gov- ernor of the company. We are to understand by this that Mr. Cradock was governor of the company in its commercial capacity, and not its political head in America.
In all subscriptions for aiding the company he gave the largest sum, and to him belonged the honor of moving, July 28, 1629, to transfer the government of the Colony from London to New England. The reader cannot too soon appreciate what Gov. Cradock was to Medford in its earliest days, and we set down in this place a few facts that should reflect the honor of his name to the latest generations of our posterity.
As already stated, two of the ships that sailed with the " Arbella" belonged to him ; and while his men -fisher- men, coopers, and shipwrights - came over in those vessels, it is almost certain that most of those who settled in Med- ford at the first came with Mr. Cradock's men from Suffolk and Essex. He did all he could to get the ships in readi- ness to sail. He was first on the committee that apportioned the lands, and thus decided where the first settlements should be. He was on board the "Arbella " the morning the fleet set sail (Easter Monday, 1630) ; and the captain gave him " three shots out the steerage," when he went back to land, for a farewell.
This man, zealous, honored, wise, and good, may be regarded as the founder of Medford ; and the following extracts from a letter he wrote to John Endicott, then already in America, show the deep religious feeling of the man. After writing of what he would have done for the temporal welfare of the adventurers, he said, --
We are very confident of your best endeavors for the general good ; and we doubt not but God will in mercy give a blessing upon our labors; and we trust you will not be unmindful of the main end of our
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
plantation, by endeavoring to bring the Indians to the knowledge of the gospel, which that it may be speedier and better effected, the earnest desire of our whole company is, that you have diligent and watch- ful eye over our own people; that they live unblamable and without reproof, and demean themselves justly and courteous towards the Indians, thereby to draw them to affect our persons, and consequently our religion ; as also to endeavor to get some of their children to train up to reading, and consequently to religion, while they are young : herein, to young or old, to omit no good opportunity that may tend to bring them out of that woful state and condition they now are in; in which case our predecessors in this our land sometimes were, and, but for the mercy and goodness of our good God, might have continued to this day; but God, who out of the boundless ocean of his mercy hath showed pity and compassion to our land, he is all sufficient and can bring this to pass which we now desire in that country likewise. Only let us not be wanting on our parts, now we are called to this work of the Lord; neither, having put our hands to the plough, let us look back, but go on cheerfully, and depend upon God for a blessing upon our labors, who, by weak instruments, is able (if he see it good) to bring glorious things to pass.
Be of good courage, go on, and do worthily, and the Lord prosper your endeavor.
And now, minding to conclude this, I may not omit to put you in mind, however you seem to fear no enemies there, yet that you have a watchful eye for your own safety, and the safety of all those of our nation with you, and not to be too confident of the fidelity of the sav- ages. It is an old proverb, yet as true, the burnt child dreads the fire. Our countrymen have suffered by their too much confidence in Virginia. Let us by their harms learn to beware; and as we are commanded to be innocent as doves, so withal we are enjoined to be wise as serpents. The God of heaven and earth preserve and keep you from all foreign and inland enemies, and bless and prosper this plantation to the en- largement of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, to whose merciful protection I commend you and all your associates there, known or unknown. And so, till my next, which shall be (God willing) by our ships, who I make account will be ready to set sail from hence about the 20th of this next month of March, I end, and rest,
Your assured loving friend and cousin,
MATHEW CRADOCK.
These extracts show the deep enthusiasm of Mr. Cradock in the New-England enterprise. He went into it heart and purse. He adopted Medford as his headquarters ; and here he made his first settlement, here opened his business of ship-building and fishing, and here placed an agent to execute his plans. The most sagacious and wealthy mer- chant of the company could not have made a wiser choice. To Medford he directed his thoughts, in Medford he ex- pended his money, and for the prosperity of Medford he devoutly prayed. Our infant town could not have had a better father.
52
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
After his decease, Mr. Nicholas Davison, his mercantile agent, petitioned the General Court, in the name of Mrs. Cradock, to pay to her a sum which she claimed from the Colony, amounting to £676. The Court, always mindful of the interests of the Colony, replied that " the govern- ment were never concerned in Mr. Cradock's adventure," and therefore could not allow any such claim. Another attempt was made in 1670, and met with a similar fate. It was not long afterwards that the General Court took into consideration the munificent "disbursement of Mr. Cradock in planting the Colony," and resolved to show their grateful estimate of his worth, and accordingly gave his widow, then Mrs. Whitchcot, one thousand acres of land, and she relinquished all further rights.
As stated on a previous page, Gov. Winthrop advised Cradock's men where to locate; and it was three years after the first of them settled on his lands, before they were confirmed to him by the London Company, of which he was the wealthiest member. They had unbounded con- fidence in him, and while they went forward to clear farms, and organize a town, before they had personal titles to the land they held by pre-emption, he preserved all their rights, and in the final adjustment gave every man the benefit of the improvements he had made.
For several years his vast estates, upon which he was taxed by the town and county, made the burdens that fell upon others very light.
e
In proof of this gentleman's profound attachment to the Puritan enterprise, we will here quote a few sentences from the "First Letter of the Governor and Deputy of the New-England Company for a Plantation in Massa- chusetts Bay, to the Governor and Council for London's Plantation in the Massachusetts Bay, in New England." April 17, 1629 : Many men, and various articles for trade and use, having been sent from London, the letter says, -
" We pray you give all good accommodation to our present gov- ernor, Mr. Mathew Cradock, who, with some particular brethren of the company, have deeply engaged themselves in their private adventures in these ships, and those to come ; and as we hold these men, that thus deeply adventure in their private, to be (under God) special instruments for the advancing and strengthening of the plantation, which is done by them without any charge to the company's general stock, wherein, not- withstanding, they are as deep or deeper engaged than any other."
The following items from the public records show some-
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
thing of the estimation in which Mr. Cradock was held in this colony : -
" At a General Court held at Boston, March 4, 1633, the following grant was made : 'The Wear at Mistick is granted to John Winthrop, Esq., present governor, and to Mr. Mathew Cradock of London, to enjoy to them and their heirs forever.'
" March 26, 1638: There is a grant of a thousand acres of land, granted to Mr. Mathew Cradock, where it may be had without preju- dice to any plantation, or former grants, in the judgment of the Court. Also there is granted to Mr. Cradock five hundred acres of land more for such servants as he shall appoint it unto, twenty miles from any plantation, without prejudice to any plantation.
"June 2, 1641 : Mr. Thomas Mayhew and Mr. Joseph Cooke ap- pointed to set out the five hundred acres of Mr. Oldham's for Mr. Cradock, near Mount Feake.
" On the same day: Voted that Mr. Cradock's rates should be fore- borne till the next ship come, and then it is referred to Mr. Stoughton and Mr. Hawthorne, to consider and give order in it."
The reader may now be referred to what is said in another chapter concerning Mr. Cradock's agency in build- ing the first bridge over Mystic River ; and, putting those facts with these here stated, we come at the conclusion that Medford should cherish with gratitude the memory of one who opened here a new and extensive trade, who sent over many men as laborers in ship-building and fishing, and who rendered the greatest service to the first settlers in furnishing them with the means of self-support. He holds an honorable place among the founders of the plan- tations in Massachusetts, men of great practical wisdom, who, whatever may have been their ideas concerning the establishment of a theocratic commonwealth in the New World, at no time seemed to forget that Providence was likely to furnish the most efficient aid to those who were most active in helping themselves.
Of Mr. Cradock's influence upon the early fortunes of Medford, and the results which followed its withdrawal, Savage, the able editor of "Winthrop's Journal," says, -
" Of so flourishing a town as Medford, the settlement of which had been made as early as that of any other, except Charlestown, in the bay, it is remarkable that the early history is very meagre. From sev- eral statements of its proportion of the public charges in the colony rates, it must be concluded that it was, within the first eight years, superior in wealth, at different times, to Newbury, Ipswich, Hingham, and Weymouth, all ancient towns. ... Yet the number of people was certainly small; and the weight of the tax was probably borne by the property of Gov. Cradock, there invested for fishing and other purposes. When that establishment was withdrawn, the town languished many years."
54
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
We know of only one relative of Mr. Cradock who came to this country, and his name was George Cradock, men- tioned by Douglas and Hutchinson as an inhabitant of Boston.
We cannot better close the notice of Medford's founder and friend than by giving a copy of his will : -
Last Will and Testament of Mathew Cradock.
I, Mathew Cradock of London, merchant, being in perfect memory and bodily health, - thanks be given to God therefor, -do hereby make and ordain this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following; that is to say, -
I bequeath my soul into the hands of the Almighty God, trusting, by the merits of the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ only, to obtain remission of all my sins. My body, when it shall please God to separate it from my soul, I recommend to the earth, in as- sured confidence of a glorious resurrection at the great and dreadful day of judgment.
As to my outward estate, wherewith God of his goodness hath endowed me, I have ever accounted myself but a steward thereof ; therefore humbly entreat the Almighty to enable me so to demean myself in disposing thereof as that I may, through his mercy in the merits of Christ, be always prepared to give a comfortable account of my stewardship.
I do hereby order, in the first place, that all sure debts as are, any manner of way, justly due and owing to any person whatsoever, be truly and fully satisfied and paid: the accounts of the widow of Stephen Benister, late of London, cloth-worker, deceased, that the same be answered and (committed) to the use of my executors; and for dealing with one Henry Colthirst, if Mr. Pennoyde, who is best ac- quainted with the business, see it to be due, which is challenged, I order it to be answered with consideration for the time, all just debts paid. The remainder of my estate I give and bequeath as followeth : -
To the poor of the parish of St. Peter's, the poor in Broad Street, where I served my apprenticeship, forty pounds sterling; to the poor of St. Swithin's, where I dwelled, one hundred pounds, to be employed as a stock for their use, and the benefit thereof to be distributed yearly at the discretion of the greater number in the vestry. This to be taken out of the third part of my estate, which, by the custom of the city of London, is at my own disposing.
One-third part of my whole clear estate, my debts being paid and satisfied, I give and bequeath to my precious, dear, and loving wife, Rebeccah Cradock; one other third part of my estate, according to the ancient custom of the city of London, I do give to my daughter Damaris, and to such other child or children as it shall please God to give me by my wife Rebeccah. Moreover, I do give and bequeath to my said dear and loving wife all my household stuff and plate at my house in London, where I dwell, and at a house I hold at Rumford, in Essex, as also the lease of my dwelling-house in London. Only, out of my plate and household stuff aforesaid, I give to my said daughter Damaris to the value of fifty pounds, in such particulars as
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
my said wife shall order and appoint the same. Moreover, I do give to my loving wife aforesaid, to be by her enjoyed during her natural life, the one-half of all the estate I now have or shall have in New England, in America, at the time of my decease; and, after the de- cease of my wife as aforesaid, I do give and bequeath the moiety of my movables and immovables hereby intended to be enjoyed by my wife during her natural life, unto my brother, Samuel Cradock, and his heirs male. And for the other moiety of my estate in New Eng- land aforesaid, I hereby give and bequeath the same to my daughter Damaris and the issue of her body, to be. lawfully begotten; and, for want of such issue, to my said brother Samuel, and his heirs male aforesaid. And my will is, that when my wife shall marry, that in such case her then intended husband, before their marriage, shall become bound to my said brother and his heirs in five thousand pounds of lawful money of England not to sell away or alienate any part of the moiety of my lands hereby intended and bequeathed to my wife, and subsequently to him, during her natural life, and that he shall have at the time of her decease in personal estate therefor my brother and his heirs to enjoy after the decease of my said wife at least for the full value of five hundred pounds sterling in movable goods. And whosoever shall marry my daughter Damaris, I do hereby will and order, that, before marriage, he likewise shall enter into like bond, with the like covenants and conditions; in case my said daughter depart this life without issue, or either of the parties before mentioned, both or either of them, hereby enjoined to seal the said several bond, which shall refuse or neglect to do the same, or to deliver the said bond or bonds to my brother or his heirs then being, in legal and lawful manner, I do hereby declare, that, imme -· diately from and after such marriage respectively, the moiety of the estate hereby intended to the party so marrying, and not giving the bond as aforesaid, shall be, and I do hereby bequeath the same to my said brother Samuel and his heirs, any thing before mentioned to the contrary notwithstanding.
Moreover, I do give to my brother, Samuel Cradock, and my sister, his wife, five hundred pounds; and to every one of the children of my said brother I do give one hundred pounds. Moreover, to his son Samuel, now student in Emanuel, in Cambridge, I do give for his maintenance for three years forty pounds per annum ; and to his son Mathew, for his better preferment, whereby to place him with an able merchant, two hundred pounds. And I do give twenty pounds yearly to my said brother Samuel towards the maintenance of my brother and sister Sawyer ; and to my sister, after the decease of her husband, I do give two hundred pounds. Item: To Dorothy Sawyer, daughter to my said sister Sawyer, I give, for her better preferment, in case she will be advised by my wife in her marriage, two hundred pounds ; and to the rest of my sister Sawyer's children I do give to every of them fifty pounds. To my maid-servants five pounds every of them. Item : To my partners that ventured with me and were my servants and party-venturers in the East-land trade, namely, to Thomas Hodlow and Edward Lewis, six hundred pounds apiece, if they accept of it for their part, and declare themselves willing thereunto within three months after the publishing of this my Will, or else to have their several equal one-eighth part of the clear profits of the trade aforesaid, from the time that I promised the same, till the amount for the same
.
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
shall be perfected, which is to be done by their help and endeavors. Item : I do desire and entreat Mr. William Corbine to assist my wife aforesaid, whom I make sole executor of this my last Will and Testa- ment, to get in my estate, and to see my debts paid and my Will per- formed.
Given as my act, last Will, and Testament, this 9th day of Novem- ber, 1640. MATHEW CRADOCK.
Witness hereto : Edward Lewis, William Alney, Richard Howell.
Entered and recorded the 12th of February, 1642, by THOMAS DANFORTH,
Recorder.
After his death, a part of his farm in Medford was sold to Mr. Ed. Collins, who pays to Mrs. Cradock £120, to Samuel Cradock and Sons £100, and to Damaris Cradock and her husband £230. The condition attached to his be- quest to his niece, Miss Dorothy Sawyer, is proof that he had a wise-judging wife, and that his wife had a provident husband.
There has been some question as to the time of Mr. Cradock's death. We have the following record to show that he died in 1641. In the obituary of Richard Smith, . published by the Camden Society in 1849, this item ap- pears : -
" Mathew Cradock, merchant, one of the members of Parliament for ye city of London, died May 27th, 1641."
This seems in harmony with other facts ; for in 1641 deeds are found from his agent, and in the next year from his executor.
The estate of Mr. Cradock was disposed of after his death ; and some account of the various transactions in connection therewith will be interesting to the reader, and help to a correct idea of the magnitude of his planta- tion.
Mr. Cradock's widow, Rebecca, married Richard Glover, who, March 1, 1644, rented to Edward Collins one-half of his land "in Medford in New England ;" viz., " houses, edifices, buildings, barns, stables, out-houses, lands, tene- ments, meadows, pastures, findings, woods, highways, prof- its, commodities, and appurtenances."
Mr. Cradock's widow married her third husband, Rev. Benjamin Whitchcot, D.D., in 1652. Damaris, Mr. Cra- dock's daughter, married Thomas Andrews, leather-seller, of London. Samuel his brother was clerk of Thistleton,
57
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
and had three sons. By instruments dated June 2 and Sept. 6, 1652, they quit-claim to Mr. Collins "all that messuage, farm, or plantation, called Meadford in New England " by them owned.
Aug. 20, 1656 : Mr. Collins, after residing twelve years on his farm in Medford, sells to Richard Russell of Charlestown sixteen hundred acres of it, with his man- sion-house and other buildings. This tract was bounded by Mystic River on the south, by Charlestown line on the north, by trees standing near a brook on the west, and by the farms of Nowell and others on the east. "Collins covenants to save Russell harmless from all claims from the heirs of Cradock, unto whom the said plantation was first granted " by the court. No specification is given of the number of "cattle" or of "tenements." Mr. Collins deeded other portions of his farm to other parties ; but we need not follow that transaction.
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