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 38
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The charter allowed assessments to be laid, from time to time, until the works should be completed, and all the debts of the corpo- ration fully and justly paid. One hundred assessments were laid : the first on the first day of January, 1794; the last on the first day of September, 1817; amounting, with interest added to Feb. 1, 1819 (the date of first dividend), to fourteen hundred and fifty-five dollars and twenty-five cents on each share ; making the whole cost of the canal eleven hundred and sixty-four thousand two hundred dollars. There have been paid in dividends, from the year 1819 to the present
.
398
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
year (1843), five hundred and four dollars on each share (averaging $20.16 per annum) ; an interest on the cost of about one and thirty- nine one-hundredths of one per cent per annum. From the year 1819 to the time the Lowell Railroad went into operation, the re- ceipts regularly increased, so that the dividends arose from ten to thirty dollars per share; and no doubt, in a few years, without com- petition, they would have given a handsome interest on the original cost. The year that road went into full operation, the receipts of the canal were reduced one-third : when the Nashmua and Lowell Road went into operation, they were reduced another third. Those of the last year and the present will not be sufficient to cover the expenditures for repairs and current expenses. The future has but a gloomy prospect. For the past twenty years, and during the time I have had the management of the canal, I can truly say, the directors have spared no pains or expense in keeping it in perfect order for use; and the public have derived great advantage from this water communication, in the transportation of timber (for ship- building) and other heavy lumber, as well as wood and merchan- dise generally. The inventions and ingenuity of man are ever onward; and a new, cheap, and more expeditious mode of trans- portation by steam-power has been devised, which seems destined to destroy that which was once considered invulnerable. What is to be done? Improvements in mechanics and the arts will go on, while man has mind. If the canal cannot put out the fire of the locomotive, it may be made to stop the ravages of that element in the city of Boston, should the proprietors, after mature considera- tion, deem it for their interest so to devote it. The canal was brought into existence by the aid and assistance of the Legislature ; and by their power it has received a hard blow. There is yet vitality ; and the same power that created and has nearly destroyed it can resuscitate and give to it a valuable existence for the future. I trust, upon a respectful and proper representation of the condi- tion of your interests as they exist at the present time, and the past great exertions of the proprietors to serve the public faithfully, together with the immense sacrifices that have been made, the Legis- lature will be disposed to view the case as one of equity, and ren- der every aid in their power to preserve and make it more valuable than heretofore. I know of but one way in which the canal can be of much value to the public, and those who now hold an interest therein ; viz., by changing a part of it from one public use to another. Discontinue the levels from the Charles River to Woburn upper locks, and from Billerica Mills to the Merrimac River; in the whole, a distance of over fourteen miles. The remaining part, from the Concord River to Woburn upper locks, may then be used as an aqueduct, similar to those in France and other European countries. From Woburn, the water may be conveyed in thirty-inch iron pipes, for the supply of the city of Boston, the towns of Charlestown, and East Cambridge."
399
MIDDLESEX CANAL.
In another part of the "Sketch," the author thus touches on that vexed subject, -indemnity for damages arising from the construction of rival public accommodation : -
" The construction of the Middlesex Canal was a heavy undertak- ing to its proprietors. It was built in good faith, and has ever been conducted with a strict regard to public accommodation. When the Lowell Railroad charter was petitioned for, the proprietors of the canal respectfully remonstrated against the grant thereof, unless it should contain a provision for some reasonable indemnity to them for the injury they were doomed to sustain. I would ask if the same Legislature did not require that individuals who might sus- tain any injury whatever in their property, by reason of the acts and doings of the railroad corporation, should be indemnified ? In laying a road, by virtue of law, on or over a person's land, the fee of the land is not taken from him ; but he is deprived of obtain- ing any income from it while the road is continued over the same ; the award of the commissioners being generally the amount, or nearly so, of the property. On discontinuing the road, the property reverts to him, and he again can derive an income. Now, by granting the right of constructing a railroad by the side of the canal, the proprietors are deprived of the means of an - income. Why should they not have some reasonable remuneration ? They expended their money in purchasing lands, honorably paying all damages, and building the canal. Did the landholder do more than pay for the property which he, by the act, was deprived of getting his usual income from ? Why, then, should there not have been a provision in the act for a reasonable indemnity by the railroad or State ? There were certainly as strong grounds for it as there were for the State to pay $25,000 as an indemnity to the proprietors of the Charles River Bridge. By the grant of another charter, to another corporation, to build a new bridge, they virtually destroyed the income from the old one. The only reason set forth for so doing was that of public convenience; exactly the same which was maintained by the petitioners for the Lowell Railroad, in asking for a charter for their road. There is only one difference in the two cases. The proprietors of Charles River Bridge had received over and over again the cost of the bridge, and interest on the same ; whilst the proprietors of the canal have received but one and thirty- nine hundredths of one per cent interest on the cost, - their whole expenditure, by the unreasonable act of the Legislature, being now rendered of nominal or little value."
In 1851, it was thought best by the proprietors " to sur- render the charter, wind up the concern, sell the property, and divide the proceeds." In 1852, it was sold at auction, in sections ; and they who owned land upon its borders were, in most cases, the purchasers. The process of filling it up
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400
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
· commenced so soon, and has been prosecuted so diligently, that all traces of this full artery have, in many sections, wholly disappeared ; but we truly hope that the solid stone bridge, built by the Hon. Peter C. Brooks, to span it, and which has been for a quarter of a century a most picturesque object in the distance, will be allowed to remain in memoriam, - a gravestone to mark where the highway of waters lies buried.
Two " single locks " were found necessary in Medford, - one on the north bank of Mystic River, almost contiguous to the Lowell Railroad track, in West Medford ; and the other near the entrance of Medford Turnpike. This last was a " side lock," used for transferring ship-timber from the canal to the river.
There were benefits and pleasures incidental to the cur- rent of these waters through Medford which after-genera- tions must lose. Dry and sandy soils, contiguous to the canal, became signally fertile by its irrigations and filterings ; hedges and shrubbery on its sides became doubly beautiful. It furnished soft water to hundreds of families; it tempted the laborer and the boys to enjoy the luxury of a bath ; it invited the young of both sexes to sit and angle for perch and bream ; and it presented to the skater the smoothest ice between its sheltering banks.
RETAIL PRICES CURRENT IN MEDFORD.
(The best of each article is taken ; and the average price for the last ten years.)
Tea (green), per lb. $0.60-0.70
„ (black), "
0.40-0.45
Coffee (Java), " 0.09
0.16
Sugar (white), " 0.08
" (brown), „
Molasses, per gal. 0.37
Butter, per lb. 0.25
Milk, per qt. . 0.05
Vinegar, per gal. 0.14
Salt, per bushel 0.50
0.15
Eggs, per dozen . Flour, per barrel
8.00
Corn (northern), per bushel 0.85
„ (southern), "
0.80
Rye (northern), "
1.00
401
CURRENCY.
Oats (northern), per bushel
$0.50
Rice, per lb.
Potatoes, per bushel
Turnips,
"
0.75
Onions, "
0.50
Beets, "
2.00
Apples, per barrel
. 0.10-0.20
Beef, per lb.
0.10
Pork,
"
0.10
Veal, "
0.10
Mutton, " .
0.12
Turkeys „
0.12
Chickens, per Ib.
0.15
Dueks
4.00
Soap (soft), per barrel .
0.08
" (bar), per lb.
6.00
Iron, per ewt. .
10.00-12.00
Steel,
0.25
Sole-leather, per lb.
20.00
English hay, per ton
8.00
Wood (oak), per cord (pine), ,,
5.00
Charcoal, per basket
0.33
Anthracite coal, per ton
7.00
CHAPTER XI.
-
CURRENCY.
To understand the currency used by our Medford ancestors, is to understand much of their habits and customs; for the mediums of exchange and barter, whatever they be, exert a magical influence over the labors, wishes, and attachments of society. Whatever has been prescribed by legislative autho- rity, or adopted by general usage, as a medium of exchange, may be denominated currency. The substances adopted as a standard of value have been very various in different ages and countries. In ancient times, in Italy and Greece, the standard was cattle, sometimes leather ; in Europe, a silver nail, iron bars, tin plates ; in India, shells ; in Africa, bricks
51
0.05
0.40-0.50
0.30
"
402
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
and beads ; in Mexico, maize and cocoa ; in the West Indies, sugar ; in Newfoundland, dried cod; in Virginia, tobacco ; and, among the Indians, wampum.
In this last article, and in peltry, our ancestors traded much with the aboriginal inhabitants. Wampum was a belt formed of shells, black and white. "The white," says Roger Wil- liams, " were made of the stock, or stem, of the periwinkle, when all the shell is broken off; and, of this sort, six of their small beads, which they make with holes to string their bracelets, are current with the English for a penny. The second is black, inclining to blue, which is made of the shell of a fish, which some English call hens-poquahock ; and, of this sort, three make an English penny. One fathom of this, their stringed money, is worth five shillings."
To show how this shell-currency of the natives was pre- pared for ready exchange, we quote the law of Oct. 18, 1648 : -
" It is ordered, for trial till the next court, that all passable or pay- able peage henceforth shall be entire, without breaches, both the white and black, without deforming spots, suitably strung in eight known parcels, - one penny, threepence, twelvepence, five shil- lings, in white ; twopence, sixpence, two shillings and sixpence, and ten shillings, in black."
Medford paid its share towards the support of Rev. Messrs. Patricke and Underhill; and, Sept. 7, 1630, " it is ordered that Mr. Patricke and Mr. Underhill shall have allowed them, for half a year's provision, two hogsheads of meal, four bushels of malt, ten pounds of powder, and lead to make shot ; also house-room provided for them, and fifteen pounds twelve shillings in money to make other provision from the time they begin to keep house." These records show how the Pilgrims managed their currency : -
"Sir Richard Saltonstall is fined four bushels of malt, for his absence from court."
"Mr. Robert Saltonstall is fined five shillings, for presenting his petition on so small and bad a piece of paper."
" Chickataubott is fined a skin of a beaver, for shooting a swine of Sir Richard Saltonstall."
Silver was exceedingly scarce at the time Medford wa's settled ; hence the necessity of adopting some other standards of value. All accounts were kept in the pounds, shillings, pence, and farthings of the mother country. For more than
403
CURRENCY.
half a century, the law of Oct. 18, 1631, was in active opera- tion here. That law was as follows : -
" It is ordered that corn shall pass for payment of all debts, at the usual rate it is sold for, except money or beaver be expressly named."
Oct. 3, 1633 : " It is agreed that the best sort of laborers shall not take above eighteen-pence a day, if they diet themselves; and not above eightpence a day, if they have diet found them. Further, it is ordered that all workmen shall work the whole day, allowing convenient time for food and rest."
Nov. 8, 1633 : "Ordered that no persons shall sell to any of the inhabitants within this jurisdiction any provision, clothing, tools, or" other commodities, above the rate of fourpence in a shilling more than the same cost, or might be bought for ready money, in Eng- land."
Sept. 3, 1634: " No person that keeps an ordinary shall take above sixpence a meal for a person ; and not above one penny for an ale-quart of beer, out of meal-time."
March 4, 1635 : " Ordered that musket-bullets, of a full bore, shall pass currently for a farthing apiece, provided that no man be compelled to take above twelvepence at a time of them."
The legal premium allowed for the loan of currency was eight per cent, and so continued for a short time after the second charter. These facts and laws reveal to us the every- day calculations, and many of the social habits, of our Medford ancestors ; and, in the absence of town-records, serve as authentic data from which we can write the history of their cares and labors, their sacrifices and prosperity. They found it difficult to pay the wages of their workmen and servants. Even such men as Governor Winthrop were hard pressed in this way. He illustrates the severities of the common lot in these words : -
" I may report a passage between one Rowley and his servant. The master, being forced to sell a pair of his oxen to pay his ser- vant his wages, told his servant he could keep him no longer, not knowing how to pay him next year. The servant answered him, he could serve him for more of his cattle. But what shall I do (saith the master) when all my cattle are gone? The servant replied, ' You shall then serve me ; and so you may have your cattle again.'"
It was natural enough that such extremities as these should awaken the public mind to some modes of permanent relief ; and they did suggest the establishment of a mint at Boston. May 31, 1652: The General Court ordered, that, " from and
404
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
after the Ist of September next, and no longer, the money hereafter appointed and expressed shall be the current money of this Commonwealth, and no other, unless English (except the receivers consent thereunto)." Thus 1652 saw our fathers coining money without the consent of the king, to whom alone belonged the constitutional right of so doing.
The building erected for the mint was sixteen feet square and ten feet high. Such an edifice surely could not deserve the sneer of that adage, " Twelve pence laid out on the purse, and only six in it."
One effect of introducing a New-England coinage was to change the custom of computing in Old-England currency ; for, in the London market, the American coin sank at a rate of one-quarter below theirs.
The device on the die was as follows : " A double ring on either side, with this inscription, Massachusetts, and a tree in the centre, on the one side ; and New England, and the year of our Lord, on the other side." This was called the " pine- tree currency ; " and it was in use for more than a hundred years. The pine-tree was a favorite emblem with our fathers. It expressed to them something un-English, and something durable. When independence was declared, Massachusetts (April 11, 1776) put it on her State flag, and fought the battle of Bunker Hill under its ancestral encou- ragements. It gave place only to the thirteen stripes.
When Thomas Temple, Esq., went to London, in May, 1662, and was introduced to the king, he presented his majesty with specimens of our coins. Seeing a tree on one of them, Charles inquired, " What sort of a tree is that ?" Mr. Temple immediately replied, "It is the royal oak, which preserved your majesty's life." The answer conciliated the unbotanical king, and induced him to grant Mr. Temple what he asked.
The mint was suppressed by James II. ; and thereupon, in 1686, our Massachusetts patriots began to move in the establishment of a bank; and, on Sept. 18 of that year, President Dudley and council granted liberty to certain directors "to issue bills, on security of real and personal estate." These continued but three years. Dec. 10, 1690, the General Court established a provincial bank, and issued paper-money to the amount of seven thousand pounds, in bills from five shillings to five pounds. This paper-currency con- tinued in use till 1750. These paper-bills, soon after their
405
CURRENCY.
issue, fell in value at least one-third. The government tried to remedy this evil by allowing five per cent advance on the specie and par value of the bills in all public payments. This restored them to par for about twenty years. They were called " old charter bills." June 8, 1693, the General Court changed the rate of interest from eight per cent to six.
So common had become the vicious habit of clipping gold and silver money, that the government issued a proclamation, March 3, 1705, " that no money shall pass by tale but what is of due weight." Almost every family had a pair of scales to weigh the gold and silver they took.
The two crusades against Canada, about this time, forced the colonies to issue " bills of credit," to pay the soldiers. These lost credit, and somewhat depreciated ; and here was another embarrassment suffered by our fathers. December, 1724, Judge Sewall says, " The diminution of the value of the bills of public credit is the cause of much oppression in the Province." Colden says (1728), "Our paper-currency has gradually lost its credit, so as at present sixteen shillings is but sufficient to purchase an ounce of silver." Governor Belcher says (1733), " Sixteen shillings in these bills will not pur- chase five shillings lawful money."
Lawful money, as distinguished from old tenor, is first mentioned in the Medford records, May 17, 1750. The town voted, May 21, 1751, to give Mr. Turell, as salary for that year, £73. 6s. 8d. (lawful money), which was equal to £550 (old tenor). In 1754, voted to give him £80 (lawful money ), which was equal to €600 (old tenor).
In 1761, £10 were equal to £75 old tenor, £24 to £180, and £80 to £600.
It is not easy, in our day of plenty and power, to estimate those perplexities and fears. of our fathers which came from an empty treasury, a defenceless country, and an embarrassed trade. To show how very slowly they must have gathered money, we give a table of prices of such productions as were taken for rates at the treasury. Good merchantable beef, £3 a barrel; do. pork, £5.10s .; winter wheat, 8s. ; summer, 7s. ; barley, 6s .; rye, 6s .; Indian corn, 4s .; oats, 2s. 6d. a bushel. Flax, 1s. 4d. ; hemp, 9d. ; beeswax, 2s. 6d. a pound. Peas, clear of bugs, 9s. a bushel. Sweet firkin butter, 12d. a pound. Merchantable dry codfish, £1. 10s. a quintal. Mackerel, £1. 10s. ; oil, £2. 10s. a barrel. Whalebone, six
406
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
feet long and upward, 3s. 6d. ; bayberry-wax, 1s. 4d. a pound. Turpentine, full bound, 13s. ; merchantable bar-iron, 48s. ; cast-iron pots and kettles, 48s. a hundred. Well-cured to- bacco, 4d. ; good tried tallow, 8d. a pound.
We can but faintly conceive the embarrassments which our ancestors here must have encountered from the fluctuat- ing prices of their products ; especially when, as in 1740, there were circulating in Massachusetts public bills of four provinces, at 29s. for an ounce of silver. New tenor of Massachusetts at 6s. 8d., but current at 9s. 8d. oz. of silver. Connecticut new tenor at 8s., and Rhode Island new tenor at 6s. 9d. Our fathers, under these circumstances, must have been good mathematicians to have understood this occult chemistry of trade.
July 30, 1781 : Medford voted "to raise £100 in specie, in lieu of the £400 raised on the 29th of June last." This would seem to imply that £100 specie was worth £400 of New-England money. Aug. 20, 1781: "Voted to raise £450 hard money, instead of the £1,300 paper money, voted in May last."
It is not necessary to trace further the currency of the Province, or to show the effects of the issue of " continental money," or the " sword-in-hand " money, of 1775, or the influ- ence of the Stamp Act, and the subsequent oppressions of the crown upon the trade, comfort, or hopes of our fathers. The currency of the country, from its settlement to the present time, pertains as much to the town of Medford as to any other town. It makes part and parcel of its history. It influenced every family's labor, and shaped the town's laws. May 12, 1791, the town voted to sell the " old continental money " then in the treasury for the most they could get for it. We have given these details, that our readers may see how the fathers and mothers, the brothers and sisters, of the olden time were obliged to think, calculate, and act, in their pecu- niary intercourse with their neighbors and public function- aries. Trading and shopping then were very different ope- rations from what they are now. The word pay was used to denote whatever was employed as currency or medium of exchange. Suppose a farmer went to buy a pair of oxen, how would the colloquy proceed ? Somewhat thus : - Neighbor A .: " I want to buy your two-year-old steers : what do you ask for them ?" "I will sell ; but what's your pay ?" An- swer : " Flax at 1s. 4d., butter at 12d., winter wheat at 8s.,
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407
CURRENCY.
and the rest in paper at 17s. per ounce of silver." This is satisfactory ; and so they trade. A dialogue between two merchants, in the purchase of a ship, would be something like this : - Mr. S. : " What will you take for your bark ' Co- lumbus '?" Mr. T. : " You know that depends on the pay." Mr. S. : " My pay is, double-johns at £4. 16s., moidores at 36s., pistoles at 22s., the rest in old-tenor bills at the rate of 45s. for 6s. of specie, and middle tenors at 11s. 3d. for 6s." Mr. T .: " Well, that's all right ; and you may have her for £237,-pay down." So the bargain closes. When a boy went to buy a penknife, whose cash price was 12d., the following conversation ensued : - Boy : " I want a good pen- knife, sir." Shopkeeper : " Is your pay ready ?" " Yes, sir." " What is it?" "It's pay." "Well, then, the price is 24d." The boy then asks, " What will it be in pay as money ?" Answer : " 16d." " What will it be in hard
money ? " " 12d." If a young lady went to purchase a dress, and, having looked and chosen, she asked the price, she was answered by the usual question, " What's your pay ?" She answers : " Part in pillar-pieces at 6s. each, part in 'pieces-of- eight' at 4s. 6d., and the rest in cobb money at 6s. 8d. ounce."
These were every-day occurrences. What would the farm- mers and merchants, the boys and girls, of our day think, if they could not make a purchase without all this bewildering mixture of prices ?
When dollars came into common use, all calculations were simplified. The sign ($) used to express dollars was com- posed of two letters, U. S., signifying United States. The S was first written ; and then over its face the U was drawn, thus $. Our present currency consists of paper-bills of $1,000, 500, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 3, 2, 1. Gold, $40, 20, 10, 5, 3, 22, 1. Silver, $1, 50c., 25, 10, 5, 3. Copper, one cent.
We take leave of the currency of our ancestors which prevailed in Medford, and which has taught us so much about them, with a few lines, in which some unknown disciple of Thalia has uttered his financial joy (1750) : -
" And now, Old Tenor, fare you well ; No more such tattered rags we'll tell. Now dollars pass, and are made free ; It is a year of jubilee. Let us, therefore, good husbands be ; And good old times we soon shall sec."
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
TAXES.
The first inhabitants of Medford, bringing with them the common usage of England with respect to poll and property taxation, adopted the rules which they had followed in their native country. The records of our Colonial General Courts, under Governor Endicott, before the arrival of Governor Winthrop, are lost, and therefore the rates of taxation from 1628 to 1633 cannot be ascertained; yet they may be pre- sumed from the subsequent rates which were soon after established with respect to church and state expenses. The first rule enacted by the Legislature was in 1646. This was twenty-pence a poll, and one penny on a pound, for the State. Sterling was the currency till 1652, when the "pine-tree " coin, called New England currency, was introduced. This new coin was six shillings and eightpence less than the English pound sterling, and was so made to keep it in the country.
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