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 5
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42
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
bridge on the south side of the river. After the death of Mr. Russell, his heirs sold three hundred and fifty acres to Mr. Peter Tufts. The deed is dated April 20, 1677. This tract is now the most thickly settled part of Medford.
The names of early settlers are found in their deeds of land. Oct. 20, 1656: James Garrett, captain of the ship " Hope," sells, for £5, to Edward Collins, " forty acres of land on the north side of Mistick River, butting on Mistick Pond on the west."
March 13, 1657: Samuel Adams sells "to Ed. Collins forty acres of land ; bounded on the east by Zachariah Sym- mes, south by Meadford Farm, on the south and west by James Garrett." Paid £10.
Ed. Collins sells to Edward Michelson five and a half acres on the highway to the " oyster-bank " and "long meadow."
March 13, 1675 : Caleb Hobart sells to Ed. Collins, " for £660, five hundred acres in Meadford, now in possession of Thomas Shepherd, Daniel Markham, Thomas Willows, (Willis) ; bounded by Charlestown northerly, Mistick River southerly, Mr. Wade's land easterly, and Brooks's and Wheeler's lands westerly."
March 29, 1675 : Ed. Collins sells " a piece of land to Daniel Markham ; bounded by the river on the south, by Joshua Brooks on the west and north, and by Caleb Hub- bard on the east."
Jan. 3, 1676 : Ed. Collins sells thirty acres of land to George Blanchard. Ed. Collins was now seventy-three years old.
The " Blanchard Farm " was a large one, and is frequently mentioned in the records.
Mr. Nicholas Davison, the mercantile agent of Mr. Cra- dock, and who lived near Mr. Wade, petitioned the General Court, in the name of Mrs. Cradock, for £676, which she said was due to her estate. The Court replied, that " the government were never concerned in Mr. Cradock's adven- ture," and therefore could not allow any such claim. An- other attempt was made in 1670, and met with a similar fate. It was not long afterwards that the General Court took into consideration the munificent " disbursement of Mr. Cradock in planting the Colony," and resolved to show their grateful estimate of his worth ; and accordingly gave his widow, then Mrs. Whitchcot, one thousand acres of land ; and they relin- quished all further rights.
43
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
1658: "In answer to a petition of the inhabitants of Mistick, the Court, Oct. 19, decided that they should have half proportion with the rest of the inhabitants of Charlestown in the commons lately divided, unless Charlestown leave the inhabitants of Mistick and their lands to Malden, and the latter accept them."
We have here the names of the first persons who purchased of Mr. Cradock's heirs ; viz., Edward Collins, Richard Russel, Jonathan Wade, and Peter Tufts. These laid out new lots and made many sales ; and, being added to the settlers already on the ground, the town may be said to have thus had two beginnings. The descendants of Mr. Tufts became the most numerous family in Medford; those of Mr. Wade were few, but rich : he came over in June, 1632. The names of Collins and Russell survived only a short period. The first bounds of lots cannot now be traced.
The Squa Sachem, residing in Medford, Aug. 1, 1637, gives lands to Jotham Gibbon, aged four, son of Ed. Gibbon. Jotham was born in 1633, and afterwards lived in Medford. For the deeds of these lands, as proofs of legal possession, see our account of "Indians."
Edward Collins, who bought so much land of Mr. Cra- dock's heirs and resided in Medford a long time, was the first specimen of a genuine land-speculator in the Massachusetts Colony. Besides his frequent purchases and sales in this neighborhood, we find him making investments elsewhere : for example, Dec. 10, 1655, he sells to Richard Champney five hundred acres in Billerica. In 1660 he sold four hundred acres for £404, in West Medford, to Thomas Brooks and Timothy Wheeler. These lands, held under the old Indian deed, have continued in possession of the Brooks family to the present day.
Jonathan Wade, who for several years paid the highest tax in Medford, bought land on the south of the river, near Mystic Bridge. Oct. 2, 1656, he bought four hundred acres of Mathew Avery, then living in Ipswich.
The purchasing of land was the most important business transacted by our early fathers. As a specimen of their keen appetite and steady perseverance, we give a list of purchases by Mr. Peter Tufts, chiefly on " Mystic Side : " --
1664, June 22. Bought of Parmelia Nowell . . 200 acres.
" commons, 24 " 1674, Sept. 28. " Benjamin Bunker . 17 cow-commons.
1
44
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
1677, April 20. Bought of Richard Russell
350
acres.
1679, Nov. 16.
"
A. Shadwell
32
"
1681, Sept. 20. "
"
S. Rowse 32
"
1682, Feb. 3. John Green
" "
Alexander Stewart 11 "
" " " 29. M. Dady 10 "
Dec. 22. "
L. Hamond . 84 "
1684, June 8. " Christopher Goodwin 16 "
"
Dec. 13. "
"
" Isaac Johnson . . 1 cow-common.
1685, June 20.
1687, April 21.
"
"
" . 4 cow-commons. · 1691, Oct. 5.
10% acres.
1694, May 17. "
"
T. Crosswell
3
10} "
1695, April 23.
">
"
J. Newell
10} "
1696, Nov. 3.
Dec. 8.
" "
John Cary (Walnut Tree Hill) 3}
"
1697, April 15.
"
" Timothy Goodwin three pieces.
May 10. " John Dexter 9 acres. "
1698, May 30.
" John Frothingham 10}
"
Nov. 25.
" John Blaney 7
Including the cow-commons, about
835 acres.
During this time, they sold as follows :
1680, Jan. 30. To S. Grove, in Malden 20 acres.
1691, Feb. 22. To Jonathan Tufts, brick-yards . 39
"
1697, Jan. 10. To Jonathan Wade, in Medford . 12} ,
Mr. Peter Tufts, born in England, 1617, was the father of the Tufts family in Medford. He died May 13, 1700, aged 83. He was buried in Malden, where his tomb may now be seen. Joseph Tufts writes thus of him : -
" But he who sleeps within this sacred grave, He felt the tyrant's sting. Deep in his soul Sublime religion breathed. The stormy wave Here placed him free, beyond a king's control."
-
"
18. ",
"
" 31.
Aug. 23. "
"
J. Phipps
W. Dady 2
83 "
1693, Aug. 20.
"
J. Lynde
" Wm. Dady . .3 cow-commons.
3 acres.
"
J. Frost .
6
" May 18. "
"
The old histories speak of "God's blessing on the endea- vors of the first twenty years. The first settlers had " houses, gardens, orchards ; and for plenty, never had the land the like ; and all these upon our own charges, no public hand reaching out any help."
John Melvin 73 "
"
45
1
MONUMENTS OF EARLY TIMES.
1640: As emigration ceased at this time, the provisions brought from England were very cheap. The fall of prices was remarkable ; and Gov. Winthrop says : " This evil was very notorious, that most men would buy as cheap as they could, and sell as dear. Corn would bring nothing ; a cow, which last year cost £20, might now be bought for four or five."
MONUMENTS OF EARLY TIMES.
That there were many defences raised against the Indians and the wild beasts, by the early settlers of Massachusetts, is most true; and that many of them were not needed is also true. Not knowing at first how many Indians there were, nor what were their feelings towards the white men; not knowing what ferocious wild beasts there were, nor what their modes of attack ; not knowing what the winters might be, nor the extent of the rainy seasons, -it was natural that an isolated, few, and defenceless people, thus situated, should take counsel of their fears, and erect more defences than were needful. That such a course was anticipated, appears from the following provision by the Company in London, passed Oct. 16, 1629: Ordered, "That, for the charge of fortifications, the Company's joint stock to bear the one half, and the planters to defray the other; viz., for ordinance, munition, powder, &c. But, for laborers in building of forts, &c., all men to be employed in an equal proportion, accord- ing to the number of men upon the plantation, and so to con- tinue until such fit and necessary works be finished."
Any plantation, disposed to build a place of retreat and defence, was authorized by the above vote to do so, and to call upon the Company to pay half the expense. Undoubt- edly, Mr. Cradock's house was so built. That forts were thought to be necessary appears from the following history of Charlestown : " 1631 : It was concluded to build a fort on the hill at Moulton's Point, and mount the six guns left by the Company last year upon the beach of this town, for defence, in case ships should come up on the back-side of Mistick River. The project was abandoned. By sounding the mouth ' of Mistick River, the channel lies so far off from Moulton's Point, towards Winnesemit side, that the erecting a fort on the hill will not reach that end."
46
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
Governor Cradock's House .- The old two-story brick house in East Medford, on Ship Street, is one of the most precious relics of antiquity in New England. That it was built by Mr. Cradock soon after the arrival of his company of carpen- ters, fishermen, and farmers, will appear from the following ' facts.
The land on which it stands was given by the General Court to Mr. Cradock. When the heirs of Mr. Cra- dock gave a deed of their property, June 2, 1652, they mentioned houses, barns, and many other buildings, but did not so specify these objects as to render them cogni- zable by us. There is no deed of this house given by any other person. There was no other person that could own it. It was on Mr. Cradock's land, and just where his busi- ness made it necessary : the conclusion, therefore, is inevitable that Mr. Cradock built it. There is every reason to believe that it was commenced early iu the spring of 1634. Clay was known to abound; and bricks were made in Salem in 1629. Mr. Cradock made such an outlay in money as showed that he intended to carry on a large business for a long time, and doubtless proposed visiting his extensive plantation. The very first necessity in such an enterprise was a sufficient house. The sooner it was finished, the better; and it was commenced as soon as the land was granted, which was March, 1634. Who, in that day, could afford to build such a house but the rich London merchant ? and would he delay doing a work which every day showed to be indispensable ? He was the only man then who had the funds to build such a house, and he was the only man who needed it. Taking all these circumstances into consideration, the inference is clear, that the " old fort," so called, was Governor Cradock's house, built in 1634. It is an invaluable historical jewel.
It has been called the "Fort " and the " Garrison House," because its walls were so thick, and because it had close out- side shutters and port-holes.
It is certainly well placed for a house of defence. It is on land slightly elevated, where no higher land or rocks could be used by enemies to assail it, and is so near the river as to allow of reinforcements from Boston. Its walls are eighteen inches thick. There were heavy iron bars across the two large arched windows, which are near the ground, in the back of the house; and there are several fire-proof closets within the building. The house stood in an open field for a
-
1 L. RAWSON DEL
GOVERNOR CRADOCK'S HOUSE.
MADFIDI MAYS
47
MONUMENTS OF EARLY TIMES.
century and a half, and could be approached only by a private road through gates. As the outside door was cased with iron, it is certain that it was intended to be fire-proof. There was one pane of glass, set in iron, placed in the back wall of the western chimney, so as to afford a sight of persons com- ing from the town.
It was probably built for retreat and defence ; but some of the reasons for calling it a fort are not conclusive. Outside shutters were in common use in England at the time above mentioned ; and so was it common to ornament houses with round or oval openings on each side of the front. These ovals are twenty inches by sixteen. Mr. Cradock's company was large, and he was very rich, and had told them to build whatever houses they needed for shelter and defence. It is probable, that, as soon as the spring opened, they began to dig the clay, which was abundant in that place ; and very soon they had their bricks ready for use. That they should build such a house as now stands where their first settlement took place, is most natural. The bricks are not English bricks either in size, color, or workmanship. They are from eight to eight and a half inches long, from four to four and a quarter inches wide, and from two and a quarter to two and three-quarters thick. They have the color of the bricks made afterwards in East Medford. They are hastily made, but very well burned. They are not like the English bricks of the Old South Church in Boston. The house has undergone few changes. Mr. Francis Shedd, who bought it about fifty years ago, found the east end so decayed and leaky that he took a part of it down and rebuilt it. There is a tradition, that in early times Indians were discovered lurking around it for several days and nights, and that a skir- mish took place between them and the white men ; but we have not been able to verify the facts or fix the date. The park impaled by Mr. Cradock probably included this house. It is undoubtedly one of the oldest buildings in the United States ; perhaps the oldest that retains its first form. It has always been in use, and, by some of its tenants, has not been honored for its age. Its walls are yet strong, and we hope it may be allowed to stand for a century to come. We wish some rich antiquarian would purchase it, restore to it its ancient appendages, and make it a depository for Medford antiquities, for an historical library, and a museum of natural curiosities. It would then be an honor to our town; be
48
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
made perhaps the scene of a noble tragedy by some gifted writer ; and, above all, it would then be a proper monument to the memory of Medford's first friend and founder.
The other old brick house, built probably about the same time and by the same persons, was not large. It stood about five hundred feet north of Ship Street, and about five hundred feet west of Park Street, opposite Mr. Magoun's ship-yard, and was taken down many years ago by that gentleman.
The third house was built by Major Jonathan Wade, who died 1689. It was sometimes called, like the other two, a " Fort," and is yet standing in good repair, and used as a comfortable residence. It is seen from the main street as we look up the "Governor's Lane." Its walls are very thick, and it is ornamented with what have been called " port-holes." When first built, it was only half its present size: the addi- tion was made by Benjamin Hall, Esq., about seventy-five years ago.
That Medford is rich in monuments of its early history is a gratifying fact, saddened only by one circumstance, which is, that we have lost our first records. We must therefore rely on our early records which are not written with ink. From Pine Hill, south-westerly, to Purchase Street, there are scattered remains of houses, now almost lost in the forest, which prove that there were living in this region many fami- lies. The cellars are, in some places, so near together as to show quite a social neighborhood. When some of the " Scotch Irish," who settled Londonderry, N. H., in 1719, became dissatisfied with that place, they came into this quar- ter ; and many of them settled in Medford. They built some of the houses, whose cellars yet remain among us, and intro- duced the foot spinning-wheel and the culture of potatoes. They were as scrupulous about bounds and limits in these wilds as they had been in Scotland ; hence the remarkable stone walls which still stand to testify to their industry. They were Scotch Presbyterians in religion ; and the Rev. Mr. Morehead, of Boston, frequently came to preach to them. Some of them migrated to the District of Maine; and there was recently living a General Jacob Auld, of that district, who was born about a mile north-east of Medford meeting- house, whose father was Irish, and left Londonderry about 1730. These people kept up many of their European cus- toms ; and tradition says, that once, when a young child died among them, they held a genuine " Irish wake ; " a conse-
-
49
MONUMENTS OF EARLY TIMES.
quence of which was so much drunkenness and fighting that the civil authorities were obliged to interpose. A few of these adventurers remained, and became good citizens ; and among their descendants we may name the Fulton, Wier, Faulkner, and McClure families. The mother of the late Mrs. Fulton was a Wier.
There was a "Pest-house," so called, erected in 1730, near the "Bower," south of Pine Hill, where remains of a cellar mark the spot, and near which three graves of those who died of the small-pox are still visible. The land was owned by John Bishop, Esq.
These oldest ruins of Medford may not be so interesting as those of Delphi or the Roman Forum ; but they serve to show that a part of our town, long since covered with wood, was formerly the abode of an industrious and thriving population.
The three brick buildings, mentioned above and called forts, having descended to us as specimens of ancestral archi- tecture, may well compare with any specimens left in the neighboring towns. They show that the style of building here was ample and strong ; which style has been fashionable ever since. The house of Col. Royal was the most expensive
Co !. Isaac Royal's House.
50
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
in Medford. Built by his father, after the model of an English nobleman's house in Antigua, it has stood a tempt- ing model to three generations. Mr. Thomas Seccomb's large brick house, on the north side of the market-place, was the first copy of Col. Royal's. Rev. Mr. Turell's house, now owned by Jonathan Porter, Esq., is a good example of another style; also the one now owned and occupied by Gorham Brooks, Esq. The old dilapidated mansion of the late Dr. Simon Tufts, south-east corner of High and Forest Streets, is one of the oldest and best specimens of the second fashion which prevailed in New England. It has three stories in front, and the large roof behind descends so as to allow of only one story in the rear. It seems to lean to the south, to offer
BALLDRY
Dr. Simon Tuft's House, 1725.
its back to the cold storms of the north. One enormous" chimney in the centre of the building serves every need, and keeps the house steady in high winds. The house so long occupied by Gov. Brooks, and in which he died, is a newer specimen of the same model. The next fashion, introduced as an improvement upon these, was the broken or " gambrel- roofed " houses, many of which still remain. See a specimen at the end of this volume. These soon gave place to the present models, which are importations from distant ages and all civilized countries, not excepting Egypt and China.
I. T. Stuart Se
51
ROADS.
ROADS.
In the absence of town-records, we are obliged to resort to notices incidentally made in deeds, wills, and legislative enactments.
They dignified a cow-path with the name of road. In the earliest years of the Medford plantation, there were but few people, and they had small occasion to travel. The laying-out of roads, therefore, was a secondary consideration, and the order of their location oftentimes conjectural in history.
The FORD, ten rods west of the bridge, meant the place where travellers crossed the Mystic River. At first it was little used, but afterwards became a popular way, not only for the inhabitants of Medford, but for those of the northern towns who took loads on horseback to Boston. If the earli- est records of the town had been preserved, we should doubt- less have found in them some notices of the Ford, and some regulations concerning it.
May 3, 1642 : The General Court say : " It is declared by this Court, that the selected town's men have power to lay out particular and private ways concerning their own town only." The road from the landing, called "No Man's Friend " (now Mr. Lapham's ship-yard), was made by Charlestown, 1641, to their land north of Medford. The road is now called Cross and Fulton Streets.
To have free access to the river, the great highway, they opened private roads for the use of owners of lands, and what were called "range-ways " for the free use of the public. Many of these are found in Charlestown. One of these was Cross Street ; the next, west of it, was at the Ford, and the " Governor Lane" was a part of it; the next was by the easterly side of Mr. T. Magoun's house ; the next was east of Mr. Turell's house, the lane is yet open ; the next was at the Rock Hill, and the old "Woburn Road" was part of it ; the next was above the Lowell Railroad Depot, in High Street, and connected with Grove Street, formerly called " the road round the woods." These roads to the river, in Med- ford, were opened soon after the main thoroughfare. The first public road laid out in Medford was Main Street, leading from the Ford to Boston; the second was Salem Street, lead- ing to Malden ; the third was High Street, leading to West Cambridge ; the fourth was the road leading to Stoneham.
52
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
These sufficed for all necessary uses during half a century. The road on the south bank of the river (South Street), connecting the brick-yards with the wharf and the lighters, was early opened. No new public roads were opened after these for nearly a hundred years.
Oct. 5, 1675, the town passes the following vote : To levy a fine of ten shillings upon any one who shall take a load of earth out of the public road. They also vote, that every man may work out his own highway tax, and they fix the prices for a day's labor of man, and of a man and team.
In 1715, Rev. Aaron Porter, Peter Seccomb, Peter Waite, Thomas Tufts, and Benjamin Parker, wish some enlargement of the road near the bridge, they being residents there ; and the town direct a Committee to see about the matter. They fix the width of the road at the bridge at two rods and twelve feet ; and report the road leading to Woburn wide enough already.
Feb. 20, 1746: Several gentlemen of Medford agree to open a road from the market to " Wade's Bank, or Sandy Bank " (Cross Street), and build a bridge over "Gravelly Creek." It was done; and made a convenient way to the tide-mill. See further account under the head of " Mills."
Medford Turnpike. - The construction of turnpikes in New England made an era in travelling and in speculations. Medford had long felt the need of a way to the metropolis more convenient for the transportation of heavy loads than that over Winter Hill. The first movement for a turnpike was made, about the year 1800, by citizens of Medford ; and, in 1803, Benjamin Hall, John Brooks, Fitch Hall, Ebenezer Hall, 2d, and Samuel Buel, petitioned the Legislature for an act of incorporation. It was granted March 2d of that year. The name was " Medford Turnpike Corporation." The act required them to run the road easterly of Winter Hill and Plowed Hill. It must be three rods on the upland, and not more than six on the marsh. If not completed within three years, the grant was to be null and void. The Corporation were required to build all extra bridges over Middlesex Canal, and keep them and the sluices in repair. They could hold real estate to the amount of six thousand dollars. Shares in the stock were deemed personal property. Moderate tolls have made this the most frequented route to Boston. Attempts have several times been made to open it free of toll to the public ; and the town of Medford voted their con-
53
ROADS.
sent, in 1838, to its conversion to a free road. This was not done ; and it yet continues as at the first. On this road, near the Charlestown line, the canal, turnpike, and river come into such close contact that a coachman, with a long whip, touched the waters of the river and canal without leaving his seat.
About the year 1810, the turnpike began to be used as a race-course, and races and trotting-matches were quite common.
Andover Turnpike. - This road encountered the usual amount of opposition from those who saw it would lead tra- vel away from their houses, and those who thought its pas- sage through their farms would ruin them. But the saving of three miles travel, for loads of ship-timber and country produce, was too great a gain of time, space, and money, to be wholly abandoned. The first projectors, therefore, perse- vered, and subscriptions for stock were opened in 1804, and Medford was deeply interested in it. An act of incorpora- tion was obtained, June 15, 1805, by Jonathan Porter, Joseph Hurd, Nathan Parker, Oliver Holden, and Fitch Hall. The route was designated in the act. It was to run from the house of John Russell, in Andover, in an easterly direction, to the east of Martin's Pond ; nearly on a straight line to the house of J. Nichols, in Reading ; thence to Stoneham, by the west side of Spot Pond, to the market-place in Medford. No time for its construction was named in the legislative grant, as the distance was considerable and the country hilly. A much longer time and much more money than were at first supposed, were required for its completion. Not proving a very profitable investment, there were pro- positions made, in 1828, for its sale. These were not ac- cepted ; and, finally, it was concluded to abandon the road, offering it as a free highway to the several towns through which it passed. 'In 1803, the town of Medford vote to accept and support that part of it which is in Medford, when- ever it shall be free of toll. Again, in 1831, the town express the wish that it may become a free road, and promise to keep their part in good repair. This disposition having been made of it, the town has performed its promise ; and to-day, under the name of Forest Street, it is one of the most popular locali- ties for country seats.
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