USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Medford > History of the town of Medford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement in 1630 to 1855 > Part 9
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MOSSEENG. CV
Very truly AMusher
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
load and load again. And, if the country traders generally do so, our boatmen will lose a profitable part of their business. But this does not give us much concern, provided we can prevent the bridge at Penny Ferry. I scribbled a very long letter to Judge Phillips upon this subject last week; and he told me to-day that it is circulating among the members of the Court. I have kept a copy, and will send it to you in a few days. At present, I may possibly want it to show to some whom I may perhaps wish to influence by it. If the facts which I have produced do not carry conviction, and overwhelm these bridge- builders with confusion, I shall think that all the world is mad, and that I and my people, with the few who have hitherto joined us, remain the only sober and rational part of this lower creation."
Chelsea Bridge, over the Mystic, was built in 1804, against very strong opposition ; and many said of it, as the wits did of the first proposition to bridge Charles River, that " it would be next to building castles in the air."
In 1857, after a long and somewhat vexed discussion of the matter, the town entered upon the construction of two new bridges across the Mystic River, -one at a point south-east of the Weir Bridge, and connecting Medford with Arlington ; the other forming part of the roadway be- tween Purchase and South Streets. The building of these bridges involved the laying-out and construction of new roads; and, though entailing a considerable expense, the highways thus opened have contributed much to the con- venience of public travel and to the development of the town.
Naming the Bridges. - In the warrant for the town- meeting held March 9, 1857, Art. 23 related to naming the bridges across Mystic River, and, after due consid- eration of the matter; it was voted that the old bridge in the centre of the town, near the square, be called "Cradock Bridge;" and that the new bridge, connecting High Street with South Street, be called "Winthrop Bridge;" also that the new bridge at West Medford, con- necting Medford with West Cambridge, be called " Usher's Bridge."
Bridge over Boston and Lowell Railroad. - The select- men, in their report, February, 1869, say, -
" The bridge over the Boston and Lowell Railroad, at Medford Steps (now Medford Hillside), has been rebuilt the past year in a substantial manner.
" This bridge was originally eighteen feet wide; but, when the com- missioners made it a county-way, they ordered it to be made wider by seven feet.
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" The railroad company contended that they were not liable for any of the expense in making the bridge wider; but, after considerable controversy, it was agreed that the town should assume that expense, in consideration of an agreement by the railroad company, that there- after the said company would be holden to repair, maintain, and rebuild the bridge as long as it should be needed for their conven- ience."
The report further says that, -
" The new road and bridge, from Pearl Street to Somerville, has been completed, and accepted by the county commissioners, and they recommend that the street be called College Street."
Their report was accepted, and the street was so named. Feb. 1, 1871, the selectmen report as follows : -
" By a vote of the town, we have petitioned the General Court for authority to bridge Mystic River near the foot of Auburn Street. The petition is now in the hands of the committee on harbors."
July 1, 1873, the selectmen reported that the Auburn- street Bridge had been built at an expense of $961.4I.
They also reported that the Boston-avenue Bridge had been constructed at a cost of $2,146.12, and that half of that amount had been paid by the city of Somerville.
Middlesex Avenue. - For several years prior to 1872 the east part of the town was earnest in its efforts to secure a road and bridge from Wellington across Malden River, and thence over Malden Bridge to Boston. The Legislature had granted the right to bridge either the Malden or the Mystic, as the county commissioners should judge best for the public good; and the commissioners had, after protracted hearings, decided to bridge the Mystic near Ten-hill Farm. They then ordered Medford to build the road within its limits, Somerville to build that part of it within its boundaries, and the county to build the bridge. They further ordered that the street should be made thirty feet wide, but it was afterwards changed to sixty feet.
The selectmen of Medford contracted with James W. Perry to build the road in Medford, to the bridge, for the sum of $26,351. It was completed in 1873.
This avenue connects Medford and Somerville, and shortens the distance to Boston, for those who live on this route, from one to three miles. The cost of the work exceeded by a small sum the amount of the con- tract.
RESIDENCE OF THATCHER MAGOUN, 2d.
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After the Middlesex-avenue Bridge was built by the county, it devolved on Medford and Somerville to keep it in repair. This road and bridge have been a large ex- pense to the town; but they were a public necessity, and are such a convenience to a large number of our citizens as cannot be estimated.
Indians. - The early history of all settlements in America was largely influenced by the presence of the aboriginal tribes ; and the facts and traditions which have come down to us touching them, and their relations with the whites, are full of strange and poetic interest.
Two large and powerful tribes held sway in this region when our fathers landed, -the Massachusetts and the Pawtuckets.
The renowned sachem of the Pawtuckets was Nane- pashemit, who took up his abode on the Mystic River in 1615, and was killed there three or four years later. He was the father of Sagamore John of the Mystic, Sagamore James of Lynn, and Sagamore George of Salem. George finally filled the place of his father, and was sachem of the Pawtuckets. During the residence of Nanepashemit in Medford, his lodge was on Rock Hill, where he could best watch the approach of his enemies. The chief enemies of the Massachusetts and the Pawtuckets were the Tarratines, on the Penobscot, who at the time of harvest would come in their canoes, and reap the fields of their inveterate foes. On one occasion, one hundred of them attacked Sagamores John and James by night, and killed several of their men.
Winslow gives the following account of the residence of Nanepashemit, and his place of burial. He says (Sept. 21, 1621), -
" We went ashore, all but two men, and marched in arms up in the country. Having gone three miles, we came to a place where corn had been newly gathered, a house pulled down, and the people gone. A mile from hence, Nanepashemit their king, in his lifetime, had lived. His house was not like others; but a scaffold was largely built, with poles and planks, some six foot from the ground, and the house upon that, being situated on the top of a hill. Not far from hence, in a bottom, we came to a fort built by their deceased king, the manner thus : There were poles some thirty or forty feet long stuck in the ground as thick as they could be set, one by another; and with them they enclosed a ring some forty or fifty feet over : a trench, breast-high, was digged on each side; one way there was to go into it with a bridge. In the midst of this palisado stood the frame of a house, wherein, being dead, he lay buried. About a mile from hence we came to such an-
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other, but scated on the top of a hill. Here Nanepashemit was killed, none dwelling in it since the time of his death."
It is estimated, that, on the arrival of the English, there were about twenty thousand Indians within fifty miles of Plymouth. Their government was rather patriarchal than monarchical. Several hundreds, united under one head, made a family ; and their head was called Sagamore. When several families were united under one head, that head was called Sachem. The territory for many miles round Mystic River was owned and occupied by small tribes or detachments, each having its own head. Medford and some of the adjoining territory belonged to Sagamore John, whose Indian name was Monohagnaham, and who was friendly to our ancestors. The Naumkeags owned the ter- ritory from North River in Salem, to Charles River, and their numbers were computed at six thousand. Hubbard says, -
"Near the mouth of Charles River, there used to be the general rendezvous of all the Indians, both on the north and south side of the country. It was the seat of the great sachem, who was much venerated by all the plantations of Indians. At Mistick was the seat of a saga- more, near adjoining which is a great creek that meets with the mouth of Charles River, and so makes the haven of Boston."
Sagamore John was friendly to white men, gave our fathers permission to settle, and afterwards apprised them of premeditated attacks by unfriendly Indians. He died in 1633; and his last hours are thus described in " New Eng- land's First-Fruits," -
" Sagamore John, Prince of Massaquesers, was from our very first landing more courteous, ingenuous, and, to the English, more loving, than others of them. He desired to learn and speak our language, and loved to imitate us in our behavior and apparel, and began to hearken after our God and his ways, and would much commend Englishmen and their God, saying, ' Much good men, much good God ; ' and being convinced that our condition and ways were better far than theirs, did resolve and promise to leave the Indians, and come live with us, but yet, kept down by the fears and scoffs of the Indians, had not power to make good his purpose: yet went on, not without some trouble of mind and secret plucks of conscience, as the sequel declares ; for, being struck with death, fearfully cried out of himself that he had not come to live with us to have known our God better. 'But now,' said he, 'I must die. The God of the English is much angry with me, and will destroy me. Ah! I was afraid of the scoffs of the wicked Indians. Yet my child shall live with the English, and learn to know their God, when I am dead. I will give him to Mr. Wilson : he is much good man, and much love me.' So sent for Mr. Wilson to come to him, and committed his only child to his care, and so died."
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The records of Charlestown say, -
" About the months of April or May, A.D. 1630, there was a great design of the Indians, from the Narragansetts and all round about us to the eastward, in all parts, to cut off the English, which John Saga- more (who always loved the English) revealed to the inhabitants of this town."
Such threats as these induced Mr. Cradock's men to build brick houses, which would answer the uses of forts. For this reason, Charlestown this year "erected a small fort on the top of Town Hill." The women helped the men to dig and build.
Although the Indians were a constant source of anxiety to the colonists of Massachusetts Bay, they were less for- midable in respect to numbers than they would have been a few years previous to the settlement.
Gosnold, who was at Cape Cod in 1602, says, "This coast is very full of people." Capt. Smith, who was here in 1614, says it " was well inhabited with many people." Sir Ferdi- nando Gorges adds, " At our first discovery of those coasts we found it very populous, the inhabitants stout and war- like." Speaking of the Massachusetts, Capt. Smith observes, -
" For their trade and merchandise, to each of their principal families or habitations, they have divers towns and people belonging, and by their relations and descriptions more than twenty several habitations. It is the paradise of all those parts ; for here are many isles planted with corn, groves, mulberries, savage gardens, and good harbors. The seacoast, as you pass, shows you all along large cornfields."
This picture of Indian prosperity, which would seem to be somewhat highly colored, was almost wholly effaced by the terrible plague of 1617 and 1618. Morton says of it, -
" They died in heaps as they lay in their houses ; and the living, that were able to shift for themselves, would run away and let them die, and let their carcasses lie above the ground without burial. And the bones and skulls upon the several places of their habitations made such a spectacle, that it seemed to me a new-found Golgotha."
Dermer, who was at Cape Cod in 1619, says, -
" I passed along the coast, where I found some eminent plantations, not long since populous, now utterly void. In another place a rem- nant remains, but not free from sickness ; their disease, the plague."
Rev. Francis Higginson, in 1629, speaking of the Saga- mores, says, -
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"Their subjects, above twelve years since, were swept away by a great and grievous plague that was amongst them; so that there are very few left to inhabit the country."
Gookin says, -
"I'have discoursed with some old Indians that were then youths (in the time of the plague), who say that the bodies all over were exceedingly yellow, describing it by a yellow garment they showed me, both before they died and afterwards."
Gov. Dudley, in 1631, the year after the first settlers came to Medford, says, -
" Upon the River Mistick is situated Sagamore John; and upon the River Saugus, Sagamore James, his brother. Both these brothers command not above thirty or forty men, for aught I can learn."
But the "plague," as the disease was called which proved so fatal, was soon followed by the smallpox ; and we have it from Gov. Winthrop, that in 1633 Sagamores John and James, and most of their people, died of the smallpox. Of the subjects of John, thirty were buried in one day by Mr. Maverick. The disease spread to Piscataqua, where it proved mortal to all the Indians, except two or three.
Those who survived deserted the whole region where the diseases prevailed. It became a dreaded locality, and Indian superstition kept it so ; for Johnson says, "The neighboring Indians did abandon those places for fear of death." Thus reduced and disheartened, it was not diffi- cult for the watchful settlers to control them. Wisdom, virtue, and valor have a natural right to govern. The strong characters of our fathers carried a magnetic influ- ence to the Indian's heart. He saw that they had intelli- gence to plan, courage to persevere, and power to execute ; and the natural consequence was submission. But it was not the rule of tyrants on the one hand, and the subjection of slaves on the other. It was the friendly influence of Christian missionaries among heathen, for whose conver- sion they labored and prayed. Gov. Cradock, in the earliest days of the settlement, wrote to his people, saying, -
" If any part of the savages pretend right of inheritance to all or any part of the lands granted in our patent, we pray you endeavor to purchase their title, that we may avoid the least scruple of intrusion."
But although our Medford ancestors took every pre- caution to conciliate their copper-colored neighbors, and although hostilities did not commence between the settlers
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and the natives till Philip's War, nevertheless the chiefs felt jealous of the whites. Of this there is as little doubt as there is that they sometimes had reason for it. The erection of forts in this plantation, and the placing of pali- sades about their houses, testify to the apprehensions of our fathers ; and the jealousy became mutual. The Indians led lives of hunting and war, and they saw the white men banded together for trade and self-defence. What so com- mon in a savage breast as suspicion ? The English ap- peared to the Indians to be dangerous intruders ; and every new act was construed into a premeditated encroachment. Gov. Cradock wrote to his agent and servants here the second time, saying, -
"Above all, we pray you be careful that there be none in our precincts permitted to do any injury (in the least kind) to the heathen people; and, if any offend in that way, let them receive due correc- tion."
Our Medford settlers were forbidden to buy lands of the Indians without leave, and they were forbidden to sell them " strong water." We find the following record, May 9, 1632 :-
" It is agreed that there shall be a trucking-house appointed in every plantation, whither the Indians may resort to trade, to avoid their coming to several houses."
An Indian was murdered in the Old Colony ; and three Englishmen, fairly convicted, were hung for it. Sagamore John complains (March 8, 1631) that two of his wigwams had been burned by the English. He was immediately paid for them, and went away perfectly satisfied. Eliot's translation of the Sacred Scriptures into the Indian tongue (1648) was circulated by our fathers among the tribes of this region.
This saintly man speaks of "the Mistick Indians " with affection and respect in a letter, Nov. 13, 1649, and says they were ingenuous, good, and prayerful, and came often to the place where he preached. His converts were called " Praying Indians." Aug. 7, 1632 : -
"Sagamore John promised against the next year, and so ever after, to fence their corn against all kinds of cattle. Chickataubott and Sagamore John promised to make satisfaction for whatever wrong that any of their men shall do to any of the English, to their cattle, or any other wares."
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March 7, 1644: By solemn compact, all the Indians in this jurisdiction put themselves under the government and protection of the Massachusetts Colony. The General Court, with true Christian policy, instituted special legal tribunals for the trial of their causes. The laws enacted concerning them were well considered. Among them were these : Titles to land to be purchased at satisfactory prices ; Indians never to be molested ; not allowed fire- arms ; a crime to sell them fire-arms or ammunition ; inter- marriage with them discouraged ; strange Indians to be kept out. Gov. Winslow, in a letter dated May 1, 1676, says, -
" I think I can clearly say that the English did not possess one foot of land in this Colony but what was fairly obtained by honest purchase of the Indian proprietors."
In 1698 there were more than four thousand Indians in Massachusetts, and there were enough of them in this vicinity to keep our fathers wide awake. For a long time it was common to go armed to the ploughing-field. And Mac Fingal, in his way, gives us the following account of those days, -
"For once, for fear of Indian-beating, Our grandsires bore their guns to meeting. Each man equipped, on Sunday morn, With psalm-book, shot, and powder-horn, And looked in form, as all must grant, Like the ancient true church militant ; Or fierce, like modern deep divines, Who fight with quills, like porcupines."
A few facts which have come down to us concerning the Indians who dwelt in this neighborhood will be of interest.
After the death of Nanepashemit, his wife, as Queen and Squa Sachem, reigned. She married Webcowit, the physician of the tribe, its "powwow, priest, sorcerer, and chirurgeon." In 1637 the Squa Sachem deeded a tract of land in Musketaquid (Concord). In 1639 she deeded a tract to Charlestown, which is now in Somerville, also another tract to Jotham Gibbon of Boston. This last- named deed, to which reference was made in our first chapter, read as follows : -
" This testifies, that I the Sachem, which have right and possession of the ground which I reserved from Charlestown and Cambridge,
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which fies against the Ponds of Misticke with the said ponds, I do freely give to Jotham Gibbon, his heyres, executors, and assigns for- ever ; not willing to have him or his disturbed in the said gift after my death. And this I do without seeking too of him or any of his, but I receiving many kindnesses of them, and willing to acknowledge their many kindnesses by this small gift to their son, Jotham Gibbons.
" Witness my hand, the 13th of 11mo., 1636.
" The SQUA SACHEM € marke.
" WEBECOWIT O marke.
" Witness, EDMUND QUINCY."
Aug. 1, 1637 : -
" Squa Sachem and Webber Cowet did acknowledge in court that they had received of Mr. Gibbins, for the town of Charlestown, 36s. for the land between Charlestown and Wenotomies River, which they acknowledge themselves to be satisfied for."
Another grant, by the "Squa Sachem of Mistick," of lands bordering on Medford, is as follows : -
" The 15th of the 2d mo., 1639: Wee, Web-Cowet, and Squa Sachem do sell unto the inhabitants of the towne of Charlestowne all the land within the line granted them by the Court (excepting the farmes and the ground on the west of the two great ponds, called Misticke Ponds), from the south side of Mr. Nowell's lott, neere the upper end of the ponds, unto the little runnet that cometh from Capt. Cook's mills, which the Squa reserveth to their use for her life, for the Indians to plant and hunt upon ; and the weare above the ponds they also reserve for the Indians to fish at whiles the Squa liveth; and, after the death of Squa Sachem, she doth leave all her lands, from Mr. Mayhue's house to neere Salem, to the present Governor, Mr. John Winthrop, sen., Mr. Increase Nowell, Mr. John Willson, Mr. Edward Gibons, to dispose of, and all Indians to depart. And, for sattisfaction from Charlestowne, wee acknowledge to have received, in full sattisfaction, twenty and one coates, ninten fathom of wampom, and three bushels of corn. In wit- ness whereof, we have here unto sett o'r hands the day and year above named.
" The mark of SQUA SACHEM, m'c.
" The mark of WEB-COWET, m."
This queen died in Medford before 1662, as appears from the following documents in the second volume of Middle- sex Registry of Deeds.
" Mr. Francis Norton and Nicholas Davison (Mr. Cradock's agent) do, in the name of the inhabitants of Charlestown, lay claim to the tract of land reserved to Squa Sachem during her lifetime, and which is at present possessed and improved by Thomas Gleison of Charlestown ; this land bounded on the east by Mystic Pond, on the west by Cam- bridge Common, on the south by the land of Mr. Cooke, on the north formerly in the possession of Mr. Increase Nowell.
" This demand and claim was made in the person of John Fennell
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and Mr. William Sims, the 25th of March, 1662, at the house of Thomas Gleison.
" Entered 29th of March, 1662, by T. DANFORTH. " Signed : "JOHN FENNELL. "WM. SIMMES."
Remnants of the Indian tribes were common till the beginning of the present century. Those who lived in Medford had their habitations in "Turkey Swamp." As late even as our day, farmers in Medford have ploughed up stone arrow-heads, stone drills, and other Indian weapons and tools. Near High Street, on the lawn in the rear of the house of the late Edward Brooks, the remains of five Indian skeletons were found in 1862. One was in per- fect condition, lying on its side, with its arms and legs drawn up, its head towards the west, and its face to the north. A stone pipe, with stem of rolled sheet-copper, the iron head of a fish-spear, a piece of iron, a stone skin- dresser or knife, the remains of a tobacco-pouch, with some tobacco, were also found with the bones. The skeleton was sent by Mr. Francis Brooks to the Museum in Cam- bridge, and its receipt was thus acknowledged by Professor Louis Agassiz : -
" I am very much obliged to you for your kind attention in bringing to Cambridge the Indian skeleton found upon your place. It is highly interesting to me, and I shall give it a place of honor in the Museum. I have already put the pieces together, and find very few bones want- ing. Should you find other Indian relics, or even other skeletons, pray preserve all. Every bone, arrow-head, pipe, and the like, is valua- ble as part of the history of a race already gone from this part of the continent."
On June 5, 1870, Mr. Marshall Symmes of Winchester, aged eighty, told Mr. Francis Brooks that his great-grand- father once saw twenty-seven lodges or wigwams on the old Bacon property, where the Abajona enters the upper pond.
The last Indian here was Hannah Shiner, a full-blood, who lived, in the early part of this century, with "Old Toney," a worthy mulatto, whose home was on the Woburn Road. Hannah was kind-hearted, a faithful friend, a sharp enemy, a judge of herbs, a weaver of baskets, and a lover of rum. Hers was the typical life of the Indian when he comes under the influences of so-called " civilization." Better notions of our duty to this long-abused race are beginning to prevail ; and we may hope that this improved
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public sentiment will secure for the unhappy remnants of tribes, once owners of this continent, protection from the greed and cruelty of the white man, and such a training for the new conditions of life which confront them, as will give them a reasonable hope for comfort and happiness. Congress might well devote some of the attention it gives to legislation for the material interests of the country (interests which are generally best cared for when they are most let alone) to a just understanding of the nation's obligations to a people who are its wards, who have been the hapless victims of its growth and progress, and who, on this account alone, have the strongest claims to magnani- mous consideration.
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