USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Medford > History of the town of Medford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement, in 1630, to the present time, 1855 > Part 12
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March 13, 1848 : Voted to give the Selectmen one hundred dollars per annum for their services.
The petition of certain inhabitants of Medford, Woburn, and West Cambridge, to be set off from their several towns, and to be united in a new town, named Winchester, called forth the following vote of the town of Medford : -
March 4, 1850: "Voted that the Selectmen be instructed to oppose the petition of E. S. Parker and others of South Woburn, to set off a part of Medford to a proposed new town."
Strenuous efforts were made to defeat the petition, but without success. Some inhabitants of Medford, who would be included in the new town, opposed this separation from their old friends. The act of separation and the act for the incorporation of Winchester were passed together, April 30, 1850. The act defines the bounds of Winchester, but does not state what territory was taken from each of the old towns, out of which the new town is made. The regulations and conditions respecting debts, paupers, congressional districts, &c., were made, which usually accompany such acts. Thus Medford lost a large tract of excellent land, and became separated territorially from many long-cherished and valuable friends.
The last record of town-officers, elected at the annual March meeting, which we can insert, is that of 1850; and it is as follows : -
117
EXPENSES.
John Sparrell, Moderator. Jos. P. Hall, Town-clerk.
Eleazer Davis,
James O. Curtis,
Willard Butters, Field Drivers.
Chas. Caldwell, Selectmen.
Thos. Gillard,
Timothy Cotting,
Pyam Cushing,
George W. Porter, Treasurer.
Peter C. Hall, Fence Viewers.
Horatio A. Smith,
Nathan W. Wait,
Samuel Joyce,
Assessors.
John T. White,
Henry Withington,
Amos Hemphill,
John T. White,
Overseers of the Poor.
Henry H. Jacquith, Pound Keeper.
Alex. Gregg,
John Sparrell, G. T. Goodwin, 1
Timothy Cotting,
Jas. O. Curtis, A. Hutchens,
Horatio A. Smith,
J. T. Foster,
R. E. Ells,
Benj. R. Teel,
E. Stetson,
HI. Taylor,
Hosea Ballon, 2d,
¿ School Committee.
S. Lapham,
B. R. Teel,
J. M. Sanford,
0. Joyce,
E. Waterman,
Chas. S. Jacobs,
J. Stetson,
J. Sanborn,
Alex. Gregg, Surveyor of Highways.
J. Taylor,
T. T. Fowler,
John T. White,
P. Curtis,
J. Clapp,
Elisha Tolman,
Constables.
P. Cushing,
B. H. Samson,
Amos Hemphill,
E. Hayden,
EXPENSES.
The first book kept by the Treasurer is lost. From the second, which begins in 1729, and others of later date, the following items of expenses are taken. The modern modes of book-keeping were not known to our fathers. There were sometimes two or three rates made in a year, varying from £20 to £200. The money collected by the Constable was paid into the treasury ; but the accounts of the Treasurer were not examined until a new Treasurer was chosen. Then a Committee was appointed to examine the accounts, and transfer the books. A natural consequence of such book- keeping was, that the accounts of one year ran into those of the next; and, thus mixed up, the items of several years were summed up in one footing. After 1775, more regular- ity obtained. Another fact should be noticed in the follow- ing accounts, -the bewildering depreciation in the value of money. For fluctuations in the currency, see the tables.
Samuel Brooks, Treasurer from 1729 to 1732. Old Tenor.
Amount paid for town-expenses, 3 years . £1,446 9 1
Ebenezer Brooks, Treasurer from 1735 to 1743. Amount paid for town-expenses, 8 years . Benjamin Parker, Treasurer from 1743 to 1749. Amount paid for town-expenses, 6 years .
2,265 0 7
4,886 10 1
Surveyors of Lumber.
J. Loring, C. S. Jacobs,
Henry Withington,
Elbridge Teel,
Fish Committee.
Benj. R. Tecl,
John T. White, Collector of Taxes.
118
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
Aaron Hall, Treasurer from 1761 to 1767. Lawful Money. Amount paid for town-expenses $674 19 7 James Wyman, Treasurer from 1767 to 1771. Amount paid for town-expenses, 4 years . 2,162 12 2
In these four years are included the expenses of building the meeting-house, in 1769. The pews paid the greater part.
Lawful Money.
Expenses from 1771 to 1772.
£558 3 4
" " 1777 to 1778.
1,414 4 4
" " 1778 to 1779 (by tax)
3,061 18 6
Borrowed .
2,850 0 0
(Depreciated money) .
5,311 18 6
1779. Expenses (raised by tax) Borrowed
8,635
4 4
Extra expenses on account of the war
17,449
4 4
1780. Raised by tax Borrowed
5,383
7 0
(Depreciated money)
106,785
6 10
1786. March, to March, 1787
1,440 15
0
1790. Expenses of town for one year
861 5 6
1800.
$3,188.11
1810. "
" "
"
"
4,317.16
1820.
"
1830.
"
"
"
"
"
15,300.15
1840.
"
"
"
"
"
17,314.21
1845.
"
"
"
20,004.26
1850.
"
" "
"
15,186.18
Since the year 1820, all the public buildings have been erected, such as town-house, school-houses, and engine- houses. The establishment of a fire-department and the opening of new streets have swelled the recent expenses.
When the government of the United States distributed their surplus revenue among the people, the amount that came to Medford was three thousand eight hundred and seventy- eight dollars fifty-nine cents. The inhabitants voted, April 3, 1837, to receive it according to the terms of the grant, and to use it in paying the debts and expenses of the town.
It may be interesting to compare the expenses of 1818 and . 1855. They are as follows. For 1818 : -
5,348.78
5,608.93
1835.
"
8,814 0 0
. 101,401 19 10
119
MEDFORD A TOWN.
Minister's salary and grant of wood
$500.00
Poor .
1,225.46
Paid Charlestown for paupers
241.00
Roads
507.63
Schools
740.00
Abatement of taxes
258.47
Town-officers
150.00
Collecting taxes
270.00
Expenses for opposing a new road
150.00
Interest on town-debt
141.00
For injury of horse on drawbridge 50.00
Sexton, $25.00 ; Miscellaneous expenses, $94.56
119.56
$4,353.12
The expenses from Feb. 15, 1854, to Feb. 15, 1855, were as follows : -
Public schools
$7,138.82
Highways
2,031.10
Bridges
37.71
Street lamps
192.27
Poor - alms-house
3,571.86
Fire department
2,046.04
Salaries and fees
1,482.67
Miscellaneous expenses
3,123.09
Notes payable and interest paid
5,284.00
Amount of town and county taxes for 1854
. $28,726.40
Receipts and income
2,284.43
Balance in treasury
7,909.23
Town debt -1855
34,100.00
MEDFORD A TOWN.
Mr. Frothingham, in his excellent History of Charlestown, 1846 (p. 92), says : - " Medford was not a town : it was rather a manor, owned by one of the leading inhabitants of Charlestown."
We shall very good-naturedly dissent from this statement, and show cause.
We have every reason to suppose that the town-officers in Medford were like those in the adjoining plantations. Our first records speak of Selectmen, sometimes called "Seven- men," because these seven men acted as governors of the town, assessors, and referees. They were also called " Towns-
120
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
men," because they represented the whole town, and acted for the inhabitants. There was a Town-clerk, who recorded the doings of the Selectmen and the town, and also granted attachments in civil actions. There were Surveyors of high- ways, whose duty it was not only to direct the laborers, but to see that every one did his share. There was the Consta- ble, who warned public meetings, and collected the taxes.
In the town-meetings, which were always opened with prayer by a deacon or some aged member of the church, a moderator presided. Fines were imposed for non-attendance. Each one had an equal right to speak. The Court ordered, in 1641, that " every man, whether inhabitant or foreigner, free or not free, shall have liberty to prefer a petition, bring forward a motion, or make a complaint, so it be done in con- venient time, due order, and respectful manner."
The voting related mainly to making of fences, laying out of roads, regulating the pasturage of cattle, ringing the swine, killing of wolves, bears, and foxes, and assessing rates. All these acts of the assembled inhabitants imply the posses- sion of legal, civil, and political rights ; just the rights which constitute a regularly organized body-politic.
When Deputy-Governor Dudley, and those with him, came to this neighborhood, they visited several places : they named one Boston, another Charlestown, another Meadford, another Roxbury, another Watertown, and another Dorches- ter. On Wood's map of 1635, Medford is designated by the same mark as all other towns. Each of these places above named became towns; and each in the same way, by be- coming settlements ; and each claimed, and each as a town possessed, the same legal, civil, political, and municipal rights. In proof that each of them was a town, separate and distinct, and was so considered and so treated by the General Court, each one of them was taxed by the General Court as early as September 28, 1630, and each one continued to be so taxed. The Court put each one of them on the list of towns, and passed separate laws relating to each. If this does not constitute legal township, we know not what can. In these several towns, there must have been municipal laws and regulations for levying and gathering the amounts as- sessed. If either of these towns had been only an appendage to its neighbor, it would have been so considered by its inhabitants, so organized in its municipal government, and so treated by the General Court. But this was not the case
121
MEDFORD A TOWN.
with either of them. At this early period, not a foot of land in Medford was owned by any inhabitant of Charlestown. We have elsewhere shown who were the several purchasers after the death of Mr. Cradock. There is, therefore, no just warrant for considering Medford as "a manor," any more than Roxbury or Watertown. The early owners in these towns were few. Medford was never called " a manor " till 1846. In all the old histories it is called a " town," in pre- cisely the same way as Boston and Dorchester. If it was not a town after the passing of the "act" of the General Court, it is not a town now ; for it has never been incorpo- rated since. And if it was not a town then, Boston, Roxbury, Charlestown, Dorchester, and Watertown are not towns now; for they have never been incorporated since.
It was called a " plantation," as other places were, because this was a common name adopted by the Company in Lon- don, and very naturally transferred here. The name ex- pressed the actual condition and incipient history of each town. It was sometimes, in the books, called Mistick, after the name of its river. It was sometimes called " Mr. Cra- dock's Farm," because that gentleman had introduced farm- ers to cultivate its lands, had impaled a park, had erected houses, built ships, and carried on an extensive fishery. He owned so large a part of the tract, and was so rich and dis- tinguished, that it would have been strange if his name had not attached to it. We have wondered why it has not always been called by his name.
The " celebrated Rev. James Noyes " became the pastor and teacher of the inhabitants of Medford in 1634. If hav- ing a Christian minister, resident and laboring in a town, completed the idea of township in those days, then Medford surely had every thing required in the definition.
Let us now look at the earliest records of Medford, and see what they prove. The first twenty-five or thirty pages of the first book of records are unfortunately lost, probably from carelessness about loose and decayed sheets. The next thirty pages are broken out of their places, and may be soon lost. We find the first records, which are preserved, noting down methodically, after the manner of those days, the usual doings of a legal town-meeting. No one can examine the old book, and not see that there was uniformity in the Town- clerk's records. It is most clear that the earliest records which are preserved are the regular continuation of the
16
122
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
earlier ones which are lost. And what do we find in the oldest records ? We find the Selectmen calling the annual town-meeting, in His Majesty's name, to choose the usual officers for the regulation of town-affairs, &c. The town speaks of itself as a town, taxes itself as a town, petitions the General Court as a town, and makes its laws like other towns ; and never is there the slightest hint that Medford is " not a town, but rather a manor." In the early and tedious controversy about the Mystic Bridge, its neighbors treated with it as a town ; its inhabitants took the oath of fidelity, and its municipal organization conformed, to the laws of the Colony.
The author of the History of Charlestown says of Medford, that "the town, in 1638, commenced a suit, &c." Here Medford is called a town, in 1638, by Mr. F. himself, and is represented by him as acting in its corporate capacity in a legal process before the Quarter Court. If it had been only a " manor," its lord or owner would have been its sovereign ; and all its town-action, above described, could never have taken place.
The same inference follows if we turn to the acts of the General Court. From 1630, the Court considered Medford a town, and treated it accordingly ; and, when the inhabitants petitioned for an act of incorporation, the Legislature sent them the following reply : that " the town had been incorpo- rated, along with the other towns of the Province, by a general " act," passed in 1630 ; and, under this act, it had at any time a right to organize itself and choose a representa- tive without further legislation." Here the highest authority of the Colony solemnly and emphatically declares Medford to be a town, a regularly incorporated town, by the same " act " as that for Boston, Charlestown, Watertown, Roxbury, and Dorchester. Thus Medford had been, from 1630, an in- corporated town, possessing all the civil, political, and muni- cipal rights consequent on that " act."
Mr. Frothingham says : " All printed authorities speak of Medford as a town, and date its incorporation in 1630; but this appears to be an error." We are content to follow, in this matter, " all printed authorities," and the decision of the Legis- ature, and leave the novel supposition of 1846 to stand alone.
Medford was called a peculiar town, but its peculiarity did not consist in being stripped of its political rights and corpo- rate organizations ; for, in the very enactment which calls it "peculiar," the General Court say it shall " have power, as
123
CAUSES OF PROSPERITY.
other towns, as to prudentials." If it had rights " as other towns," and was treated by the Legislature " as other towns," in what did its peculiarity consist ? This question is easily answered. Its peculiarity consisted in having the major part of its territory owned by one gentleman, and he a resident in London. Mr. Cradock, the strongest and wealthiest friend of the Colony, had this grant of land in partial remuneration for his great outlays for the Company. He was sometimes excused from taxes. Here was another peculiarity, but no withdrawal or relinquishment of vested rights. This fact rendered town-laws more important. It required very strong and peculiar laws to regulate the fishermen, coopers, ship- carpenters, and farmers, whom Mr. Cradock had established here. Such laws could not be enforced except by a proper civil authority; and such authority every thing proves to have existed.
Mr. Cradock's grants were not made till 1634-5; but Medford was taxed, " as other towns," in 1630. Here, there- fore, were four or five years in which it acted as an incorpo- rated town before Mr. Cradock came into possession of his grant. During those four or five years, it could not have been a " manor ; " but, at that time, it became a town ; which character it has possessed to this day unbroken, and which character was stamped upon it, "by a general act " of the government in 1630, and now remains in force.
CAUSES OF PROSPERITY.
After the English Parliament had assembled in 1640, the persecutions of the Puritans were stopped. Deep policy suggested this change of affairs in England ; and a conse- quence was, that emigration to New England ceased, and was not renewed with any spirit till 1773. New England, there- fore, was peopled by the descendants of those who emigrated between 1620 and 1640; and this fact we would mention as the first cause of prosperity. God sifted the kingdoms of the Old World that he might find wheat sufficiently good to plant in the virgin soil of the New ; and, when planted, he kept it to himself, a chosen seed, till it should spread, and fill the land. ,
Another cause of prosperity to New England was found in the institution of families. Eacli family was a unit, a
124
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
state, a church ; and the father was both patriarch and priest. In these free and Christian families arose that intelligent and stubborn enterprise which could turn a wilderness into a garden, and barbarism into civilization. These families, un- fettered and individualized, were happy to unite with all around them for the surer attainment of their common end. One principle sanctified all hearts, one aim employed all hands. Here the motto was true, E pluribus unum ; " distinct like the billows, but one like the sea."
The establishment of free schools was another most power- ful cause of prosperity to New England. This original idea had potency enough to work out the highest results of pri- vate and social good; the profoundest problems of life, government, and religion. It began in the right way, at the right place ; it put the lever where it could move the world. Free churches became the continuation of free schools ; taking up the process of instruction just where the schools had left. it. Religion gave to learning its proper polarity. What would New England have been without its churches ?- a plantation without a sun.
Another cause of prosperity was the independence of towns. Each municipality felt itself to be sovereign in the ordering of its own affairs, while it was a recognized part of the body politic. A town, like an individual, must have the habit of self-government. It cannot be ruled by the militia, but only by the combined wisdom of the whole population. While a general government is almost wholly employed in averting evil, a town possesses the power of doing positive good. When our New-England towns levied taxes, opened roads, gathered a militia, founded schools, and supported churches, they did thereby manage the great interests of the colony, and in one sense became national legislatures.
Another cause of prosperity was the absence of the taxes, tolls, fees, restrictions, and monopolies of Old England. Here a man could do what he pleased in lawful work and trade, and could do as much as he wished. Here he could work at two or ten trades, if he was able. This was New- England free trade.
Another cause of prosperity, consequent in some measure on the two last noticed, was the small number of laws made by the General Court. Society here had not reached that complicated state in which powerful political parties, fierce sectional jealousies, and conflicting moneyed aristocracies, so
.
CAUSES OF PROSPERITY. 125
often make legislation interminable, contradictory, and decep- tive. The diamond-cut-diamond system, now in such terrible activity among us, was not known to our fathers. Their laws were only the republication of those few general principles of justice and humanity which are easily gathered from the sacred pages. Such legislation, while the most simple, was the most effective and the least changeable.
Another cause of prosperity was the poverty of the soil, and the severity of the winter. Agriculture was the chief business and main support of society ; and to make the earth produce in six months sufficient food for twelve required an ingenuity of mind, a force of will, and a strength of muscle, which is synonymous with intellectual and moral greatness. If we would produce athletic frames, creative minds, and brave hearts, let the soil be light and thin. Our primitive granite soil produces the true granite men ; and one of them here in Medford can do as much as three Cubans under the line. The stern necessities, which grew out of the soil and climate of New England, became schoolmasters, teaching our fathers the highest lessons of intelligence, watchfulness, per- severence, and economy.
" Man is the noblest growth our realms supply, And souls are ripened in our northern sky."
If we wish to see a race that need not think, cannot plan, and will not work, we have only to find those who have every thing done for them. We therefore conclude that what has been called the " hard lot " of the New Englander has been the making of him.
The causes of prosperity, so briefly noticed above, are introduced that we may here say, that each one of them has been brought to bear, in its true relation and natural force, upon the town of Medford, which is at this moment enjoying the distinguished benefits. With Medford before us, we conclude by saying, that these elements of growth have pro- duced, throughout New England, a remarkable activity of mind and body, a general diffusion of knowledge, an indomi- table perseverance of will, social and civil order, self-forget- ful patriotism, domestic love, and religious enthusiasm. These effects have, in their turn, become causes ; and the glorious results are extensive wealth, great moral influence, elevated Christian character, and solid happiness.
" Surely the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, and God hath given to us a goodly heritage."
1
126
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
1
CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN.
Jonathan Wade. 1676.
Benjamin Willis
1744.
Nathaniel Wade John Hall
1678.
Samuel Brooks .
1745.
1679.
Benjamin Willis
1746.
Nathaniel Wade
1681.
Jonathan Watson
1749.
Jonathan Wade.
1683.
Samuel Brooks .
1750.
Thomas Willis .
1684.
Isaac Royal
1755.
Nathaniel Wade
1685.
Zachariah Poole
1762.
John Hall
1689.
Isaac Royal
1763.
Nathaniel Wade John Hall
1693.
Isaac Royal
1765.
Nathaniel Wade
1694.
Benjamin Hall
1773.
Jonathan Tufts .
1695.
Willis Hall
1785.
Nathaniel Wade
1696.
Thomas Brooks .
1788.
Peter Tufts .
1698.
Willis Hall
1789.
Nathaniel Wade
1699.
Ebenezer Hall
1790.
Peter Tufts .
1700.
Richard Hall
1794.
Nathaniel Wade
1703.
John Brooks .
1796.
Peter Tufts
1705.
Ebenezer Hall
1798.
Nathaniel Wade Stephen Francis Stephen Willis John Francis
1707.
Caleb Brooks
1804.
1708.
Jonathan Porter
1808.
Nathan Waite
1810.
Ebenezer Brooks John Bradshaw . John Whitmore
1712.
Jeduthan Richardson
1821.
Thomas Willis
1713.
Nathan Adams .
1822.
Stephen Willis
1714.
Turell Tufts .
1823.
Jonathan Tufts .
1715.
Joseph Swan
1826.
Samuel Wade
1717.
Dudley Hall .
1827.
Thomas Tufts
1718.
Turell Tufts .
1828.
John Bradshaw Jonathan Tufts.
1721.
John B. Fitch 1830.
John Bradshaw .
1722.
John King
1831.
Thomas Tufts
1723.
John Symmes, jun.
1832.
Ebenezer Brooks
1724.
Thomas R. Peck 1834.
Galen James 1836.
726.
James O. Curtis
1837.
Stephen Hall
1730.
Galen James
1838.
Thomas Hall
732.
Lewis Richardson
1839.
John Hall
1733.
Thomas R. Peck 1840.
Stephen Hall
1734.
Alexander Gregg
1841.
John Willis.
1736.
Timothy Cotting
1844.
John Hall
1737.
Alexander Gregg
1845.
Benjamin Willis
1738.
Henry Withington
1847.
John Hall
1739.
Peter C. Hall 1849.
Benjamin Willis
1740.
James O. Curtis 1850.
Simon Tufts .
1742.
Peter C. Hall
1853.
John Hall
1743.
Benjamin H. Samson
1855.
NAMES OF THE TREASURERS.
Stephen Willis
1696. -
John Whitmore
1714.
John Bradstreet
1700.
William Willis .
1725.
Samuel Wade
1709.
- John Richardson
1727.
1709.
1710.
Nathaniel Hall
1812.
1711.
Luther Stearns .
1813.
1719.
John Howe .
1829.
John Bradshaw .
1725.
Ebenezer Brooks
1706.
John Brooks .
803.
1690.
Stephen Hall
1764.
127
GOVERNOR BROOKS.
Edward Brooks .
1728.
Jonathan Porter
1790.
Samuel Brooks
1729.
Isaac Warren . .
1793.
Stephen Hall
1733.
Samuel Buel
1794.
Edward Brooks .
1735.
John Bishop .
1798.
Benjamin Parker
1743.
Joseph P. Hall
1804.
Edward Brooks .
1750.
Joseph Manning
1808.
Thomas Brooks .
1756.
William Rogers
1823.
Aaron Hall .
1761.
Henry Portere
1825.
Thomas Brooks .
1763.
Turell Tufts .
1827.
James Wyman
1767.
Timothy Cotting
1836.
Jonathan Patten
1778.
George W. Porter
1837.
Richard Hall
1786.
NAMES OF THE TOWN-CLERKS.
J. Wade
1674.
Andrew Hall
1792.
Stephen Willis
1675.
Nathaniel Hall .
1794.
John Bradstreet
1701.
Samuel Swan
1796.
Stephen Willis
1708.
Nathaniel Hall . 1797.
Thomas Tufts
1718.
Luther Stearns
1803.
William Willis .
1719.
Nathaniel Hall
1806.
Benjamin Willis
1721.
Abner Bartlett .
1810.
William Willis
1726.
Jonathan Porter Abner Bartlett
1820.
Benjamin Willis
1730.
William Rogers Abner Bartlett .
1827.
Thomas Seccomb
1745.
Willis Hall.
1767.
William D. Fitch
1834.
Richard Hall
1770.
Oliver Blake
1836.
Beujamin Hall, jun.
1783.
Joseph P. Hall .
846.
GOVERNOR BROOKS.
1819.
Ebenezer Brooks, jun.
1728.
1826.
I would close this account of the civil history of Medford with a biographical notice of our most distinguished civilian ; and, lest the bias of a life-long veneration, or the pride of near blood relationship, should tempt me to eulogies beyond desert, I have judged it most proper to take the account given by Dr. John Dixwell, of Boston, Vice-President of the Massachusetts Medical Society, who knew him well :-
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