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 45
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The existence of fire-departments in our wooden cities and towns is indispensable; but we think they have not been wisely organized or properly sustained. They should be considered as insurance-offices, and supported by a premium- tax on all property. All the officers, without exception, should be chosen by the selectmen, and be paid propor- tionably, as are officers of fire-insurance companies ; and, like such officers, should be laid under bonds. Each fireman should be appointed by the selectmen, and so paid as to secure the strongest and best principled men. Their connec- tion with the fire-department should be a mark of respectabi- lity, and a proof of good character. Their prompt attendance on the alarm of fire should be rewarded by distinction, and their unnecessary absence be punished by the heaviest fines.
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
There should be no lounging-rooms and no public suppers furnished them ; but all the motives should be so arranged, that each fireman would hear the alarm-bell only with sor- row. A department thus organized would bear just propor- tion to the vast interests at stake; it would be the cheapest in the end ; and it would allow every citizen to go to rest at night without troublesome suspicions.
If each town should resolve itself into a mutual fire-insurance company, and make each building pay annually its propor- tionate premium towards a cumulative fund, it might secure that general and positive interest in the fire-department which it so much needs.
We have great pleasure in learning that the fire-department of Medford is furnished with officers of reliable character, of good judgment, and prompt energy ; and with firemen who have in times past done honor to themselves; who will, in times to come, show themselves equal to the severest emer- gencies, and continue to deserve the grateful esteem of their fellow-citizens.
Expenses of the fire-department, from Feb. 15, 1854, to Feb. 15, 1855, $2,046.04.
The engines in use at the present time are : -
Names.
Places.
When bought.
Builders.
Cost.
GOVERNOR BROOKS, NO. 1 GENERAL JACKSON, No. 2 WASHINGTON, . No. 3
Union St. High St. Park St.
March, 1840
1845 May 31, 1850
Hunneman & Co. Hunneman & Co. Hunneman & Co.
$1007 800 I100
The number of men attached to each engine averages about forty-five. The salary of each officer and fireman per annum is six dollars, and poll-tax refunded. The hook-and- ladder apparatus has twenty-five men attached to it.
March 7, 1847: The town voted to pay each fireman five dollars per annum.
During 1854, the department was called out nine times to fires in town ; the loss of property estimated at $17,500.
SOCIETIES.
The strong tendency among us for consociated action makes it easy to form societies for special objects. Medford has its
1
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SOCIETIES.
full share ; and they are sometimes general, sometimes local, and sometimes confined to parish limits. Sewing-circles, charitable associations, literary unions, religious brotherhoods, and such like, are silent yet powerful agencies for the grati- fication of the social instincts, for the acquisition of know- ledge, the cultivation of taste, the improvement of manners, and the progress of religion ; but especially for relieving the necessitous, comforting the sick, and providing for the young.
The Order of the Sons of Temperance. - Mystic Division, No. 20, of Massachusetts. This branch of a widely extended and benevolent fraternity was organized Oct. 5, 1853, and already numbers over thirty members. The first office, of W. P., has a new occupant every three months. The gentle- men who have held it are S. D. Poole, J. M. Usher, Benja- min H. Samson, William A. Sanborn, John Brown, and Richard G. Pinkham. A public installation of officers was had in the Town Hall, April 11, 1854, when delegations from other branches were present ; and a supper afterwards made members and friends of both sexes happy. Fidelis ad urnam.
Mount Hermon Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. - Last year, a few Freemasons, who were wont to attend the meetings of Hiram Lodge, West Cambridge, determined to establish a lodge in Medford, so that they might enjoy the pleasures of Masonry nearer home. Hearing of their deter- mination, others of their brethren in Medford united with them in petitioning the Grand Lodge of the State to grant them the requisite authority for assembling as a legal lodge. A dispensation was granted ; and, the proper time of proba- tion having nearly elapsed, they will soon (in September, 1855) receive a charter, which will confirm them in the rights and privileges of a regularly constituted lodge. The original petitioners were Messrs. George Hervey, John T. White, E. G. Currell, C. E. Merrill, Cleopas B. Johnson, William Crook, Dr. Samuel Kidder,, A. H. Gardner, Elisha Stetson, James Ford, and T. R. Peck. The lodge is now in a flou- rishing condition, and has every prospect of further success and extended usefulness under its efficient organization, which is as follows : --
Worshipful George Hervey, Master. Elisha Stetson, Senior Warden. E. G. Currell, Junior Warden. C. B. Johnson, Senior Deacon. C. E. Merrill, Junior Deacon.
Hiram Southworth, Treasurer. S. C. Lawrence, Secretary. Lewis Keen, Senior Steward. S. W. Sanborn, Junior Steward. James Ford, Tyler.
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
Medford Salt-marsh Corporation. - June 21, 1803: On this day, an act of incorporation was passed by the General Court, by which the proprietors of a tract of salt marsh, in Medford, were authorized to make and maintain a dike and fence for the better security and improvement of said marsh. Its bounds are thus described : -
" Situate in the easterly part of said Medford, beginning at Mal- den line, and running westerly by the land of Andrew Hall, Joseph Wheelwright, and Simeon Holt, to the brick landing-place on Mystic River, and otherways bounded by said river, comprising all the marsh within said bounds. And the said corporation shall have power to erect and make a dike, of sufficient height and width, on the north bounds of said marsh, beginning at Malden line, and run- ning westward by the land of said Andrew Hall and others, so far as a dike may be found necessary."
The act contains the usual provisions for choosing officers, assessing taxes, and regulating payments." The company was organized, and a fence built, the proprietors paying each his proportion. The town assessed taxes upon the corporation ; and, Feb. 4, 1822, the town's tax was one hundred and fifty- seven dollars and seven cents. The corporation is bound to support the fences and dike, and can compel any proprietor to pay his share.
CHAPTER XV.
HISTORICAL ITEMS.
July 28, 1629. - Mr. Joseph Bradshaw was present this day, as one of the assistants, at the sitting of the court in London.
1630. - The fleet that brought over Governor Winthrop and the first settlers of Medford was nautically organized. The history says, " Articles of consortship were drawn between the captain and mariners : The Arbella to be the admiral ; the Talbot to be the vice-admiral; the Ambrose, the rear-admiral." The Arbella was named in honor of Mrs. Johnson, the wife of one of the "five undertakers in London."
Aug. 23, 1630. - " Ordered that no person shall use or take away any boat or canoe without leave from the owner thereof, on pain of fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court."
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HISTORICAL ITEMS.
Aug. 23, 1630. - " It was ordered that carpenters, joiners, brick- layers, sawyers, thatchers, shall not take above 2s. a day ; nor any man shall give more, under pain of 10s. to taker and giver; and that sawers shall not take above 4s. 6d. the hundred for boards, at six score the hundred, if they have their wood felled and squared for them ; and not above 5s. 6d. if they fell and square their wood themselves."
Feb. 7, 1632. - On this day, Governor Winthrop, Mr. Nowell, and others, crossed our ford in Medford, and travelled on an explor- ing expedition towards the north-east, and came " to a very great pond, having in the midst an island of about one acre, and very thick with trees of pine and beech ; and the pond had divers small rocks standing up here and there in it, which they therefore called Spot Pond. They went all about it on the ice."
1633. - Puritans : Neal says, " Hardly a vessel came into these ports but was erowded with passengers for New England."
July 2, 1633. - " It is ordered that no person sell either wine or strong water without leave from the governor or deputy-governor ; and no man shall give any strong water to any Indian." 1638. - " Wine shall not be sold by innholders ; but they may brew the beer they sell."
Oct. 1, 1633. - Thanksgiving-day appointed by the General Court, -the first on record. It was as follows : " In regard to the many and extraordinary mercies which the Lord hath been pleased to vouchsafe of late to this plantation, - viz., a plentiful harvest, ships safely arrived with persons of special use and quality, &c., - it is ordered that Wednesday, 16th of this present month, shall be kept as a day of public thanksgiving through the several plantations."
1635. - A wharf, made by large trees laid crosswise, was built on the bank of Malden River, opposite the Wellington Farm ; and a cartway led from it to the first house built in Medford.
March 28, 1636. - Governor Winthrop, writing to his son, says, " This morning, I went to Ten Hills with your mother and your wife, to have seen Goodman Bushnell. We are all in good health ; and I praise God for it. Your wife and mother, and all of us, salute you and your good company. The Lord bless and prosper you. Farewell, my good son."
Oct. 28, 1636. - " It is ordered that the freemen of every town shall, from time to time, as occasion shall require, agree amongst themselves about the prices and rates of any town, whether work- men, laborer, or servant."
1636. - " Buying provisions and victuals to sell again is forbid- den, unless leave be obtained of the governor."
Nov. 20, 1637 .- " Ordered that no person shall sell any cakes or buns, either in the markets, or victualling houses, or elsewhere, upon pain of 10s. fine; provided that this order shall not extend to such cakes as shall be made for any burial or marriage, or such like special occasion."
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
Dec. 4, 1638. - Three persons having been drowned, at Charles- town Ferry, by the careless upsetting of a canoe, the court " ordered that no canoe should be used at any ferry, upon pain of £5; nor should any canoe be built in our jurisdiction before the next Gene- ral Court, upon pain of £10."
Sept. 9, 1639. -. Registration of births, marriages, and deaths, expressly required ; and to be sent annually to the court.
1640. - Matthew Cradock was a member of Parliament from London.
June 2, 1641. - " The bounds for Charlestown Village (Woburn) are to be set out by Captain Cooke, Mr. Holliocke, and Mr. John Oliver, the contents of four mile square."
Mr. Carter, the first minister of Woburn, was ordained 1642, when seventy-seven ministers had been ordained in New England.
1642. - Confederation against the Indians recommended by the General Court.
May 10, 1643. - The General Court appointed a committee to lay out a road from Cambridge to Woburn.
1643. - Middlesex was the first to recommend and adopt the division of territory into counties.
Mr. Edward Collins was chosen by Cambridge a representative in the General Court ; but he did not attend. They required him to give reasons for his neglect, or pay twenty shillings.
1644. - Medford was called to mourn the death of its founder, Matthew Cradock, Esq. ; and, in 1649, lost a friend and neighbor, in the death of Governor Winthrop.
1644. - It was customary with the early settlers in Medford to attend public worship in the neighboring towns when they had no preaching within their own plantation. On a sabbath, in the year 1644, when it was a serious loss to have " the go-to-meeting-bonnet" injured, the following semi-tragic scene occurred near Mystic Bridge. We give the narrative in the words of Governor Winthrop ("Jour- nal," vol. ii. p. 161) : "One Dalkin and his wife, dwelling near Meadford, coming from Cambridge, where they had spent their sabbatlı, and being to pass over the river at a ford, the tide not being fallen enough, the husband adventured over, and, finding it too deep, persuaded his wife to stay a while; but, it raining very sore, she would needs adventure over, and was carried away with the stream past her depth. Her husband, not daring to go help her, cried out ; and thereupon his dog, being at his house near by, came forth, and, seeing something in the water, swam to her; and she caught hold of the dog's tail : so he drew her to the shore, and saved her life." If, at this time, it was flood-tide in Medford, there can be no doubt that marital chivalry was at a very low ebb. We related this hair-breadth escape to a lady of Medford, who instantly exclaimed, " I would have thrown my inhuman husband into the river, and then married the human dog !"
March 4, 1645. - " Whereas complaint hath been made to this
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HISTORICAL ITEMS.
court, that divers persons within this jurisdiction do usually absent themselves from church meetings upon the Lord's day, power is therefore given to any two assistants to hear and censure, either by fine or imprisonment (at their discretion), all misdemeanors of that kind committed by any inhabitant within this jurisdiction, provided they exceed not the fine of five shillings for one offence."
1645. - Something may be guessed concerning the state of things among the early settlers, when " a man walks on snow-shoes five miles to buy a bushel of corn, carries it on his back to mill, and thence home."
May 6, 1646. - The General Court forbid all persons taking any tobacco within five miles of any house.
1647. - The sum of fifty pounds, and, in 1649, the additional sum of fifty pounds, given, by the will of Mathew Cradock, Esq., to the poor of St. Swithen's, are acknowledged as having been received, and entered in the " Vellum Book," Oct. 17, 1651. These sums were laid out in building shops against the church-wall.
1647. - Charlestown's " part of Mistick Wear was granted as an allowance for the town school for ever."
1647. - The General Court invite the Synod to draw up "a confession of faith."
Nov. 11, 1647. - Medford was under the following law : Ordered that no lover shall seek the hand of his chosen one till he has asked permission of her parents. Penalty for the first offence, £5; for the second, £10; and for the third, imprisonment. According to this, courting, in those days, must have been a very dangerous busi- ness.
The " Cambridge Platform" adopted 1648; and the church at Malden gathered the same year.
Oct. 18, 1648. - The coopers united in a company, and received from the General Court an act of incorporation.
May 2, 1649. - The General Court say, "Upon the petition of Mistick-side men, they are granted to be a distinct town, and the name thereof to be called Mauldon."
1649. - The Middlesex County Records before this date are lost.
1649. - " Horses must be registered in a book kept in each town."
In a neighboring town, church troubles ran so high, in 1650, that they were obliged to call in the civil authorities.
1650. - " Goodman " and "goodwife" were common appella- tions. "Mr." was applied only to persons of distinction. "Esquire " was seldom used: it was esteemed above that of "reverend." Mr. Josias Plaistowe took corn from the Indians. The General Court ordered him to return the corn, and pay a fine; and " hereafter to be called by the name of Josias, and not Mr., as formerly he used to be."
1657. - The name of Jonathan Wade first appears on the records
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
of the registry of deeds in Middlesex County, June 11, 1657. Its next occurrence, May 20, 1662.
1670. - Some Indian children were brought up in our English families, and afterwards became idle and intemperate. A gentle- man asked the Indian father why this was so. He answered, "Tucks will be tucks, for all old hen be hatch 'em."
1673. - Population of New England, 120,000. Of these, 16,000 could bear arms. Boston liad 1,500 families. In 1760, New England had 500,000 inhabitants, and 530 Congregational churches.
1673. - An author says, " At this time, there was not a house in New England which had more than twenty rooms. There were five hundred persons worth each three thousand pounds. The worst cottages were lofted."
February, 1674. - The earliest record of town-meetings in Medford, which has escaped destruction, bears the above date.
Before 1676, there were but few settlements more than twenty miles from the Atlantic coast.
1679. - "The court decide that it is not lawful for a man to marry his former wife's sister." There is no good reason for this ; but it would have been wise to have forbidden first-cousins to marry each other.
Apparitions and haunted houses. The belief in them was very common for the first hundred years of our history ; and it was a faith full of efficacy to puzzle men and frighten children.
1690. - The delusions of witchcraft never penetrated Medford. (See Mr. Turell's narrative.)
In 1690, Medford chose a sealer of weights and measures.
The " oath of fidelity " was often taken in Medford during the first century. It differed from the "freeman oath."
1697. - " Isaac Royal, merchant, of Boston, was married, by Benjamin Wadsworth, July 1, 1697, to Elizabeth, only child of Asaph Eliot, of Boston."
Hon. Isaac Royal chosen moderator of a town-meeting, - the first mention of his name on the records (about 1755).
May 3, 1697. - Voted to pay the representative eighteen-pence per day during his service in the General Court.
1699. - John Bradstreet, of Medford, descendant of Governor Bradstreet, son of Simon, married his cousin, Mercy Wade, of Med- ford, Oct. 9, 1699. Their children were Dudley, born Oct. 26, 1701, married Sarah Pierce, Aug. 18, 1724; Ann, born July 7, 1704; Lucy, born May 30, 1706; and Patience, born Feb. 13, 1712. Sarah married Rev. John Tufts, of Newbury, who was born in Medford.
Our ancestors generally assembled in town-meeting at six o'clock, A.M., during the warm weather.
Nov. 26, 1700. - " The above town-meeting was adjourned to the sixth day of December next, to meet at the house of Stephen Willis, sen., about sun-setting."
483
HISTORICAL ITEMS.
1700. - Meeting-house in Medford so cold that men struck their feet together, and children gathered around their mothers' foot- stoves.
1700. - At this time, "black dogs" were put into the con- tribution-box in Medford. A silver coin bore this nickname.
1700. - Elders and messengers. These titles were used in let- ters missive, till the beginning of this century, to designate the pastors and delegates invited to assist in the ordination of mini- sters.
1700. - Charlestown voted "that all the waste land belonging to the town, on the north side of Mystic River, should be divided, and laid out equally, to every person an equal share that hath been an inhabitant of this town six years, and is twenty-one years old ; and the like share to all widows, householders, that have been six years inhabitants."
1703. - A terrific storm occurred in England. Bishop Kidder, Bishop of Bath and Wells, was killed, with his wife, by the falling of chimneys upon them while in bed in the palace at Wells. He was kinsman of the Kidders of Medford. Mrs. Samuel Kidder, now of Medford, is a descendant of Rev. John Rogers, the martyr.
In 1712, a day-laborer in Medford was allowed two shillings ; for a team, one day, five shillings.
The Rev. Aaron Porter's signature may be seen in the town- records, under date of May 15 and Aug. 20, 1717.
June 12, 1717. - There was a hearing before the council con- cerning the question, whether Cambridge or Charlestown should be the shire-town of Middlesex County. Judge Sewall says, " Mr. Auchmuty pleaded very well for Charlestown. His discourse was very well worth hearing. Mr. Remington alleged and proved for Cambridge very pertinately and fully. It was decided for Cam- bridge on the 13th." Then eame the question of concurrence before the House of Deputies. It was a close vote. The judge says, " Could not tell by lifting up the hands: were fain to divide the house. They for Cambridge went to the north side; they for Charlestown, to the south. Cambridge had forty-six; Charlestown, forty-one."
1718. - Ruth Albree, daughter of John Albree, afterwards the mother of John Brooks, was baptized May 4, 1718, and was taken into church Jan. 24, 1743.
May 12, 1718. - " Put to vote, whether persons hiring any per- sons, or leasing out tenements, in Medford, may be obliged to acquaint the selectmen therewith, or liable to some fine. Voted in the negative."
1720. - Tea began to be used in Medford.
1721. - Medford voted to turn the road away from a house while the smallpox was in that house.
Aug. 14, 1721. - " Sundry inhabitants on the north side of Mys- tic River, who desired to be set off from Charlestown to Malden,"
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
were refused their petition by Charlestown. From the earliest times, there seems to have been a strong desire to break away from Charlestown. At first, it was the largest town in the Colony ; but town after town has been severed from it, till now it is the smallest territorial town in the State !
In the graveyard at Malden, we find the following: -
" Here lies buried the body of Capt. Peter Tufts, who died Sept. 20, 1721, aged 73 years.
" Also the body of Mrs. Mercy Tufts, wife of Capt. Peter Tufts, who died June 18, 1715, aged 48 years.
" Mercy, daughter of Seaborn Cotton, was born Nov. 3, 1666. She married Captain Peter Tufts, of Medford. Her grandfather was Rev. John Cotton, of England, a very distinguished divine." Dr. Simon Tufts, of Medford, was the youngest son of Peter and Mercy Tufts.
1727. - Mr. Thomas Seccomb left valuable records, in manu- script, containing a notice of every clergyman who preached in Medford, and all the texts preached from, between 1727 and 1774; also a record of all baptisms and all contributions.
Book No 1 begins Sept. 3, 1727 ; and ends June 1, 1736. 2 Feb. 28, 1745. June 20, 1736; "
3 March 3, 1745; ,, Dec. 3, 1767.
„ 4 " Dec. 20, 1767 ;
May 1, 1774.
In the second meeting-house, 5,134 sermons were preached, and 1,218 persons baptized.
Oct. 29, 1727. - The great earthquake occurred on this day (Sunday) ; and the selectmen of Medford appointed the next Wednesday, Nov. 2, to be observed as a day of fasting and humilia- tion on that account.
September, 1729. - The Yankee habit of using a jack-knife on all occasions and in all places seems to have given our town some trouble; for at this time they resolve, by a public vote, to prose- cute those persons who have cut the seats of the new meeting- house.
Feb. 17, 1731. - Mr. Turell says in his record, " Married, stand- ing together, William Watson and Abigail Hall." Was this the first time he had seen a couple so placed ?
Sept. 12, 1731. - Rev. John Seccomb preached in Medford.
1735. - Sampson, a negro slave, was sorely frightened by a wild bear and cub, which he met in the woods, near Governor Cradock's house. In a rock on the north-east border of Medford, near the corner of Melrose, is a deep excavation, called Bear's Den.
Oct. 8, 1738. - Governor Belcher attended meeting in Medford, Sunday. Rev. Mr. Turell preached.
Rev. Joshua Tufts preached in Medford, Aug. 24, 1740.
A species of very destructive worm appeared in July, 1743. They destroyed both grass and corn. Mr. Turell preached, July 3, on the event, from Lam. iii. 39, and Ezek. xviii. 25.
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HISTORICAL ITEMS.
1744. - A long-tailed comet, of unusual brightness, frightened some of our people more than Mr. Whitefield had ; but a wag here said, " that he thought it the most profitable itinerant preacher and friendly new-light that had yet appeared."
1745. - Medford voted thus : Any person who allows his dog to go into the meeting-house on Sunday shall pay ten shillings (old tenor) for each offence.
1749. - Some idea of travelling expenses may be obtained from the acts of the town relative to their farm on the Piscataqua River. They wished to sell the farm for two thousand pounds (old tenor) ; and therefore chose Lieutenant Stephen Hall, jun., and Captain Samuel Brooks, to go to Portsmouth, N.H., and settle some claims pertaining to the land ; and they voted forty pounds (old tenor) to be given them, to bear the expenses of the journey.
Robert Burns is a name that frequently occurs in the Medford records about the middle of the eighteenth century.
1750. - The various spelling of proper names by the different town-clerks of Medford sometimes makes it difficult to determine how families spelled their own names.
1750. - A gallows and a whipping-post stood near Porter's ta- vern, in Cambridge; and this gave rise to the schoolboy strophe : -
" Cambridge is a famous town, Both for wit and knowledge: Some they whip, and some they hang, And some they send to college."
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