History of the town of Milford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1881, Part 37

Author: Ballou, Adin, 1803-1890
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Boston : Rand, Avery, & co.
Number of Pages: 1328

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Milford > History of the town of Milford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1881 > Part 37

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312

HISTORY OF MILFORD.

ROADS, WAYS, STREETS, COMMONS, ETC.

The first public road travelled by our earliest settlers constituted the southern boundary-line of what became the Easterly Precinct of Mendon, and ultimately Milford. It was long designated in records, documents, and deeds as " the Country Road." It led from Men- don to Medfield, and is said to have followed, partly at least, the ancient Indian path mentioned in the original Indian deed of the eight miles square. Some part, if not the whole of it in Mendon territory, was laid out ten rods wide by the old plantation authorities. It started from the Rehoboth road, then so called, about a mile south of Mendon town, and came out by the now Willis Gould place, to the Lewis B. Gaskill place, a little west of Mill River ; thence it ran east- ward into Bellingham, Medway, etc. I mention this road on account of its use by our forefathers, and because, also, when Milford was incorporated she was bound to bear half the expense of keeping its bed and bridges in repair forever (in connection with so much of the old Mendon road across the Neck to the then Sheffield's Mill at the now Lewis B. Gaskill place, as formed our boundary-line). It is a curious item in our history, that Milford escaped from its obligation to help keep this boundary-road in repair by the interposition of the " 9th Massachusetts Turnpike Corporation," so entitled. That cor- poration got its grant Feb. 23, 1800, on condition that the turnpike should be finished in three years. This turnpike followed the bed of the boundary-road from Neck Hill to Bellingham, with the exception of about seventy rods, more or less, at the south-west corner of our territory, which happened to be laid a little easterly of the old road- bed, and within our limits. In 1831 the turnpike corporation got sick of its property, and petitioned the Worcester County Commissioners to lay out all their turnpike within the county as a public highway. Mendon opposed the petition in vain. The pike was laid out as a highway ; and there was no legal mode of renewing Milford's former obligation to pay half the expenses of keeping that part in repair which constituted its boundary, excepting the aforesaid seventy-rod piece, which was of course left wholly on our hands. Thus Milford has been relieved of all burden in respect to this boundary-road (with the exception of the said seventy rods or thereabouts) for the last seventy-nine years : and as to the seventy-rod piece, the commis- sioners inadvertently omitted to give Milford the customary order ; and it is only within a year or two that the Town has paid any atten- tion to it in the way of repairs. There is but little common travel over it, and occasional wood-carters are its principal users. Never-

313

THE OLDEST ROADS.

theless, I suppose it will have to remain open, and the Town must give it the necessary consideration.

Next in order is the famous " Eight-rod Road." I give this the next place because it was made a boundary-road at the incorporation of Milford, and the new town was bound to bear one-half the expense of repairing and maintaining it. By special mutual agreement, June 29, 1780, the respective portions which the two towns should keep in order were specifically assigned. But the road was never of much use to the public. There were at no time on it more than two or three cheap dwellings, and some of these were inhabited only a few years after our incorporation. The result was, Mendon at length dis- continued it as a town-road, and so of course Milford escaped all further burden on account of it. Why it was ever laid out, neither record nor tradition seems to afford much information. The Mendon record simply says, " A Highway Laid out by the Committee to lay ont the Sixth Division of Land, of Eight Rods Wide upon the Neck, lengthways of said Neck. Laid out April 4th, 1718." The tract of land covering the hill from "North Hill " towards Upton line, and extending southwardly almost to the "Old Country Road " near the Barak Penniman place, was called from very early times " the Neck." How it got this name, is not told ; probably from some fancy of the first surveyors. It appears to have been laid out by a committee of the old proprietors, and to have been adopted by the Town. Its southern terminus was " the Highway leading across said Neck from Muddy Brook to Wheelock's Mill," the present Lewis Gaskill place. So it forms our extreme south-west corner. Its northern terminus is thus defined : "Northward up to the North Hill, on the high land of the Neck, and so across the North Hill, home to Marlborough Road." Nearly its whole length was then and is now woodland or pasture. It is not unlikely that the proprietor's committee who laid it out believed it would attract settlers, and enhance the value of common lands near it. I can imagine no other motive. Our incorporation act speaks of it as then " reduced to Four Rods " wide. If so, Men- don just then reduced it; as the preliminary agreement was to run the line in the " middle of the Eight-rod Road." It may be assumed, therefore, that from and after Milford was set off, Mendon regarded the road as only a four-rod one : however, the old designation, " Eight- rod Road " may have still continued.

Next in importance is the "Sherborn Road," now our Main St., extending from Mendon line to that of Holliston. Sherboru origi- nally included Holliston. It was the old neighbor of Mendon in that direction, and in some respects a rival. A road thither was an

314

HISTORY OF MILFORD.

early necessity, but it was some time in getting legalized. The first layings-out of land all along its general route provided for it by spe- cific reservations, or allowances, of a strip three or four rods in width. For several years it must have been a rough and rather crooked cart- path, - say from 1703 or 1705 to 1720. Although it was recognized in varions documents as "Sherborn Road," and although Mendon laid out several roads within our limits previous to any recorded action on this, it must be regarded as in fact our oldest thoroughfare. It was not till 1739, according to Mendon records, that her select- men formally laid out this road. This now seems very strange, and even then its track was vaguely defined. Here follows the record : -

A ROAD FROM MENDON TO HOLLISTON BY POST'S.

" MENDON, September 24th, 1739. The Selectmen then met, and stated a Highway Leading from Mendon to Holliston. Beginning at the Ten Rod way that leads through Mendon, between Capt. Seth Chapin's and Capt. William Rawson's land [known in our time as the Doggett place and Silas Dudley's ], down to John Post's; thence, where the path was formerly drawn, to John Thwing's, said road being four rods wide; thence to the Bridge, bounded southerly with heaps of stones; thence, as the path is now, to the northeast corner of Seth Chapin's wall [presumed to be Seth Jr.'s], said road being two rods wide; thence, as the path is now drawn, to a heap of stones rising the Hill, in Thomas Gage's fence; thence to a heap of stones by a Stump in said Gage's enclosure; thence to a heap of stones, leading into said way; thence, as the path is now drawn, to Holliston Line; said road being three rods wide. Laid out by William Torrey, John French, Jacob Aldrich, Selectmen."

This makes rather an obscure thing of the " Sherborn Road," con- sidering that it was only about two years before the incorporation of " the Easterly Precinct." One would be tempted to think that the selectmen of Mendon must have recognized this road at some earlier period, whereof no record was made, or, if made, had been lost. Nevertheless, we must accept what was done as the existing record stands. The general line of the road remained quite unchanged till after the year 1800, though occasional slight straightenings had been made. In 1800 the era of turnpikes and county roads seems to have been inaugurated in Massachusetts, as in some other portions of the country. It was a favorite scheme with enterprising citizens on the line from Boston through Dedham, Medfield, Mendon, Uxbridge, etc., out into Connecticut, to open a good turnpike, or connection of turn- pikes, through to Hartford. That scheme soon went into practical effect. Meantime, the citizens in the next tier of towns north, from Brighton, through Holliston and Milford, to Mendon, were shrewd

315

SHERBORN ROAD IMPROVEMENTS.

and ambitious enough to increase the travel over that route. Turn- pikes were not to their taste, and they resorted to county action. The then connty courts of Middlesex and Worcester, having authority in road matters, willingly lent their sanction to the project of widen- ing, straightening, and improving this more northerly route of roads. Our "Sherborn Road " was of course included : then it became a county road. In 1802 it was laid ont anew. Post Lane was aban- doned, from its starting-point in Mendon down to the residence of Capt. Gershom Nelson, which stood where our generation have been accustomed to recognize its successor as the " Amos Cook house." From that point to Mendon the road was laid ont as at present run- ning. Eastward from Hopedale Corner the road was not so much changed ; yet it was wisely 'straightened in many places, being, in almost every instance of change, laid more to the north-westward. From the Sylvanus Adams place to the Obed Daniels place, it origi- nally wonnd crookedly along the higher ground, often more than its present width ; so from the Dexter Walker place to the Major Chapin place it was greatly straightened, now running at some points several rods westerly of its former bed. Through the centre and most of the way to the old Gibbs cellar-hole (famous for its Balm of Gilead trees), the changes were comparatively slight ; thence, north-easterly for half a mile, it was much varied, straightened, and improved. Beyond this point to Holliston line judicions alterations were made ; thence eastward, through its whole conrse, corresponding improvements suc- ceeded. The expense of these improvements, so far as Milford was concerned, was defrayed partly by voluntary subscription, but mainly by taxation, and does not appear to have been seriously burdensome. They were mostly or quite completed before the close of 1803, nearly at the same time with the turnpike from Medway to Mendon. The loudest complainant of grievance in the whole affair is said to have been Col. Samuel Nelson. He protested vehemently against having his farm sliced up as it was by switching the road off from " Post Lane." But the Town paid pretty fair damages, and, as soon as the road was passable, discontinued " Post Lane," giving that part of its bed to Samuel and his father which ran through their premises ; and they seem to have done virtually the same by all the other citi- zens whose lands adjoined the discontinued pieces of the old road. Thus good humor was promoted all along the line. This Main St., as we now call it, has received varions widenings, straightenings, and rejuvenations from time to time since 1803, but none of fundamental importance enongh to deserve special notice.

In 1718 the selectmen of Mendon laid out a road from a point

316

HISTORY OF MILFORD.

below the Lowell Fales place, near land then belonging to Jacob Aldrich, on "Mill Plain," so called, "by Benjamin Albee's house," which stood on the south side of the way opposite to the Jesse How- ard place, thence running north-eastwardly by the Corbett place, now occupied by Charles Knights, over into "Second Plain," then so called, across the river at " White's Bridge," to Bellingham line. This now bears the name Mellen St. It was probably designed origi- nally to facilitate communication between the neighborhood westward and south-westward of the Albee "Corn-Mill," now Lewis Gaskill's place, and the "Great Meadow," lying north-eastwardly of Bear Hill, on the frontier of Sherborn ; for at that time meadow-land was highly valuable, and the "Great Meadow " shared by numerous proprietors. There was a rude way to it leading from the Dr. John Corbett place, later Dr. Scammell's, east of Bear Hill, out to the " Sherborn Road." This Mellen St. road entered the Dr. Corbett way a short distance beyond White's Bridge, and saved much travel.

In 1721 a highway three rods wide was laid from the western terminus of the above Mellen St. road, just below the Lowell Fales place, northwardly through Howardtown, sometimes so called, and thence north-westerly to the "Sherborn Road," near the Dexter Walker place. The hither portion is thus described in the record : " Said way is marked by a Line of marked trees and heaps of stones on the easterly side of said way, home to the road, or way, that leads from Town towards Sherborn, near the Sumners ; a heap of stones being the Bounds where said way comes into Sherborn Road ; said way being laid out through land where there was allowance for a way, excepting cross a corner William Chainey's land next to Sherborn Road." The most southerly part of this highway is now a portion of Plain St. ; the middle section belongs to South Main St. ; from South Main St. to Greene it is called Cortland St. ; and from thence to Main St., by Obed Daniels's place, it bears the name of Elm St. The reader will notice, (1) that the record quoted recog- nizes the " Sherborn Road " as existing in 1721, - eighteen years before it was formally laid out in 1739 ; (2) that it locates the origi- nal residence of the Sumners, Ebenezer and Joseph, elsewhere de- scribed ; and (3) that it indicates a north-easterly corner of William Cheney's farm, also elsewhere described. I allude to these points because they explain and confirm other interesting facts treated of in this volume.

In 1723, " Laid out a way of two rods wide," beginning " near the House of Thomas White, Jr.," [known in our time as the Ezekiel White alias Dr. Clark place], thence to " Mill River, a little below

317

SEVERAL OLD ROADS.

Sergt. Thomas White's Corn-Mill," and thence over the river three rods wide " to the Eight Rod way on the Neck." All but a fraction of this way, lying easterly of Ransom J. Clark's, on Greene St., was discontinued, and sold out to bordering owners in 1791. In 1723 the road was renewedly laid which now includes Plain St. from Mendon line to Mellen St., all Mellen and nearly all Beaver St. The route is thus described : "Through the Mill Plain by Obadiah Wheelock's House [supposed to have stood over one of the lilac cellar-holes] ; so continuing said way [two rods wide] by the House of Benjamin Albee, Jr., over Second Plain into the corner of John Rockwood's fence [who is understood to have owned the widow Pond place] ; thence said Road to be three rods wide, and to run through Second Bridge River ; so continuing by the land of Benjamin Thayer to a Walnut stand marked on the southeasterly side of said way ; thence by marked Trees on the same side said way, near as the Road is now drawn, unto a Black Oak Tree marked, said Tree standing in the fence of Jonathan Hayward, near the Great Meadow." So here we have over again the way to the famous " Great Meadow," of which the Mellen St. road, herein before described, was a part. The old way, now called Beaver St., was a long-travelled cart-path before being legally laid out, having been opened as early as 1703, or per- haps still earlier ; though the date is somewhat doubtful.

In 1731 a road was laid from John Chapin's (the Ezekiel White, now the wid. Sarah Clark, place) southerly across the plain to John Green's land, and near his house, a little eastward from the Spindleville Machine-Shop. This road was superseded, in 1773, by that part of Greene St. lying between Ransom J. Clark's and said machine-shop. Of course the former road was discontinued. It might gratify the curiosity of a few readers, but would be tedious to the majority, to follow out in detail this history of the old roads, drift-ways, and bridle- paths which were laid out before Milford was set off from Mendon. I have estimated them at about fifty in number. Several are referred to in ancient documents, of which I find no record as ever formally laid out, but only recognized as travelled ways. Most of these have been discontinued, either by Town action or silent common consent. Such are now hardly traceable, and some of them utterly obliterated. I shall therefore content myself with noticing particularly only three or four highways which may be included among our thoroughfares. Two of these afford us good communication with Hopkinton, one with Upton, one with Mendon, Bellingham, etc., and one with Med- way. The railroads will, of course, receive attention in their place.

The North Purchase road - the main portion of which is now

318

HISTORY OF MILFORD.

called Purchase St. - was mostly provided for by reservations in the old layings-out, and in deeds, or by cutting through common lands. The first settlers drew the original path accordingly. In 1731 the selectmen of Mendon - Daniel Lovett and Seth Chapin - began at Hopkinton line, in land then belonging to William Brewer of Weston, but afterwards purchased by Josiah and Peter Ball, and laid, as the record reads, "a Highway of three rods wide, Beginning at the west corner of William Brewer's land ; then bounded easterly on said Land, then on Common Land, from said Brewer's south 'corner to the North Corner of Nathaniel Jones' Land [known in later times as the Esq. Saml. Jones place] ; thence to a heap of stones, by said Jones' fence East from his House; thence partly through Common Land, and part through said Jones' land ; said Road being bounded by marked Trees and heaps of stones on the west side of said road throngh said Lands abovesaid ; and throngh William Hayward's to Richard Gardner's Land." At that time Richard Gardner owned all the land that afterwards came into possession of Isaac and Jonas Parkhurst, - the first Milford Parkhursts, - all the way from above the widow Jemima place to Main St., in the centre. In 1736 Daniel Lovett, Seth Chapin, jun., and William Torrey, selectmen of Mendon, laid out a highway of three rods wide throngh Jonas and Isaac Park- hurst's land, beginning at the point where the section laid five years before stopped. They followed the path as opened sontherly down to John Peck's, about twenty rods south of Isaac Parkhurst's honse, and there halted again. Nearly twelve years later, in 1748, Nathaniel Nelson, George Bruce, and John Chapin, selectmen for that year, completed the legal lay-out down to what is now School St., to Nathaniel Morse's, -known in later times as the Abner Wight and Dr. G. D. Peck place. After Milford became a town, this road was mnch straightened, and improved from time to time. In 1844 the county commissioners ordered widenings, straightenings, and a thor- ough reconstruction, all the way through, a distance of three miles and sixty-nine rods ; which cost the Town, for damages and con- struction, $2,526.51.

The road towards Hayden Row, a much-travelled avenue to Hop- kinton Centre, now called Cedar St., started thus : -

" MENDON, March 4th, 1742-3. The Selectmen met and laid out a Two Rod way, Beginning at Jonathan Whitney's, on the East side of the North Cedar Swamp, in said Town " [Jona. Whitney was the grandfather of Major Hackaliah, and gt. gd. father of Jesse, whose widow and daughter now dwell in the brick house on the Plain. He was a large landholder in the easterly and north-easterly neighborhood of the Cedar Swamp. The record

319

CEDAR, WEST, AND SOUTH MAIN STREETS.

proceeds ], " said Road, Leading through the Land of Thomas Gage [who owned the land on the south-easterly verge of the swamp], with a Line of marked Trees on the easterly side of said way; said Gage giving the land which said Road takes up, through his land, about eighty rods. Thence through Common Land to land of Thomas Tenney [who then owned the Noah Wiswall place]; then through Land of said Thomas Tenney, about one hundred and three Rods, till it comes to land of John Kilburn [gd. father of Stephen, and gt. gd. fr. of Otis, both decd. ]; then through the lands of said Tenney and Kilburn, a rod in width on each, where a Lane is now drawn between them, till it comes to the Country Road Leading to Hollis- ton; the said Road being about Seventy Rods in Length between said parties, and having marked Trees on the East side. Daniel Lovett, Saml. Thayer, Nathan Penniman, Uriah Thayer, Selectmen."

In 1797 the selectmen of Milford laid that part of this road which extended from the then Holliston line by Lieut. Jesse Whitney's house (the one we have known with the old stone chimney), following the trodden path sonthward to where the first-mentioned laying-ont started, supposed to be near Jonathan Whitney's first abode, just east of Pine-grove Cemetery. This addition was accepted, with some reluctance, in 1798. Many improvements have been made on this road from time to time, the most important of them in 1848 and 1853, all which cost the Town nearly three thousand dollars. In 1859 an alteration of the Holliston line added considerably to the length of this road towards Hayden Row. Hopkinton having much improved their portion of this thoroughfare, it is now a very credit- able one to both towns, and much travelled.

The principal road between Milford and Upton Centres, though many times rectified and improved at different periods, was very unsatisfactory down to 1834, when the county commissioners new laid it, and mostly over new ground, greatly straightening its course, shortening the distance, and rendering it a respectable highway. Our part of it was nearly two and three-fourths miles in length, and cost a little short of eighteen hundred dollars. It is now called West St.

Our communication with the casterly parts of Mendon, with Bel- lingham, and thence with the easterly part of Blackstone, Woonsocket, R.I., etc., is through So. Milford. There our roads strike the old " Country Road," alias the later turnpike, which, as has been told, forms our southern boundary. What now bears the name of Sonth Main St., and its accessories, afford great conveniences of travel to and from central and So. Milford, in the directions above indicated. Previous to 1830 the old roads were crooked, narrow, and ill-graded. But during that year. in pursuance of orders from the county com-

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HISTORY OF MILFORD.

missioners, South Main St. was constructed and opened. It started from Main St., near the Godfrey estate, passed through the Nathan Wood place, and struck the old road at the easterly terminus of what is now called Cortland St. Thence it followed the travelled way to the present junction of Plain St., whence it took new.ground in a direct course through the Wedge lands to the old road again, opposite Elijah Warfield's, and thence to the Penniman store. The distance was about two miles and a-half, the ground comparatively level, and the materials of easy command. The straightening, widening, and grading altogether presented a very great improvement on the old route ; and the cost of construction was but about four hundred dollars, - a profitable expenditure. Probably all the incidentals did not raise the total above five hundred dollars. I call Plain St. one of South Main's accessories. It commences beyond the old Eli Bowker place, passes So. Milford schoolhouse, and reaches the " Old Country Road " at what was long known as the Nathan Allen place. It is an ancient highway, as we have already seen, has been improved con- siderably of late years, and accommodates much travel between Milford, Woonsocket, and the intervening region. Depot St. is another important accessory of South Main. It extends from Central St., below the depots, and passes southerly, by Vernon-grove Ceme- tery, out into South Main St., a little south of Wood St. It was laid out and built in 1860. It has a fair width, a level grade, and takes much travel to and from the immediate vicinity of the depots in connection with South Main St.

Our principal highway to Medway is called Medway St. It was located by the county commissioners, and built by the Town in 1835. Dominic McDevitt contracted to construct the whole of it, from Main St., between the then residences of Christopher C. Daniell and Zeba- diah Flagg, one mile one hundred and seven rods and fifteen links, to Medway line, for ninety-four cents per rod, or a total of about $401.50. It traverses a mainly level surface, crosses a cove of the famous " Great Meadow," and reaches the ancient Sherborn boundary a little beyond Thomas W. Woods's place, formerly Hiram Kilburn's. The territory along this border was inherited by Holliston from the mother town of Sherborn, and was retained till March 3, 1829, when the Gen. Court set it off to Medway, under an arrangement for rectifying town-lines. Thus Medway became our neighbor where Holliston had been aforetime, and she met this new avenue from our centre with one of corresponding excellence. Previously to 1835 our communication with West Medway was over a zigzag and poor road. Now we need no better one.

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History of the town of Milford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1881, Part 37

Author: Ballou, Adin, 1803-1890 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Boston : Rand, Avery, & co. Number of Pages: 1328

Author: Ballou, Adin, 1803-1890
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Boston : Rand, Avery, & co.
Number of Pages: 1328