USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Westford > History of the town of Westford, in the county of Middlesex, Massachusetts, 1659-1883 > Part 2
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Solomon Keyes, from Newbury, in 1664 had a grant of land on the north side of Frances Hill, and there he fixed his home, having married in Newbury in 1653 Frances Grant. From her no doubt the hill took its name. There is reason to suppose that he was here at a time still earlier than the date of his allotment. He appears to be the first permanent settler in the town of Westford and his family is the oldest in town. Not far from this time Joseph Butter- field seems to have settled on Frances Hill, and later the Wright family, on or near the farm now occupied by Edwin E. Heywood.
The Chamberlin homestead was in Chelmsford, not far from Westford line, and is now occupied by Charles Sheahan. The pioneer was Thomas Chamberlin, who was born in England, probably ; came first to Charlestown, was next of Woburn, and was of the first company that peo- pled Chelmsford. His grandson, Samuel, born in 1685,
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FROM SETTLEMENT TO INCORPORATION.
lived in the south part of this town. He (Samuel) was a man of some distinction. His name often occurs in connec- tion with the town or province affairs, and he was one of the original members of the first church here, formed in 1727. He died in 1769 in his eighty-fourth year.
The Fletcher homestead was in Chelmsford, but the family early spread into Westford, especially into the valley of the Stony Brook and the southwest part, and became very numerous and influential.
The Hildreth homestead was about midway between the Centre and the South Village of Chelmsford. This family also spread into Westford. A tract of land containing some five hundred acres on the east side of the town, came into their possession. It is not easy to give the exact bound- aries. It included the houses, with land attached, of Augustus Bunce, George Porter Wright, the Drew brothers (Thomas and George), Isaac G. Minot and Julian Hildreth. Providence Meadow was its northwestern limit, and the house of Edward Symmes stands not far from its eastern border. The Hildreths also took up two or three farms south and east of Tadmuck Hill, or that spur of it known as Prospect Hill. Four or five houses there were at one time known as Hildreth Row.
The Parkers owned homesteads near what is now South Chelmsford, and the Proctors in the neighborhood of Heart Pond. Samuel Proctor, son of Robert, settled near Sparks Hill before 1700. At an early date these families were quite numerous in the south part.
Thomas Blodgett, Jr., occupied a tract of forty acres on the west side of Tadmuck Hill, including the farm of the late Amos Heywood. Joseph Underwood, from Reading, held a tract on the east side of the hill, including the farms of Albert P. Richardson, the Ira Leland heirs, and A. and E. G. Spalding. The homestead of Arthur Crouch was near Underwood's. Robert Conant lived near the house of Charles L. Fletcher. Samuel Underwood owned three hun- dred acres east of Providence Hill, including the farm of the late Abbot Read.
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HISTORY OF WESTFORD.
Thomas Kidder settled near Nonesuch Hill. He was son of John and Lydia, and was born in 1690. He married Joanna, daughter of Joseph Keyes, in 1716. Peter Dill, and after him Benjamin Robbins, had a farm near Nashoba Hill, and near him was Jonathan Hartwell, øn the farm now occupied by Asaph B. Cutter. The Fosters- Moses and Elias-lived on the farms now owned by Henry P. Ruggles and the Millard heirs.
In 1679, Samuel Fletcher took up a piece of land on the west side of Great Tadmuck (twenty-six acres) the bounds of which were renewed in 1709. This was a part of Calvin Howard's farm. He subsequently made additions to his original grant until he owned about four hundred acres, extending to Sparks Hill and "Mackrill Cove," including the farm of Henry A. Hildreth, on which his grandson William settled about 1730, and the farm of Atwood Brothers.
Joshua Fletcher, Jr., owned a large tract in the vicinity of Boutwell's Meadow, extending southwest to Hop-Yard Swamp, southeast to the farm of the late Horace Pratt, including the farms of Stephen E. Hutchins, George Hartford and Rufus Patten. William Read, said to be a sea captain, had twelve acres on the east side of Boutwell's Meadow and Benjamin Butterfield a few acres adjoining, both parcels now included in the farm of the Coolidge brothers.
In the vicinity of Stony Brook was the farm of John Comings, who in 1707, or before, bought land and buildings near the present home of George B. Dupee. Adjoining him on the south was the allotment of John Spalding whose son Timothy seems to have settled upon it. Still further up the brook was the Bixby farm, including the farm of John Warren Day and the homestead of the late John Waldo Cumings.
The land in the vicinity of Brookside was originally in the possession of William Fletcher and Nathaniel Langley. The land west of the railroad at Westford Station was first held by Josiah Burge, whose house stood near the residence
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FROM SETTLEMENT TO INCORPORATION.
of the late Asia Nutting. He gave his name to Burge's Pond near by.
Ensign Joseph Keyes, before 1722, was in possession of land at Humhaw Brook, a small affluent of Keyes Pond ; and west of this was land owned by Thomas Read. Andrew Spalding settled on the north side of Keyes Pond, and beyond, north, was the farm of John Bates. At the head of Long-Sought-For Pond was the small farm of Simon Rumrill, who probably came from Enfield, Connecticut. He purchased of Joseph Spalding in 1727.
" In 1683, further provision was made for the ministry by a grant of ten acres of meadow for the use of the ministry forever. This land was in the northwest corner of the town near to Groton, in a place called Snake Meadow. It was leased to John Spalding and Arthur Crouch for a succession of years, for four shillings a year, payable in corn at two shillings per bushel .. It was given up to Westford as their part of the ministerial lands, when that town was incorpo- rated in 1729." (History of Chelmsford, p. 27.)
In the vicinity of the ministry meadow was the allotment to Jonathan Butterfield, in 1728, of " four acres at a hill called Millstone Hill." Also, of Jacob Wright, who lived on the Lyon place.
In 1669 the town of Chelmsford granted to Thomas Henchman, William Fletcher and Josiah Richardson, a parcel of land to encourage the erection of another saw-mill. This was a tract of land now principally in Westford, but · partly in West Chelmsford. It included the mill-site, now unused, on the tributary of Stony Brook, at Westford Corner. The brook is the outlet of Nubanussuck Pond and is called Saw-mill Meadow Brook, in the old deeds. This was the first mill of any kind within the limits of Westford, and the second saw-mill in Chelmsford, the first standing on River Meadow Brook in the southeast part. Neither of them were on Stony Brook. On this stream, from Forge Pond to its mouth, there are at least seven mill-sites, with a height of fall varying from eight to twenty-two feet, but not
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HISTORY OF WESTFORD.
one of them had been used at this date, 1669. The water- power at Forge Village, then in Groton, was first used about 1680, and this was the first point at which a mill was built on the brook.
In 1724, William Chandler, clothier, of Andover, but last from Billerica, bought of Nathaniel Longley twenty acres, on both sides of Stony Brook. This included the mill- site at Brookside, and soon after he built a fulling-mill and grist-mill. On that spot the business of dressing cloth was carried on for about one hundred and forty years.
The first garrison house in this town was probably built near the residence of Solomon Keyes, on Frances Hill. The foundation is still remaining ; another stood at Brookside, near the stone-yard of Noah Prescott. The house of Samuel Fletcher, near the present residence of Calvin Howard, was one of them ; it was torn down in 1814. There was one at Forge Village-the old Prescott house, burned in 1876. Undoubtedly there were others that were long ago demol- ished. It is supposed that the only one now standing is the house occupied by Eli Tower. These were strongly built with brick or stout oak planks between the studs, and the upper story sometimes projected over the lower one. In this way the people sought to protect themselves against the Indians. When night came on and the deep gloom of the forest settled down upon them, the women and children hastened to these houses, and in them they often heard the yell of the savage startling the night air. Be it remembered that King Philip's war occurred only twenty-two years after the planting of Chelmsford, and it may be that men from this settlement were engaged in that contest.
In 1663 the town of Chelmsford laid out a highway from Chelmsford to Groton, and this is the account of it on Chelmsford town-book : " Beginning at Beaver Brook Bridge and running over the north side of Robins' Hill, through Richard Hildreth's yard to the west end of Heart Pond, over the swamp to Chamberlin's Meadow, and so on towards Groton on the east side of Tadmuck Great Meadows."
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FROM SETTLEMENT TO INCORPORATION.
This route was indirect and circuitous. The road passed by the Elias Sweetser place, now occupied by Benjamin M. Fletcher, to a point near the house of George Hutchins, where it turned through the meadow around the Gilbert Parker house and across Nonesuch Brook, near the old Parkerville school-house, then led westward past Balch's, Martin's, E. J. Whitney's, Captain Smith's, and the West Burying Ground to Forge Village. The next road opened in the territory .of Westford was probably the one leading from Deacon Isaiah Spalding's, in Chelmsford, over Frances Hill to the Stony Brook Valley. It was laid past Warren Hunt's and School House No. Two, over Tadmuck Brook, up the valley to the bridge at Westford Station. Afterward it was extended past Warren Day's to Boutwell's Hill and over Boutwell's Brook, and came out near Forge Village, where it intersected the Groton road, mentioned above. These roads soon became thoroughfares for towns on the west. Over the southern one passed a large share of the travel from Groton and Lancaster to Boston, crossing Billerica Great Bridge, as it was called. This bridge, sometimes called Hill's Bridge, was built in 1658, removed higher up the river in 1662, and again removed in 1699. It was erected and supported at the joint expense of Chelmsford, Groton, Dunstable, Dracut, Westford and Billerica. Groton obtained an act of exemp- tion in 1699. (History of Chelmsford, p. 76.) Townsend was also compelled to help support it. (p. 18.) Dracut, Dunstable and Westford were holden till 1737, and Chelms- ford till 1792 .* (p. 77.)
The other road became the highway to Salem, which, before its decline, afforded a better market than Boston. Pork and rye were the chief articles of traffic, and these had to be transported by ox-teams, or on horseback; for in those days there were no wheeled vehicles save the lumbering ox- cart or wagon. Dr. Holmes' "one-hoss shay" was not yet introduced, and express wagons are a modern invention.
* Lancaster people came through Littleton. The house now occupied by Asaph B. Cutter was once a tavern for the accommodation of travellers.
.
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HISTORY OF WESTFORD.
The land north and west of the Railroad Station is now covered with a forest of pines which are cut and sold for fuel. The early settlers put the forests of their day to a different use. They tapped the pines and made tar and tur- pentine, and these products were probably carried to Salem. The town controlled the business so far as this : It gave permission to persons to use so many trees, and the license was recorded in the town-book. Among those who carried on the business were John Wright, who was licensed to use five hundred trees; Moses Parker, five hundred; and Thomas Robbins, three hundred and fifty. The ridge of land on which the North Burying Ground stands, was called Tar-kiln Hill, and it marks one place where these articles were manufactured. The region was afterward cleared and sown with rye; but the forest has again taken possession. Moreover, these two roads indicate the drift of population. The early expansion of Chelmsford plantation was north- ward and westward. Hence it was that the west precinct was so early and rapidly settled. The comparatively level and open lands of the Stony Brook Valley were taken up next after a few . homesteads on Frances Hill. They also seized the lands in Nonesuch, now Parkerville, and pushed on quite early to the plain lands on the margin of Great Tadmuck Meadow.
In 1713 the struggle began for the erection of the west part into a precinct. Again and again were petitions sent in without avail. Apparently in response to the first one, the following vote was passed : "March 2, 1713. Voted, that the town doth not esteme those petitioners that did petition to be a separate precinct capable at present."
While the question was pending the town of Littleton was incorporated, November 2, 1714; and the residents of that town doubtless selected their earliest location for a meet- ing-house and training-field, or common, near the boundary line of Chelmsford with the expectation that a portion of the westerly part of that town lying so remote from the centre would at a future time be annexed to Littleton. Seven fam-
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FROM SETTLEMENT TO INCORPORATION.
ilies were thus annexed for parish convenience and so remained until the west parish of Chelmsford was formed, when they were disannexed from Littleton by the General Court and included in said west parish, and Littleton took early measures for removing their centre about one mile southwesterly of their early location. The names of persons thus associated with Littleton were Joshua Fletcher, Josiah Whitney, Benjamin Robbins, Moses Foster, Joseph Hildreth, John Read and Samuel Chamberlin. (History of Chelms- ford, p. 35.)
"1716, May 5. At a meeting of the inhabitance legaly warned in order to the choyse of gospel minister, the Rev. Benjamin Shattuck chosen. These men was chosen, namely, Joshua Fletcher, Walter Powers, and Samuel Dudley, to treat with Mr. Shattuck." (Records of Littleton.) "1717, March 16. There was a vot past that the Inhabitance of Littleton joyne with the naiboring famelies of Concord and Chelmsford in a petition to the General Court to be layd oaf to us. There was also a vot past that two men of those of Concord and Chelmsford should be chose for assessers to assisit those of Littleton in making rates."
"1717, May 8. It was agreed upon that those of Concord and Chelmsford that paid to the minister's settle- ment, should have the same privilege in the meeting-house according to there pay as others have." (Littleton Records.)
About the same date, namely, January 4, 1716, the Chelmsford records have the following vote : "Voted that paying arrears those that have been petitioned to be dis- missed from paying toward the support of the minister here any further-it is voted that they be dismissed provided they bring a certificate from Littleton Clerk that they pay towards the support of the minister there, so long as they pay to the minister at Littleton." (Book B, reversed p. 29.)
"Littleton, March 4, 1716-'17. This may certifie whom it may concern that Joshua Fletcher, Joseph Hildreth, Moses Foster, Benjamin Robbins, Josiah Barrett, and Josiah
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HISTORY OF WESTFORD.
Whitney are obliged to pay to the minister at Littleton. Samuel Dudley, Town Clerk."
"March 3, 1718-'19. John Read and Samuel Cham- berlin are freed from paying to the minister, they bringing a certificate from Littleton." (Records of Chelmsford. )
Benjamin Robbins, Josiah Whitney, Joshua Fletcher, David Bixby, Moses Foster, Joseph Butterfield, Josiah Barrett, Joseph Hildreth, and John Proctor petitioned to be set off to Littleton, and their petition was denied March 17, 1719-'20. On the same day John Proctor, David Bixby and James Burn also presented a petition which was denied.
These requests seem to relate to the privilege of attend- ing public worship. But the following vote appertains to the troublesome question of a new parish.
"Voted that William Fletcher, Benjamin Adams, and Captain Jonas Clark give reasons why the petition of Joseph Underwood, John Comings, and Jonas Prescott should not be granted." This was in 1724. Shortly after a denial was in like manner given to Joseph Underwood and twelve others who wanted a school-master who could preach to them.
These extracts reveal the progress of the controversy which was earnest and protracted.
"We have already mentioned," says Allen, " the unsuc- cessful attempt of the west part of the town to become a distinct parish or precinct. This year, 1724, they again stated their inconveniences and complaints to the General Court, who granted them leave to be erected into a separate religious society by the name of the West Precinct of Chelms- ford. This act passed in May. In December following a committee was chosen by the town to make an equitable division between the old town and the new precinct. The Court ordered that the town should pay one hundred pounds to the west parish for their proportionable expense in building a meeting-house." (History of Chelmsford, pp. 36 and 37.) This was the house which the old town voted to build in 1710, which was erected in 17II and finished and accepted by the town in 1712.
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FROM SETTLEMENT TO INCORPORATION.
"Chelmsford, Nov. 10, 1725. Att a meeting of the Committee of the east precinct of the old town, it was ordered that Lieut. Wm. Fletcher of the sd precinct should receive the assessment that was made to pay Mr. Stoddard his Sallery and to pay the west precinct for there part of the meeting-house in the east precinct as pr the General Court's order."
So it was not until the west parish had appealed to legislative authority that payment was made. The amount paid was one hundred pounds.
Among other records of bills paid was this : "To Ens. Chamberlin for three days going down to the General Court for to wait on the Committee in there making report con- cerning the two precincts."
As soon as the General Court gave them leave to be a parish, the people took measures to build a house of worship, and the following seems to be the first recorded vote con- cerning it :
"May 5, 1724. Pay Ens. Chamberlin for nine days attendance on the surveyor in surveying the town and setting the meeting house spott." (Records Book B, p. 176.) This house was begun in 1724, but was not completed for several years. It stood near the site now occupied by the Church of the First Parish of Westford.
It is evident that notwithstanding the decree of the General Court, the people of the old town did not assent to the organization of the new parish any farther than they were obliged to by law. For it was not until the year 1727, three years after the act of Court, and fourteen years after the first agitation of the matter, that they withdrew all opposition and recognized the west precinct. After so long a test of their patience and strength of purpose, they were then con- sidered "capable" of self-government. The records give no hint of any feeling of triumph on the part of those who dwelt upon the hills and in the valleys of Tadmuck; but we may suppose that even then, those grave men believed with Galileo, that the world moves.
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HISTORY OF WESTFORD.
It appears from the records of the precinct, that Joseph Butterfield was collector in the year 1725-'26, when the amount of taxes put into his hands for collection was thirty pounds eleven shillings and four pence-less than one-third of the whole town assessment. But subsequently there was an additional sum of fifty pounds "towards finishing the meeting-house."
In the year 1726-'27, when Ebenezer Wright was treas- urer and Timothy Spalding collector, the tax levied was the sum of two hundred and fourteen pounds and three shillings. In the year 1727-'28, William Fletcher was treas- urer and Samuel Chamberlin collector, to whom was committed "the assessment granted to defray the charge of the ordination and the last finishing of the meeting-house ; that is, the sum of fourty pounds twelve shillings and eight pence." In 1728-'29, William Fletcher was treasurer and Paul Fletcher collector, and another assessment was made of "fourty-two pounds seven shillings and one penny, to defray the last finishing of the meeting-house." The records of subsequent years show that this "last finishing" was the rock of Sisyphus to them, which, after being rolled up the hill, always rolled down again, till in 1771 the house was sold, another having been erected to take its place.
The most significant event in the brief history of the precinct was the formation of a church, November 15, 1727. In the chapter on ecclesiastical affairs this will be properly noticed. The town was incorporated September 23, 1729, and assumed an independent existence, taking its place among the grandly historic towns of Middlesex County.
Seventy-six years had then elapsed since the first blow was struck in the forests of Chelmsford. To one who has witnessed the sudden and wonderful growth of towns in the Western States of the Union, this must seem but a snail-like progress. Compared with the present that was indeed the day of small things. But those years were the years of beginning in a country where wealth had not accumulated for generations ; and those beginnings were seminal, containing
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FROM SETTLEMENT TO INCORPORATION.
in them the germs of that completer civilization, that more enlightened faith, and that broader charity which mark the steps of true progress and determine the value of all worthy achievement. Those early efforts to make the solitary places glad were not misdirected. The new paths were rough, but the men who trod them were men who feared God and loved his cause.
The old world cast them out with hate; The new world took them in with love; And here they built a Christian state, With faith and hope in God above. -
Debtors to man's lore or skill, They bore the stress of constant toil;
With patience and unconquered will, They strove to make a stubborn soil
Pay tribute to unwearying care. Unlearned they were, uncouth and rough;
But men of faith and men of prayer; Men fashioned of the sternest stuff.
Were they not heroes, though their names Are blazoned not on martial rolls ?
True men whose sterling virtue shames The meanness of some modern souls ?
CHAPTER II.
FROM THE INCORPORATION TO THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR- THE CHARTER-FIRST TOWN MEETING -ADDITION OF TERRITORY FROM GROTON -FIRST TAX LIST -EARLY HOMESTEADS-OLD ROADS -SOLDIERS IN LOVEWELL'S EXPEDITION -NOTICE OF THE EXPEDITION TO CUBA, 1740 - SOLDIERS AT THE SIEGE OF LOUISBURG, 1745-FRENCH NEUTRALS - FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS-EXTRACTS FROM TOWN .RECORDS - REMONSTRANCE AGAINST THE STAMP ACT-SYMPATHY WITH THE BOSTON BRETHREN - THE SECOND MEETING HOUSE, 1770-'71.
THE long struggle for the right to be a precinct was now ended, but the people were not long contented with this. They desired the full privileges of a Town by enactment of the General Court. Accordingly a committee was appointed to draw up a petition, present it and enforce it by the usual arguments and appeals. This committee consisted of Joseph Underwood, Joshua Fletcher and Benjamin Robbins. The date of their appointment does not appear on the records, but "December 25, 1728, it was ordered that William Fletcher, Treasurer of sd Precinct shall pay to Joseph Underwood for going to the General Court to procure us a township the sum of 2 pounds. Also, to Joshua Fletcher for money paid for entering two petitions and other expenses in ordere to our being set off a seperate township the sum of one pound, two shillings." Also, voted, August 28, 1738, almost nine years afterward, " to allow Benjamin Robins one pound ten shillings for his going to boston to git us a Township."
The General Court acceded to their request and granted the following
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INCORPORATION TO BEGINNING OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
Charter.
ANNO TERTIO REGNI REGIS GEORGII SECUNDI.
An Act for Erecting the West Precinct of the Town of Chelms- ford into a Township by the name of Wesford .*
Whereas, the Inhabitants of the West Precinct in the Town of Chelmsford in the County of Middlesex, have addressed this Court, setting forth the many difficulties they now labor under as a Precinct, which might be effectually remedied if they were consti- tuted a Township :
Be it therefore enacted by the Lieut. Governor, Council, and Representatives in General Court assembled and by authority of the same,
That the lands contained in the said Precinct, as they are here- after set forth and described, be and hereby are set off and consti- tuted a distinct and separate Township by the name of Wesford. The bounds of the said Township to be as follows: Beginning at the South East Corner at a Heap of Stones, being the bounds between Chelmsford and the said Town of Wesford, thence running north to a chestnut tree marked and stones about it, so running on a straight line north to a tree marked at Coll. Tyng's Farm, thence Westwardly upon Coll. Tyng's Farm or Dunstable line to a heap of stones, thence Southerly by Groton line till it come to Littleton land, then upon Littleton land Southerly or Southeasterly, till it come to Concord Line, thence easterly on Concord Line to Bounds first mentioned. And that the Inhabitants of the said lands as before bounded and described, be and hereby are vested with the Powers, Privileges, and Immunities that the Inhabitants of any of the towns are or ought by Law to be vested with.
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