USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Middleborough > History of the town of Middleboro, Massachusetts > Part 40
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58
I701
May 20, 1701. " Then was chosen for a jury to lay out the contry road from the meeting house in Midlebourroe to Cipican bounds or town line : Lieut. Tompson the foreman of sd jury : -
1 Plymouth Colony Records, Judicial Acts, 1636-1692, pp. 304, 305, 309, 310.
2 Mitchell, History of Bridgewater, p. 72.
ed the en aid 1 of cto- ury, and urt, ury pads
: 0
a m d d es to 1g P be ng
by
e
510
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1702-05
Mr. Isack Howland
Ensign Vaun
Edward Tomas
Ephraim Tinkom
John Cob
Peter Tinkom
Ebeneser Tinkom
James Sole
Samuell Eaton
Thomas Tompson
Abiall Wood
Thomas Nelson "
1702
" At a town meeting July the 2d, 1702, it is voted : In answer to a petition from the neighborhood at Purchade: That there shall be a neighborhood way laid out for said neighborhood unto the Kings highway.
" At a town meeting July the 2d, 1702, eight men were chosen to be added to the former Jury for the laying out of the country rode towards Rochester : the men chosen are Samuel Wood: David Thomas : William Nelson : Jeremiah Thomas : William Thomas: John Fuller: Stephen Barden : Samuel Pratt : and it is also voted that the said Jury shall also lay out the way that is granted for the neighborhood at Pachade."
1705
" At a town meeting May the 24th, 1705, the town made choice of a Jury to joyn with a Jury from Bristol county to lay out a highway from baiting brook towards Freetown ; as far as it is needfull to be laid out in the line between Taunton and Midleborough; the men chosen are
John Morton, foreman Samuel Bowles
Ebenezer Richmond
James Bell
Elkanah Leonard Ephraim Keen
Samuell Richmond
William Thomas Electious Renolds
Samuell Pratt
James Reed Samuel Holmes "
RAILROADS
The story of the steam railroads in Middleboro belongs to the history of the development of the railroads in this part of the state. In March, 1844, a charter was granted to the Old Colony Railroad Corporation for a road from Boston to Plym- outh. In 1845 the Old Colony interests were empowered to construct the " Bridgewater Branch " from South Abington to Bridgewater. In the same month the Middleboro Railroad Corporation was chartered to build a road from Bridgewater to a connection with the Fall River Branch, which had been built to Myricks. The incorporators named were Andrew Robeson, Nathan Durfee, Peter H. Peirce, and Philander Washburn. The plan had originally been to go directly from Myricks to Bridgewater, thus leaving the village of the Four Corners at a sidetrack. Through the influence of the Middleboro incorpo-
5II
ROADS AND HIGHWAYS
1848]
rators a détour was made, and the road brought to the west side of the village as finally located.
The same month another charter was granted to the Ran- dolph and Bridgewater Railroad to run from Bridgewater to a point on the Old Colony at Quincy or Braintree.
In August, 1845, the Middleboro, Fall River Branch, and Randolph and Bridgewater were united under the name of the United Corporation. Peter H. Peirce and Elisha Tucker repre- sented Middleboro on the board of directors. In April, 1846, the United Corporation was authorized to take the name of the Fall River Railroad Company. In March, 1854, the Old Colony and the Fall River were united under the name of the Old Colony and Fall River Railroad Company.
In April, 1846, the Cape Cod Branch Railroad was incorpo- rated to build a road from Middleboro to Sandwich, and on the 29th day of May, 1847, the first passenger train was run to Sandwich. Subsequently the name was changed to the Cape Cod Railroad, and the road was extended to Hyannis, then to Orleans by the Cape Cod Central Railroad, and finally to Provincetown.
In 1848 the Taunton and Middleboro Railroad was chartered, but the stock was not taken up, and the charter was forfeited. In 1853 this was revived under the name of the Middleboro and Taunton Railroad, and was run as a competing road with the Old Colony. Tickets for Boston were sold at the same price as on the Old Colony, although the distance was much greater. The promoters of that road planned to bring their terminal station into the village at a point not far from the Episcopal church, and the land for much of the way was bought and held for many years. But their plans failed to materialize on account of the difficulty in getting permission to cross the Fall River and Cape Cod roads at grade. Later, in the process of consolidation, the Old Colony interests bought up the stock, and the road was merged into the Old Colony system.
The Plympton and Middleboro Railroad Company was in- corporated in 1849. The line as surveyed went through Mut-
a 0-
t
1
0
[1890
512 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
RAILROAD STATION
tock village near the dam, and entered the Fall River road not far from where the Plymouth and Middleboro road now enters, but that project was only a passing memory.
In 1872 all the roads were consolidated under the name of the Old Colony Railroad Company. In 1892 the Plymouth and Middleboro Railroad was completed and leased to the Old Colony Railroad. The stock of this road was taken mainly by the towns of Plymouth, Middleboro, and Carver, Middleboro taking $20,000. By this time the Old Colony road had ab- sorbed, by lease or purchase, all the roads in this part of the state, and in 1893 it was itself, with all its divisions, absorbed by the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad.
Upon the opening of the Fall River Railroad a station was built at the foot of Station Street. This remained until the year 1890, when the old station was torn down and the present com- modious brick structure was erected.
STREET RAILWAYS
There are three electric street railways running through dif- ferent sections of the town, which have tended to materially increase the value of property along their different routes.
The first road to be built in town was known as the New Bedford, Middleboro, and Brockton Street Railway. This was built in 1898 and 1899. It comes into town at North Middle- boro, and runs through Plymouth, Everett, and Center streets to the Four Corners, and from there on South Main Street to the Lakeville line. The stock was soon after bought up by the
513
FIRE DISTRICT
1705]
Brockton Street Railway, and this, with a number of other roads, was consolidated into the Old Colony Street Railway. By reason of its following the shores of the lakes for so long a distance, it is frequently termed the Lake Shore Route.
The East Taunton Street Railway Company was incorpo- rated June 24, 1898, with a capital of $1 10,000. It was built in 1899, from Taunton through North Lakeville to Taunton and Center streets in Middleboro.
The Middleboro, Wareham, and Buzzard's Bay Street Rail- way was built in 1901. It was chartered with a capital stock of $150,000, to run from the Four Corners to Rochester, and through Rochester, Wareham, Onset, and Bourne to Monu- ment Beach. This road was sold under foreclosure, and has been reincorporated as the Taunton and Buzzard's Bay Street Railway.
FIRE DISTRICT
The log houses with thatched roofs and large "catted " chimneys of the first settlers were hardly fireproof, and soon became so dangerous that the towns in the colony suffered much from loss by fire. Laws were passed forbidding the building of these unsafe chimneys; fire wardens were ap- pointed to examine houses, that all precautions might be taken, and householders were obliged to have ladders.1 Later, most of the householders owned fire buckets made of heavy leather, and marked with the owners' initials for identification after use. In the first organization of a military company under Standish, one portion was to constitute the fire alarm.2 In Middleboro all of the men were expected to assist. When an
1 " Forasmuch as great losses have heretofore happened by fyer whereby men have had their houses and goods within the same utterly consumed, which might have been prevented in some good measure if Ladders could have beene had neere hand. It is therefore enacted by the Court That every householder within this Colony & Government shall have one sufficient ladder or ladders at least about his house which will reach ye top, upon penalty of every such default to forfaite tenn shillings to be leavyed to the use of the Government." Laws of Plymouth Colony, 1636, p. 56.
2 See chapter on Militia.
W as e- ts to he
y
514
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1850
alarm of fire1 was given by shouting or ringing a bell, the neighbors all gathered, buckets in hand ; if a man was delayed, he threw his buckets into the street that others might use them. A double line of people was formed from the burning building to the nearest pond or well, and the buckets filled with water were passed from hand to hand up one line while the empty ones came down the other line ; boys were usually placed on the latter side, called the "dry lane." When the fire was put out, or as was more usual, had burned itself out, the fire warden took charge of the buckets till they were called for by the owners, who hung them in the entry by their front doors ready for future use.
The first fire engine in the country was a rude affair, made in 1650 by Joseph Jencks for the town of Boston, but in the country villages and towns the primitive buckets and ladders were used till a late date.
It was not until 1852 that the fire district of the town of Middleboro was organized. In order to include a population sufficient to comply with the law in establishing such a district, its boundaries extended considerably beyond the village.2
Its first officers were : Chief Engineer, William S. Peirce ;
1 As early as 1636 we find in Laws of Plymouth Colony, p. 56: "That three pieces shott of distinctly one after another shalbe an allarum. And two peeces to give warneing of some house on fier."
2 " Commencing at that point on the Boston and New Bedford road near the house of Thomas Doggett where the road to the Alms House leaves said road, thence south thirty-three and one-half degrees east, six hundred and ninety- seven rods by said road to the road leading from the Four Corners to Ware- ham, near where a school house formerly stood, including the houses of Daniel Macomber, Alms House, Edmund Thompson, Jacob Thomas 2d, and Capt. Abram Bryant, thence north two and one half degrees east, three hundred and eighty-seven rods to the bridge at the foot of long hill near the house of Thomas A. Pratt, not including said house, thence north thirty-two degrees west one hun- dred and ninety-four rods to the corner of Lorenzo Wood's farm near Elisha Waterman's, thence north twenty-seven degrees west, four hundred and twelve rods, crossing the road in front of Nahum M. Tribou's house, running in the rear of Melzar Tribou's house to the bridge near Thomas Weston's, thence south forty-five degrees west five hundred and sixty-eight rods to an apple tree on the westerly side of Alfred Randall's house, thence south nine degrees east five hundred and forty-six rods to bounds first mentioned."
515
FIRE DISTRICT
1884]
Assistant Engineers, Sylvanus W. Reed, Andrew M. Eaton, Sylvanus Hinckley, Lemuel G. Peirce ; Prudential Committee, Sylvanus Hinckley, Everett Robinson, Joseph Sampson, Jr. ; Clerk, Jacob B. Shaw.
The fire apparatus consisted of a hand tub, as it was then called, under the name of the Bay State No. I, and a hook and ladder company. Previous to or at the time of the establish- ment of the fire department, there was a very small hand tub, capable of being worked by three or four men at the most, which was kept in one of the buildings of the Nemasket Mill Company. On the night of the national election in 1860, when a telegram had announced the certainty of the result, a party of boys, with a desire to celebrate, pulled out the old tub and commenced to parade. Others had built a huge bonfire in the middle of the street at the Four Corners. The tub was drawn near, and a faction in the crowd tipped it over into the fire, where it came to an untimely end.
In 1877 a new ladder truck was purchased, and improved apparatus has since been provided. A house was built on School Street for the department. About 1875 a number of citizens purchased a hand machine named the Young Mechanic No. 6, which was replaced by a steamer in New Bedford ; an inde- pendent company was formed, and continued for several years. The district built a house for the company on Oak Street, and in 1882 a chemical engine was added to the apparatus. After building the water works in 1885 with hydrant service, the hand engines were abandoned and sold, and a hose wagon and reels were provided in 1886.
The equipments of the department in its buildings, appara- tus, hose, hydrants, and electric fire-alarms are modern, and their usefulness is shown in an emergency.
When Lakeville was set off from Middleboro in 1853, all that portion of the new town which had been included in the district was taken from it. Later, a number of estates at the south end were set off, as well as all that part lying north and east of the Nemasket River. In 1884 the district was incor- porated with its then metes and bounds, and authorized to
ve he Ice ree last
d
1
!
516
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1899
provide a water supply. The pumping-station was on land just outside. A few years later, the pumping-station lot and a large tract of land were re-annexed to the district.
The bounds having become undefined, at the annual meet- ing in December, 1899, the District by a new survey estab- lished the bounds : -
" Beginning at a stone bound on the northerly side of the Nemasket River, a corner of the towns of Middleborough and Lakeville, thence in said town line, north thirty-two degrees forty-six minutes west, nine hundred and forty-eight feet to a stone bound marking an angle in said town line; thence in said town line, north fifty degrees ten minutes west, three thousand four hundred and seventy-two feet to a stone bound on the northerly side line of the land occu- pied by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, lessees, known as the ' Fall River branch ;' thence north two degrees forty-nine min- utes west, six thousand eight hundred and six feet to a stone bound on the easterly 'side of Cross street, the westerly corner of a lot of land owned by George S. Clark and Elmer B. Cole, known as the 'Morton lot; ' thence north sixty degrees one minute east, four thousand seven hundred and sixty-six feet to a stone bound on the northeasterly side of Everett street, a short dis- tance northerly from the house owned by Jennie L. Baxter, a corner of lands owned by George R. Sampson and Job Braley ; thence in the line between said Sampson and Braley, north eighty-seven degrees thirty minutes east, six hun- dred and fifty feet to a stone bound; thence in the same course to the centre of the channel of the Nemasket river; thence upstream in the centre of the chan- nel of said river to a point marking its intersection with the centre of the channel of a brook which crosses the northeasterly part of the farm and home- stead of George H. Place; thence upstream in the centre of the channel of said brook to a stone bound on the northerly side of East Main street ; thence south five degrees fourteen minutes west, six thousand three hundred and eighty-four feet to a stone bound on the northerly corner of the intersection of Wood and Wareham streets ; thence south seventy-four degrees twenty-one minutes west, two thousand seven hundred and forty-nine feet to a stone bound on the north- westerly side of Wood street, a corner of lands of Edward S. Hathaway and John W. Tinkham; thence north seventy-one degrees three minutes west, one thousand one hundred and twenty-seven feet to the centre of a gate on the line of the water pipe running from Grove street to the Middleborough almshouse; thence north sixty-two degrees nineteen minutes west, one thousand four hun- dred and thirty-two feet to a stone bound near the said Nemasket river: thence south seventy-six degrees forty-four minutes west, two thousand three hundred and seventy feet to the stone bound first mentioned. The points of compass given above are magnetic and are twelve degrees eight minutes west of true north."
The District as thus defined contains about three and a quarter square miles.
CHAPTER XXVIII
TOWN OFFICERS, PUBLIC OFFICERS
ROM the earliest settlement of Middleboro to the time of its incorporation in the year 1669, it was a part of Plymouth, and its inhabitants were subject to the jurisdiction of the General Court of the colony. As separate towns were incorporated, the civil affairs, which had been regulated by the court, the governor, and his assist- ants and deputies, became so numerous that other legislation was necessary to enable the towns to manage in a measure their own affairs, to provide more efficient government, to meet the necessary expenses, and to supply the growing wants of their increasing population.
At the breaking out of King Philip's War the records of the town of Middleboro were burned with all of the houses. We gather, however, from the records of the colony kept at Plymouth, a probably correct list of a few officers of the town prior to the war.
FREEMEN AND TOWN OFFICERS BEFORE 1675
1669. William Hoskins was the first town clerk ; John Nelson, constable and surveyor of highways ;1 John Tomson and Willam Nelson, agents of the town.2
1670. Freemen of the town : 8 -
John Morton, Henry Wood, Jonathan Dunham.
Francis Combe, Wiltam Nelson, Sr., Samuell Eaton.
1671. Gershom Cobb, Constable ; 4 Jonathan Dunham, agent to inspect ordinaries, and to prevent the selling of powder to the Indians, and extensive drinking ; 5 George Vaughan and John
1 Plymouth Colony Records, vol. v, pp. 18, 19.
2 Ibid. vol. v, p. 22. 3 Ibid. vol. v, p. 279.
4 Ibid. vol. v, p. 56. 5 Ibid. vol. v, p. 60.
518
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO [1672-75
Morton, agents to view damages done to the Indians by hogs and horses.1
1672. John Morton, deputy to the General Court ; John Irish, constable ; John Miller, Grand Enquest ; Isacke Howland, surveyor of highways.2
1673. John Morton, deputy to the General Court ; Obadiah Eedey, Grand Enquest ; John Dunham, constable ; Samuell Wood, surveyor of highways.3
1674. John Tomson, Jonathan Dunham, Francis Combe, select- men ; John Tomson, deputy ; Gershom Cobb, Grand Enquest ; Isacke Howland, constable ; Samuell Wood, Surveyor of high- ways. 4
1675. Mr. Francis Combe, John Tomson, Jonathan Dunham, selectmen ; John Tomson, deputy ; George Vaughan, constable ; John Nelson, Grand Enquest.5
At the close of King Philip's War, most of the original set- tlers returned slowly from Plymouth, and during the years 1676 to 1679 not all of the town offices were filled. They seem to have been so generally engaged in rebuilding their houses and preparing their farms for cultivation that but little, if any, thought was given to the civil affairs of the town. During the unfortunate administration of Governor Andros, in the year 1688, the government of the colony was much disturbed, no courts were held at Plymouth, and owing to the uncertainty of the times and the disturbances on the accession of William and Mary to the throne of England, everything of a political nature in the Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies remained at a standstill, and we find no records of the courts, or of any town officers being elected.
SELECTMEN
Among the officers of the towns in the Old Colony, none were of more importance than the selectmen. This office was filled by the most influential and able men. They were given
1 Plymouth Colony Records, vol. v, p. 62. 3 Ibid. vol. v, pp. 114-115.
2 Ibid. vol. v, pp. 90-93.
4 Ibid. vol. v, pp. 144-146. 5 Ibid. vol. v, pp. 165-166.
.
519
SELECTMEN
1692]
large discretion, and until the close of the Revolutionary War, in many ways had the entire management of the civil affairs. Then their duties were curtailed, or given to other officials under different enactments, which accurately determined their power as the growth of the town and the state demanded.
The General Court at Plymouth passed the first statute, cre- ating this office and defining the duties of selectmen, in 1662. Their work was extended in 1666, 1681, and 1683 by further enactments, which provided that every town in the colony should, out of its freemen, choose from three to five select- men, who should be approved by the court at Plymouth. They were to act as magistrates for the pur- E COUNTY, RO pose of hearing and determining YOUTH all matters of dispute among the GH PLYMOU inhabitants of the town not ex- T N * ceeding forty shillings ; they were also to hear and determine differ- INC PORAT ences between the Indians and white inhabitants in reference to damages done by their domestic SEAL OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO animals ; they had power to sum- mon witnesses and administer oaths; the matters submitted to their determination were to be heard upon competent evi- dence. Fines were to be imposed upon persons summoned who failed to attend at the time and place appointed for the hearing of these various causes. Their decisions could be appealed from by either party aggrieved, to the next General Court held at Plymouth, provided security was given for the costs which one might incur in prosecuting or defending such suits.
The judiciary powers thus conferred upon the selectmen continued until the uniting of the colonies in 1692, when the new charter from the Crown provided for some changes in the administration of justice, and the judicial functions here- tofore performed by the selectmen were transferred to his Majesty's Justice of the Peace, an office of honor and distinc- tion in the colony. The selectmen continued to have the gen-
520
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO [1674-93
eral management of the affairs of the town; they were to encourage education ; they were to take notice of all persons desiring a permanent settlement in the town, who came with- out the approbation of the governor and his assistants, accord- ing to the order of court, and it was their duty to notify the governor and council of such. It was also their duty to call to account those who neglected to attend public worship on the Lord's day, and to require satisfactory reasons for their fail- ure to do so, and if any persisted in such neglect, to report their names to the General Court at Plymouth. They had power to provide for the wants of the poor in their respective towns, and such persons as were spendthrifts, or children dis- obedient to their parents, or persons living in families who were disorderly, or who refused to comply with reasonable requirements, were to be reported to the General Court at Plymouth. The precaution to be observed for a defence against any attack of the Indians, the building and maintaining a fort, and many other duties of a similar nature necessary for the proper protection and government of the town, were left entirely to their discretion.
The following were the selectmen from 1674 to 1900 :-
1674. John Tomson, Jonathan Dunham, and Francis Coombs. 1675. John Tomson, Jonathan Dunham, and Francis Coombs. 1680. John Tomson, Francis Coombs, and Samuel Fuller. 1681. John Tomson, Francis Coombs, and John Nelson. 1682. John Tomson, Francis Coombs, and John Nelson. 1683. John Tomson, John Nelson, and Isaac Howland. 1684. John Tomson, Isaac Howland, and Samuel Wood. 1685. John Tomson, John Nelson, and Isaac Howland. 1686. John Tomson, John Nelson, and Isaac Howland. 1687. John Tomson, Isaac Howland, and John Allen. 1688. No record to be found.
1689. Samuel Wood, Joseph Vaughan, and Nathaniel Warren. 1690. Joseph Vaughan, Ebenezer Tinkham, and John Allen. 1691. Joseph Vaughan, Ebenezer Tinkham, and Samuel Wood. 1692. Isaac Howland, Joseph Vaughan, and John Bennett.
1693. Joseph Vaughan, John Bennett, and Samuel Wood.
52I
SELECTMEN
1694-1722]
1694. Joseph Vaughan, Samuel Wood, and Obadiah Eddy.
1695. Ens. Isaac Howland, Joseph Vaughan, and John Bennett. 1696. Isaac Howland, Joseph Vaughan, and Ebenezer Tinkham.
1697. Joseph Vaughan, John Bennett, and Jacob Tomson. 1698. Joseph Vaughan, John Bennett, and Jacob Tomson. 1699. Joseph Vaughan, Samuel Wood, and Jacob Tomson. 1700. Isaac Howland, Ebenezer Tinkham, and Jacob Tomson.
1701. Isaac Howland, Lieut. Jacob Tomson, and Ens. Vaughan.
1702. Isaac Howland, Joseph Vaughan, and John Allen.
1703. Isaac Howland, David Thomas, and Thomas Tomson.
1704. Joseph Vaughan, Thomas Pratt, and Thomas Tomson. 1705. No record.
1706. Ens. Joseph Vaughan, Samuel Wood, and Jacob Tomson.
1707. Ens. Joseph Vaughan, Samuel Wood, and Jacob Tomson. 1708. Lieut. Joseph Vaughan, Samuel Wood, and Jacob Tomson.
1709. Lieut. Joseph Vaughan, Samuel Wood, and Capt. Jacob Tomson.
1710. Lieut. Joseph Vaughan, Ens. Elkanah Leonard, and Rodol- phus Elmes.
17II. Samuel Wood, Jacob Tomson, and Elkanah Leonard.
1712. Capt. Jacob Tomson, Lieut. Joseph Vaughan, and Ens. El- kanah Leonard.
1713. Capt. Jacob Tomson, Lieut. Joseph Vaughan, and Ens. El- kanah Leonard.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.