USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Townsend > History of the town of Townsend, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from the grant of Hathorn's farm, 1676-1878 > Part 2
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
ASH SWAMP is a large tract of land, situated at the eastern base of Battery Hill, containing about three hun- dred acres. Nearly half of this territory has produced grass naturally, from time immemorial. The land in this swamp, from the settlement of the town to the present time, has been coveted and owned by many persons, in
18
HISTORY OF TOWNSEND.
quantities varying from two to four acres. The fodder for a stock of cattle during the winter was considered by the farmers as incomplete without a ton or more of Ash Swamp hay.
Mr. Hill in his history of Mason (page 60), in order to show how carelessly records were made by the New England town clerks in the days of yore, very properly quotes from the Townsend records of 1737. the laying out of a road as a case in point. Ash Swamp was the objective point "where Horsley and Wallis and Brown and Wyman and Woodbury goeth along for their hay."
"Little Goose Pond" is situated on the old turnpike. just east of where the Potunk school-house stood. At present, the pond is much smaller than it was at the time this record was made. it having been partially drained. There is a drive-way through the edge of this pond from the turnpike, for the purpose of watering animals. The pond around its edges is at present grown up with flags. reeds and brush. "The Hither Goose Pond" is the small pond located nearly a quarter of a mile east of Little Goose Pond, sometimes called Davis Pond.
"Rackkoon Brook " drains in part the southern slope of West Hill, crossing the road a few rods at the west of the house of the widow of the late Adams Reed. This road. the laying out of which is quoted by Mr. Hill. start- ed from the southeast corner of Ash Swamp, near the mouth of Pearl Hill Brook (where there was a bridge across the Squanicook ). running easterly to a point on the turnpike near where the Potunk school-house stood, thence as the turnpike is now travelled, till it crosses the
19
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
road leading eastward from West Townsend; thence by that road, passing near No. 12 school-house, and onward southeasterly over Hathorn's Brook, on the line of the road which terminates near the old burying ground.
There are many instances in the town records con- cerning roads and lands, the laying out of which are much more obscure and difficult to locate than the one cited in the history of Mason.
It must be easily inferred that the town surrounded by these hills must be well watered by the rivulets, brooks and streams, which flow down their sides and at their bases, into the principal stream, which occupies the lowest level of its central basin.
The Koran says: "God is one; He has no partner. God is good ; He sendeth rain and water from the hills to cheer the waste places and to quench the parching thirst of all that drink."
The SQUANICOOK, running through the town from the northwest to the southeast, drains large areas of land outside of Townsend. It is not very crooked ; its general direction, in nautical terms, being nearly southeast by south until it approaches within, perhaps, a mile of the border of the town, where it makes a detour to the right and passes out between the corners of Groton and Shirley, and forms. in its onward course, the boundary between these towns. till it empties its waters into the Nashua. This river and its tributaries have furnished motive power both in and out of town, which has been utilized since 1734, at
20
HISTORY OF TOWNSEND.
more than twenty-five different places. There are high- ways and bridges crossing it at six different places, com- mencing at West Townsend and ending at the Harbor.
The principal tributaries to the Squanicook are the following, viz :-
WINSHIP BROOK has its source in the rough meadows at the westward of Mason Centre, where it receives the water from Merriam Hill and the southerly slopes of the hills situated north of that point. It runs to the south, taking the waters of several brooks in its course, till it flows into the northeast corner of Ash Swamp. The Win- ships, at different times, lived on both sides of this brook : one of the name owning a mill on it; hence the name. During a drouth this brook is dry, but when the snow leaves in the spring, or after a heavy fall of rain, its cur- rent seems hurrying along as though fearful of being late in putting in an appearance at the swamp.
The WALKER BROOK comes down by the side of the Greenville road and runs into the northwest corner of Ash Swamp, discharging its water into the Winship Brook, both of which united, constitute the Squanicook at its start, having its source in the southern part of Greenville, New Hampshire, and taking in through its course, waters from the corners of Ashby and New Ipswich.
LOCKE BROOK has its origin among the rough ledges and swamp holes in the south part of New Ipswich, at the north of the Ashby alms-house. It took its name from Hon. John Locke, once a member of Congress from this district, who lived on one of the Ashby farms. through
21
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
which it passes. It runs across the northeast angle of Ashby, and down a wild ravine, through which it enters the westerly side of Ash Swamp, penetrating nearly through the same till within a few rods of the Squani- cook, where it joins Willards Stream. This brook is fed by rivulets and springs, no brook of any size emptying into it during its whole course.
-
WILLARDS STREAM, probably called for Samuel Wil- lard, who commanded a company of scouts in 1725, which marched northwesterly from Lancaster. Massachusetts, in pursuit of Indians, is the largest tributary of the Squani- cook. Its source is a reservoir situated in the southwest part of Ashby. It drains the easterly slope of Blood Hill, a part of which is in Ashburnham. About two-thirds of the area of the town of Ashby is drained by this stream. After it leaves Ashby, south village, where its waters are utilized considerably, its course is easterly. For the dis- tance of half a mile before it reaches the margin of Town- send, its channel is deeply sunken between the hills, where it rushes onward, down the ravine and over its rocky bed, foaming and howling in its mad career, till impeded in its course by a massive stone dam thrown across the stream. where it partially "waits further orders." Its largest trib- utary is Trapp Falls Brook, which leaps into it just before it leaves the town of Ashby. It discharges its waters into the river, in the southeasterly part of Ash Swamp.
PEARL HILL BROOK has its source from the springs of Pearl Hill, in Fitchburg. Its course is northerly through a valley between a spur of the Turkey Hills and the western slope of Bayberry Hill, in connection with other
-í
22
HISTORY OF TOWNSEND.
highlands adjoining in Lunenburg. This is a favorite brook. It is never dry ; and it seldom remains frozen over in the winter for any length of time. There is a drive-way through it from the Ashby road, which is much used for watering horses. This is the fifth and last brook that flows into the river in Ash Swamp, closing in there just below the mouth of Willards Stream.
A brook flowing to the southwest, along the east base of Nissaquassick Hill, near Pepperell line, afterwards receiving the brook from the south side of the same hill, discharges considerable water into the river at the Harbor.
A nameless stream which takes its rise near the Old City, and runs northeasterly into the river between the centre of the town and the Harbor, and WITCH BROOK. which runs across the southeast angle of the town, and empties into the river easterly of Samuel F. Warren's house, together with those already described, are all the tributaries of the Squanicook from this town, the waters of which have been or are at present used for mill pur- poses.
There are only a few natural ponds in this town, and these are quite small :-
WORDEN POND, a small sheet of clear water, is sit- uated in the west part of the town, near Ashby line. It has no visible outlet ; and it has been thought that it has some subterranean connection with Pearl Hill Brook, through which that stream becomes replenished. About 1790, a pond now known as-
"DRAIN POND," situated on the sandy hill northerly of Worden Pond, was carelessly drained "just for fun." by
23
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
some hunters, who were basking in the Indian summer sun on its shores. The pond was full to its brim, swollen by the autumnal rains. A few scratches were made through the leaves and dirt from the water to the outer edge, at first causing a little current, which soon widened and widened, till the whole pond ran off with a tremen- dous roar, carrying fish, sand, and small trees uprooted in its track, a long distance. Since that time, thousands of loads of its mud deposits have been taken from its bed and used in composts for agricultural purposes.
WALKER POND is situated about half-way from West Townsend to the centre of the town, a short distance to the north of the highway. It was purposely drained to its present dimensions, more than one hundred years ago, by the proprietors of the lands around its shores, in order to obtain the soil which laid beneath its waters. Large quantities of mud have been removed from the bed of this pond.
The HARBOR POND is a beautiful sheet of water, which came into existence in 1734. by the dam necessary for the first mill privilege ever improved in this town.
The river, brooks and ponds, of this town, abound with the fish common to this vicinity. In order that the students of natural history of the next century may know what varieties of the finny tribe frequent these waters. at the present time, their names are here given : The brook trout (salmo fontinalis ) ; pickerel (csox reticulatis ) : perch (perca flavescens ) : shiner (stilbe chrisolencas) ; bream ( pomotis vulgaris) ; chub or dace (leuciscus cephalus) ;
24
IIISTORY OF TOWNSEND.
horned pout (pimelodus catus ) ; the eel (anguilla tenuiros- tris ), and the black sucker (catostomus). Worden Pond has many visitors in the winter for pickerel fishing through the ice. When the river is first covered in winter, while the ice presents a clear, vitreous appearance, holes are cut through it, at which two persons are generally stationed with poles having hooks firmly attached. Some of the sportsmen then go up the river on its banks, a consid- erable distance, and getting upon the ice, commence pounding and stamping to make a noise, which frightens the black sucker. This shy fish will commence running from its enemies, and pass the hole in the ice, where the hooks are let down into the clear water, when they become an easy prey, being snatched up with a dexterous jerk.
Spearing by torchlight was forbidden by an act of the town more than a century ago. but now in spring-time. Jack-o-lanterns may be seen, during the dark evenings, hovering along the banks of the Squanicook. The whole routine of fishing is carried so much to the extreme, that the angler seldom meets with his anticipated "luck."
The wild animals of any New England locality change so much at different periods, that it appears neces- sary to particularize. When the town was settled, a heavy growth of wood covered its whole area. Pitch pine, elm and maple, constituted the principal growth along the light land bordering on the river, while the hills were thickly covered with white pine, oak, hemlock, black birch. cherry tree, chestnut, and walnut.
Through these forests roamed the bear, wolf and deer, each of which turned its course from the smoke of the log- house of the Puritan. The deer remained longest, from the fact that all the towns on the frontier. at the return of
25
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
each annual town meeting, chose officers, whose duties were to protect the deer during their breeding season. These officers were called "deer reeves." The beaver has left marks of his presence, in several places, on some of the small brooks. A tradition has come down that a cer- tain rough swamp in the north part of the town, crossed in part by the Brookline road, was the last place which this cunning animal inhabited while here. To this day, the brook running through this swamp is called "Beaver Hole Brook." The otter (sutra ), although well adapted to self-preservation. is occasionally taken here in a trap. This animal leaves a peculiar track in the snow, so that when the streams and swamps are covered with ice so that it cannot travel in them in its journeys from pond to pond, it is occasionally overtaken and shot. The mink not hav- ing the bump of caution like its "great uncle," the otter. frequently leaves the water courses and makes a raid on the farmers' poultry-yard, once in a while at the expense of its life. Foxes and woodchucks are. perhaps, as numerous here as at any former period. while the raccoon is met less frequently. probably owing to the destruction of most of the heavy forests. The red and striped squirrels are numerous. The grey squirrel is less frequently seen than formerly, while the flying squirrel ( volucella ) is often seen, which is certainly one of the most curious, soft, gentle and beautiful of all living things.
"The Fowls of the Air" found here are not different from those in other places in this latitude. Formerly the wild pigeon was so abundant, that the catching and mar- keting of these birds took up the time of three or four of our citizens for the season. During the past five or six years scarcely a flock has been seen. Partridges ( bonesa
26
HISTORY OF TOWNSEND.
umbellus ) are plenty ; and the three notes in succession of the quail, frequently greet the ear of the husbandman.
The crow is very familiar with the farms and fields throughout the town ; amid the improvements of the times, including the whistle of the locomotives. the ringing of bells, and the sharp crack of the breach-loading rifle, he flaps his wings in the face of commerce. and steals from the corn-fields as adroitly as an office-holding politician. The owl still assumes his wonted gravity, and jealous of "Old Probabilities," he heralds the storm with his three "hoo, hoo, hooas," in notes that reverberate among the hills. The migratory birds, the sweet forest singers of June, and the confiding creatures, which build their nests around the garden walls and near the habitations of man. and wake him to his morning duties, all appear in their season to cheer and gladden the human heart.
At present the arborial productions of the town are principally white pine, pitch pine, three or four kinds of oak, hemlock, maple, two or three kinds of birch, chestnut, walnut. elm, ash and cherry: The probability is that eventually chestnut will become the most valuable timber of any to be found here.
As a farming town, Townsend is inferior to Lunen- burg and other towns in Worcester county, but compared with the other joining towns, it is naturally as good, and better than some of them. The farms have been neglected so that agriculture is not a branch of industry of which the people are particularly proud. Too much attention has been given to the coopering business, to the detriment of good cows, cleanly cultivated fields, and well filled barns, vet its inhabitants regard their lines as having "fallen in pleasant places, and that they have a goodly heritage."
27
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
The situation of the town is comparatively favorable for genial climatic influences. The first precursor of winter, in earnest, is seen on the powdered crests of the hills at the west and northwest, on the mornings which follow the cold, Thanksgiving rain storms. Snow appears in that direction, occasionally, two or three weeks before its appearance on Townsend soil. Certain changes in the air are noticeable in travelling to the northwest from Boston. In the spring, vegetation at Concord, a little out- side of the ocean air, is different from that at the tide- water. Commencing at the hills bordering Townsend on the west, another atmospheric change is noticeable : while at the distance of twenty-five miles further at the north- west, there is considerable difference in the climate. At the same time the extremes of heat and cold are greater on the plains here, than either on our own hills or those at the northwest. The cold waves of air following up the Nashua and Squanicook to the Harbor Pond, cause that village and its surroundings to be the most freezing locality in town. The peach tree flourishes on the hills because the mercury does not often fall to fourteen degrees be- low zero; while below that point, the cold spoils the bud which contains the embryon of this delicious fruit. The mercury at the Harbor has been known to indicate a temperature of thirty-five degrees below zero.
The provincial governor assumed the responsibility of giving names to towns and counties, which were generally called for one of his intimate friends or some person of rank, or of the nobility. Whenever a charter for a town or "plantation " was granted, by the Assembly, if the Gov- ernor did not fill the blank left for its name, when he
28
HISTORY OF TOWNSEND.
signed it, the Secretary of State would name it, frequently deferring to the wishes of the grantees. It appears that Townsend and Harvard were both chartered the same day, and that the Governor selected a name for the former ; and that the Secretary named the latter. It will scarcely be questioned that both of these officials showed good taste in their choice of names. The Governor named Town- shend in honor of Viscount Charles Townshend, His Maj- esty's Secretary of War, and his contemporary. The Secretary ( a graduate of Harvard University, ) chose the name of Harvard, in honor of John Harvard, the man who laid the corner stone of letters in the new world, who had been dead at that time nearly a century, no one know- ing the exact spot where his ashes were deposited. After the lapse of nearly another century ( 1828 ) the graduates of the university named for him, with filial regard and love for generous deeds, set up an appropriate granite shaft at or near his grave in Charlestown.
His monument is the University which will live as long as there is any enjoyment in or remembrance of American freedom.
"Charles Townshend, second viscount, an English statesman, born 1676, died 1738. He succeeded to his title at ten years of age, and, soon after taking his seat in the House of Peers, attached to the whigs, to whose prin- ciples he remained faithful during his whole career. In 1705, he was appointed one of the commissioners to treat for the union with Scotland. and in 1707, captain of the veomen of the Queen's guard : and in 1709, in the capacity of ambassador extraordinary to the United Provinces, he concluded the Barrier Treaty, for which he was denounced in the House of Commons in 1712. as an enemy to the
29
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
Queen and kingdom. The accession of George I. having brought the whigs into power, he was appointed one of the principal secretaries of state. and took the lead of the administration until the summer of 1716, when, owing to the intrigues of his colleagues in the ministry. Lord Sun- derland and Gen. Stanhope, he was dismissed from office. Upon the reconstruction of the Ministry in 1721, he resumed his old position of state, Walpole becoming first Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer. Walpole and Townshend quarrelled, and Townshend re- signed his office in 1730 and retired to his seat in Rainham, where he devoted the remainder of his life to rural pursuits. He was a man of ability, though an indifferent speaker. and left office, says Lord Mahon, 'with a most unblemished character, and what is still less common-a most patriotic moderation.' He was somewhat overbearing in manners, and of an impetuous and irascible temper."*
About 1780, the town clerks and others began to spell Townshend by omitting the h and giving it its present orthography. Thence till about 1800, the custom was to spell the word both ways: since which time the correct method of spelling has been abandoned. perhaps. contrary to the principles of good taste or justice.
The first official census of Massachusetts was taken in 1765, when the population of the State was only 238,423. a number not quite equal to two-thirds of the present inhab- itants of the city of Boston. The population of the Com- monwealth in 1875. according to the decennial census, was
* Encyclopædia Americana.
5
.
30
HISTORY OF TOWNSEND.
1.651,912. At the different periods when the census has been taken this town has had a population as follows :
1765.
598. 821.
1830,
1506.
1776.
1840,
1892.
1790,
993.
1850, 1947.
1800,
II49.
1860.
2005.
1810.
1246.
1865,
2042.
1820,
1482.
1875,
2196.
This table shows a regular gain of inhabitants between each decennial return, the greatest being between 1830 and 1840. Between 1860 and 1865 the population was affected by the rebellion. The objective points of many people belonging to the rural towns of Massachusetts, are the large cities and the west. Of this number of fortune seekers and emigrants, Townsend has furnished its full share from time immemorial.
CHAPTER II.
LAND GRANTS AND ORIGINAL PROPRIETORS.
Frequent Grants by the Assembly-Hathorn's Farm-Jonathan Dan- forth-Grant of two Towns on the westerly side of Groton west line-Proceedings of the Committee assembled at Concord to grant out said Townships-Names of the Persons to whom Lots . were granted-Some Account of the Disagreement between the Proprietors of Dunstable and the North Town-Report of Sam- uel Danforth concerning the Condition of the North Town in 1730-Charter of the Town of Townshend-Other Land Grants- Cambridge Grammar School Farm-Groton Gore-Location of the Province Line-Earliest Settlers known-Allotment by the Committee of the Proprietors-Account of some Early Settlers- Warrant for calling the First Legal Meeting-Isaac Spaulding- Customs and Fashions of the Early Settlers-Proceedings at the First Meetings of the Proprietors-Proprietors' Clerks-Modera- tors of the Meetings of the Proprietors-Influence of Concord Men in the Settlement of the Town.
The incidents attending the settlement and progress of any New England town must be interesting to many people. Those persons who pass their lives at or near the place of their nativity are by nature patriots in the strictest sense. The history of their town. is nothing less than an account of the acts of their ancestors, their struggles with poverty, privation and oppression, under the greatest disadvantages. An eminent English jurist has said. that. "whoever does not look back to his ancestors will never look forward to his posterity." The emigrants from our towns who have made themselves homes on the western prairies, men who are
32
HISTORY OF TOWNSEND.
upholding our flag wherever either commerce or diplomacy has ordered its presence, the tenants of some rude cabin on the Pacific slope, all who have gone out from us and are now actors in the great theatre of merchandise, the sailor on his night watch and the missionary at the consecrated work, all ponder on the old birthplace with all-absorbing pleasure as time rolls along. It may be a question whether the lives of the "rude forefathers" who "hewed down the wilderness ;" endured all the hardships of a frontier life ; planted these colonies and gave to man "Freedom to wor- · ship God." are not more entitled to our regard than are the men whose valor in the revolution freed us from tyrants. We must not forget the heroic acts of our people at all times, whether we consider their bravery during the long years of their undivided support of the principles contained in the Declaration of Independence. or the great effort which placed that stupendous army in the field which fought the decisive battles of the rebellion.
For more than half a century after Groton and Dunstable were chartered, all this region at the western borders of these plantations, of which Townsend was a part, remained an unbroken wilderness. The most acces- sible lands on the coast of the province and along the fertile banks of the rivers were eagerly sought for by the puritans, while the rough and unpromising hills were unchosen and unoccupied by human beings. Even the Indians had no permanent abode in this vicinity nearer than Lancaster. The barbarities of the savages in murdering the inhabitants and burning some of the earliest settled towns during the Indian wars caused these pioneers to keep within easy distance of their garrison houses and prevented the spreading of the population. The territory
33
LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETORS.
of some of the oldest towns was purchased of the Indians for a few pounds of tobacco, some woolen blankets and a handful of worthless trinkets. The red man laid no claim to lands in Townsend.
The General Court from 1660 to 1740 was liberal in its land grants with a view to foster the subduing and settle- ment of the province. in order to increase the number of churches and make room for "the learned orthodox minister." Lands were also granted for military and civil services rendered the government, and particularly for educational purposes. As early as 1660, a tract of one thousand acres situated on the Souhegan river in the extreme northwest corner of Milford, New Hampshire, was granted to the town of Charlestown. for a "School Farm." The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, of Boston, had a grant of one thousand acres of land which is now that part of the city of Nashua, New Hampshire, just north of its central bridge and the factories. "Boardman's Farm lying near the centre of Lunenburg," a tract of six hundred and forty acres, was another of these grants.
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.