USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Littleton > Proceedings of the Littleton Historical Society, No. 1 1894-1895 > Part 7
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
His father Nathaniel's health was poor in his later years, and his circumstances not over prosperous. The family con- sisted of nine children, four daughters and five sons. Mr. Proc- tor, youngest of the sons, was left fatherless at an early age, and when, (as soon occurred) the older sons went out from the old homestead to engage in business elsewhere, he was left alone, a mere youth at the time, to share, with his widowed mother, the care and support of the younger daughters.
91
LITTLETON HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The sole charge of out-door affairs, thus falling upon a mere boy, left him, of course, no time to pursue the study of books. Such education as he had already received was gained in the "Old North School," then kept in a building that stood south of and very near the one called the "Long Store." Its teacher, for a considerable period, was Ithamar Beard, well known in Littleton annals ; and it was attended by pupils from all parts of the town.
Among those who shared the instruction there given, were Sarah Dix, (who subsequently became Mrs. Dr. Frost) Thomas Russell Dix, now a resident of Pawtucket, R. I., Sabra Warren, Sophia Kimball (Mrs. Col. Nahum Harwood), and Jonathan and Cyrus Barker.
One whose filial relationship and hence more intimate knowledge entitle her words to weight, in speaking of Joel Proctor has said, " He was reared in the school of self-denial and self-sacrifice, through which his naturally strong and energetic character was toned and developed, bringing forth fruit, in his maturer years, of many kindly deeds and helpful ways."
The heirs of Mr. Proctor desire me to present, in their be- half, to the care and custody of this society, the below enumer- ated and herewith accompanying papers; some originals, others old time copies. They relate to his ancestors on the maternal or Russell side exclusively. No old papers in the Proctor name have come under our notice.
I. ("Capt.") John Russell's will, dated 1776. It names his four children, who were (1) John, Jr. (2) Samuel. (3) Lucy, who m. Conant. (4) Peter, who was in Harvard College in 1757. An old time copy.
The will disposes of a certain clock; now, and for many years past, the valued possession of a direct descendant of the testator.
II. Peter Russell's letter to his " Honored Parents," dated Cambridge, 1757. Original paper.
92
LITTLETON HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
III. A paper styled "Arbitrament, etc.," between Joseph Russell, of Menotomy (now Arlington) and his four brothers, John, Philip, William, and Jason. This paper (of date 1691) names their father William, then deceased ; from him all the Russells of Littleton appear to have descended, chiefly through his son John (second son above named.) The family of Nathaniel Russell, Esq., once prominent here, are said (by Mr. Samuel Smith) to be descended from John's brother Philip. Original document.
IV. Copy of the will, made and executed in 1660, of Wil- liam, the father, above named.
V. " Esquire " (Nathaniel) Russell's deed to John Russell, Jr., (dated 1756) of 55 acres, for the price. of 113s. 4d. (about 2s. per acre), lying " Easterly of Town Way, on Ridge Hill," and stretching " Easterly to Robert Proctor's N. W. corner." An original document.
VI. Letter of John Russell, of Princeton, son of John Jr., above named, to his honored parents at Littleton, of date 1791, original. (Ex-Gov. W. E. Russell was a great grandson of this John Russell of Princeton.)
VII. Original of a bond for 100£, dated 1721-22, "in the eighth year of His Majesty's Reign," involving a mortgage " made and passed to the commissioners, etc., etc.," in the year 1716, by David Russell and wife Abigail, (of Littleton in 1721-2), upon 16 acres of land described as " lying in Concord."
The " Commissioners " therein named were those appointed for Middlesex County in pursuance of a certain "Acte of ye Grat and General Court or assembly of ye Province," relating to " Publick Bills of Credit;"-a device for supplying a circulating medium of exchange, somewhat analogous to the modern "green- back."
Respectfully submitted,
EDWARD FROST.
1
WHAT OUGHT THE TOWN TO DO FOR THE BETTER PRESERVATION OF ITS RECORDS.
Read at a meeting of the Society, September 2, 1895, by Edward Frost.
In view of the extended and interesting programme other- wise provided, I shall endeavor to treat the subject to which I am assigned, with the utmost possible brevity, yet with an aim to bring out its salient features in a manner not utterly inade- quate.
In every community that enjoys a reputation for culture, there is coming to be manifested an interest in its own early history. A great and growing interest appears, for exploring the earlier stages and conditions through which it has passed, as ex- hibited in its records.
For the satisfaction of all interested to inquire, for the suc- cessful prosecution of the work which we, as a Society have organized ourselves to promote, for the good name of the town, as a centre of enlightened thought; yes, even for a bare compli- ance with the existing statutes of the Commonwealth, we are called upon to take steps, in town-meeting, for the better care and condition of our early records.
Of the statutory requirements, we shall say more hereafter. The present condition of the records will first claim our attention.
94
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
In common with many other towns of the Commonwealth, we find ours in sore need of-
I. Some systematic overhauling, and a competent and careful collating ; in accomplishing which result, transcribing, interleaving and referencing will not infrequently need to be done.
2. Scattered materials must be brought together in such form as may be best, on the whole, for obviating future disarrange- ment.
3. Perishing records must be rescued; pages in faded ink, and on loose tattered leaves, call for copying ; after which-
4. The original pages should be cared for in some proper manner.
So much work as is above outlined,-more or less extensive as may be requisite,- represents requirements which we encounter at the outset. This work once accompolished, accurate account may then be taken of the cost, as well as of the advisability (so far as left discretionary under the statute) of going further.
Questions of printing, of type-written or other duplications, etc., etc., will be better postponed till the pages can be connect- edly read over, and till they can be safely handled, for counting, for instance, as now they cannot.
It is expressly provided by statute, (in Public Statutes Chap. 37) that all town records and files shall be made and kept acces- sible to the general public, and conveniently arranged for examin- ation and reference.
Another section provides -(and when we say "provides" we mean requires) in case the original pages have become worn, mutilated, or illegible, fair and legible copies " shall be seasonably made," or caused to be made, " by the selectmen."
In Public Document No. 52, of the current year (Commis- sioner Swan's Seventh Report on "Custody and Condition of Records,") may be found some very instructive instances of well
95
LITTLETON HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
meant but disastrous attempts to comply with the law, where the work was entrusted to incompetent hands. None but the most expert, or thoroughly trained should be permitted to under- take the delicate and responsible duties involved in copying, repairing, collating or restoring fragmentary and dilapidated records.
I think the town should be asked to appropriate as liberally as it may feel inclined-(but not less than fifty or seventy-five dollars)-by way of a partial provision, by no means adequate, but at least helpful, as a starter, towards the (4) four objects above specified on page 94.
And, in conclusion, I venture to express a sanguine hope, that here,-as in other towns similarly circumstanced it has hap- pened, there may appear someone, whose private liberality will, for this most laudable object, come in to supplement the always over-burdened treasury of the town, when once we shall have se- cured its sanction, by its vote, enabling a small, but real and vis- ible beginning to be made.
Respectfully submitted,
EDWARD FROST.
.
THE INDIANS OF NASHOBAH.
Read before the Society, at their field meeting, June 17, 1895, by Herbert Joseph Harwood.
John Eliot in his "Brief Narrative" written in 1670 says, " Nashope is our next Praying Town, a place of much Affliction ; it was the chief place of Residence, where Tahattawans lived, a Sachem of the Blood, a faithful and zealous Christian, a strict yet gentle Ruler; he was a Ruler of 50 in our Civil Order ; and when God took him, a chief man in our Israel was taken away from us. His only son was a while vain, but proved good, expert in the Scripture, was Elected to Rule in his Fathers place, but soon died, insomuch that this place is now destitute of a Ruler."
This was the earliest Nashobah sachem of whom we have any knowledge, he is spoken of in different publications and records by the various names Tahattawarre, Tahattawan, Tahat- tawants, Attawan, Attawance, Ahatawance and Nattahattawants, under which last name he is recorded in Suffolk deeds, Vol. I. No. 34 as the grantor in a sale made in 1642, of a large tract of land on both sides of Concord River to Symon Willard in behalf of Governor Winthrop, Mr. Dudley, Mr. Nowell, and Mr. Allen.
The tract was in extent 3760 acres and the consideration " six fadom of waompampege, one wastcoat and one breeches." In the deed Nattahattawants is referred to as " sachem of that land " and is referred to by some writers as sachem of Musketa. quid (Concord), in view of which it is important to note that Eliot states that "Nashope" [Nashobah] was his, "chief place of Residence."
97
LITTLETON HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Barber gives Tahattawan jointly with Squaw Sachem as the vendors of Concord to the white settlers in 1635.
Tahattawan's only son who succeeded him as sachem of Nashobah was John Tahattawan, also referred to as Tahatooner by Samuel G. Drake.
Old Tahattawan had two daughters (at least), the elder of whom, Tassansquaw, married the celebrated Waban, and another Naanasquaw or Rebeckah married Naanishcow or John Thomas.
Tahattawan's son referred to by Eliot, John Tahattawan, was one of the signers to "An agrement mad betwene the In- genes of mashoba and the Town of concord" dated "20 of the 10 mo. 1660" and if the record on Concord books is an exact copy, both he and John Thomas signed their own names, while seven other Indians made marks, but the fact that John Thomas in 1714 signed a deed by mark, and also that the word " and " occurs between these two signatures on the record would tend to show that perhaps there is an inaccuracy in the record and all may have made marks.
This " agrement " of 1660 conveyed land which was after- wards known as Concord's second grant.
John Tahattawan died before 1670, and left a widow Sarah, daughter of Sagamore John of the Wamesits, and children, a daughter Sarah, otherwise called Kehonosquaw, and a young son who was killed at the age of 12 years, Nov. 15, 1675 at Wamesit, near Lowell, when a party of fourteen armed men of Chelmsford went to the Indian camp and wantonly fired upon them in re- taliation for the burning of a barn of which the Indians were sus- pected. Five women and children were wounded, among whom was the boy's mother Sarah, who was then a widow for the second time, having had as her second husband Oonamog, ruler of the praying Indians at Marlborough. In my " Historical Sketch " I made the error of confusing Sarah the widow of John Tahattawan with his daughter Sarah or Kehonosquaw.
98
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
After the death of John Tahattawan, Pennakennit or Penna- hannit was the chief of the Nashobah Indians, and was also " marshal general " of all the praying Indian towns and attended court at Natick. He was also called Capt. Josiah, and was no doubt the last who could be called Sachem of the Nashobahs, as he is spoken of by Gookin as chief in 1674, and in the year fol- lowing the settlement was broken up by King Philip's war.
Of the fifty or sixty living here at that time, only a few re- turned here after the war. The most of those who survived the starvation and exposure on Deer Island went to Natick after be- ing released.
Waban, as before stated, married Tassansquaw, the eldest daughter of old Tahattawan, and is supposed to have originally been of this vicinity, though it is not by any means certain; his name is also spelled Waaubon or Waubon, and according to Samuel Gardner Drake, signified "wind." He is said to have been about the same age as Rev. John Eliot and consequently was born about 1604.
Winthrop says that Eliot in beginning his labors among the Indians in 1646, preached " one week at the wigwam of one Wabon, a new sachem near Watertown mill, and the other or next week in the wigwam of Cutshamekin near Dorchester mill."
Being Eliot's first convert to Christianity and a man of much strength of character, Waban was of great assistance in gaining the good will and attention of other Indians and was recognized as a powerful man both by the white people and by the Indians, both Christians and those hostile in King Philip's war.
An instance of this is shown in the letters from Sam Sachem and other Indians begging for peace, printed by Samuel Gardner Drake. The first one dated July 6, 1676 is "superscribed " "To all Englishmen and Indians, all of you hear Mr. Waban, Mr. Eliott," and the addresses of three of these letters include Waban's name.
99
LITTLETON HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Waban was of Natick in 1674 and the chief man there when Gookin wrote in that year, adding " He is a person of great pru- dence and piety : I do not know any Indian that excels him."
He was alive as late as March 19, 1684, at which date he signed by mark the first of sixteen Natick Indians who sent a letter to Mr. Gookin inviting him to lecture, and is said to have died at Natick the summer following.
Waban's son, Thomas Waban of Natick, signed in 1714, a deed to the heirs of Col. Peter Bulkeley and Maj. Thomas Hinch- man of half of Nashobah plantation. I own the original docu- ment, showing Thomas Waban's signature in a good hand. Two other Indians who signed by mark were John Thomas and John Thomas, jr., also of Natick.
The town records of Natick were written at one time by Thomas Waban in the Indian language, and it is said he was also "a justice of the peace and once issued a warrant as follows :
" You you big constable ; quick you catchum Jeremiah Offs- cow ; strong you holdum ; safe you bringum afore me, Thos. Waban, Justice peace."
A story is told by Samuel Gardner Drake of Waban, which may perhaps more properly be told of his son, as follows : A young justice asked Waban what he would do when Indians got drunk and quarrelled ; he replied " Tie um all up, and whip um plaintiff, and whip um fendant, and whip um witness."
Thomas Waban's Indian name was Weegramomenit, as we learn from the deed to Hon. Peter Bulkeley of Concord and Maj. Thomas Henchman of Chelmsford dated June 15, 1686 convey- ing half of Nashobah plantation. At that time the Indian's could not legally sell, but were afterward given permission by the General Court to do so, which accounts for the second deed of the same land in 1714, previously referred to.
John Thomas or Naanishcow who married one of old Tahat- tawan's daughters is referred to by Gookin as follows :
" Their teacher [i. e. at Nashobah] is named John Thomas,
TAHATTAWAN.
1
Tassansquaw m. Waban
- John Tahattawan m. Sarah, dau. Sagamore John of Wamesits [She m. 2d Oonamog]
Naanasquaw alias Rebeckah m. John Thomas alias Naanishcow
I
Weegramomenit, alias Thomas Waban,
Only son killed at 12 yrs. of age 15 Nov. 1675 at Wamesit.
Kehonosquaw, alias Sarah.
Naashkenomenit, alias Solomon Thomas.
John Thomas jr.
table.
a sober and pious man. His farther was murthered by the Maquas in a secret manner, as he was fishing for eels at his wear, some years since, during the war. He was a pious and useful person, and that place sustained a great loss in him." By " teacher " he meant minister. John Thomas had sons, Solomon or Naashke- nomenit and John Thomas, jr. The relationships I have men- tioned will be better understood if arranged in a genealogical
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
100
IOI
LITTLETON HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Several of these relationships I established by the signatures to the deed of June 15, 1686, to Bulkeley and Henchman, and there also signed that deed, " Nuckommewosk, relict of Crooked Robin," " Natahoonet" and " Wunnuhhew alias Sarah, wife to Neepanum alias Tom Dublet," from which I infer they may have been also descendants of old Tahattawan.
Other Nashobah Indians were Nssquan, Merchant Thomas or Marchant Thoms, Wabatut, Great James Natocotus a blind man, Pompant, Gomps and " Mr. John Sagamore" who was the father of Sarah the wife of Tom Dublet.
Tom Dublet, otherwise called Neepanum or Nepanet, was a Nashobah Indian who deserves great honor for the distinguished service he rendered the colony in treating with the hostile Indians at the close of King Philip's war. With the other Christian Indians of this place, though with possibly one or two exceptions they were all loyal to the colony, he had been in violation of all justice and without proper authority confined on one of the islands in Boston harbor.
There was little ground for suspecting them, but it was dee med prudent by the Governor and Council to place them un- der restraint, and by an arrangement made through Maj. Willard, Capt. Gookin and Mr. Eliot who knew and understood the good Indians of Nashobah they had been placed in care of John Hoar of Concord, a good friend to them, who had built a large work house (Hoar referred to it as a fort) for them near his own dwell- ing which stood as Gookin says "about the midst of the town and very nigh the town watch house," etc. For a more full quo- tation from Gookin see my " Historical Sketch."
This was a good arrangement, but there are always people who will not let well enough alone but must continually meddle, and there were such in Concord in 1675.
Samuel Mosley, who had learned ferocity as a West Indian buccaneer and had been commissioned as a captain and sent out
102
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
to fight the hostile Indians, was sent for by these busy meddlers. In violation of the order of the Governor and Council, Mosley seized these fifty-eight Nashobah Indians and marched them off to Deer Island-his men meanwhile plundering them.
When it was desired to treat with the hostile Indians it was from there that Tom Dublet was brought in the spring of 1676 and consented at the risk of his life to make a journey into the wilderness in behalf of the Governor and Council.
Philip and many other Indians were then encamped on or near Wachusett mountain. Tom Dublet set out alone April 3, 1676, his special mission being to arrange for the release of prisoners, particularly the family of Rev. Mr. Rowlandson of Lancaster. He returned on the 12th bringing a letter from the sachems in which they declined to treat with one man, but offered to do so with two. Thereupon another Nashobah Indian, Peter Tatatiquinea, alias Conway, was sent with Tom Dublet and after returning again with letters, upon their second expedition to the same place accompanied by John Hoar they brought home Mrs. Rowlandson to Lancaster.
Again Tom Dublet was sent with Seth Perry to treat for the ransom of other prisoners, and still again as interpreter with Messrs. Peter Gardner, Daniel Chamney and Jonathan Prescott for the same purpose when they met the sachems by appointment " betwene Concord and Groaten," no doubt in this vicinity at or near Dublet's home and ransomed "old Goodman Morse of Waterton."
For all this important service for the state in which Dublet proved himself brave, faithful and discreet, after waiting eight years and petitioning for compensation, the Council voted him the munificent reward of two coats !
Joel Proctor used to relate traditions of Tom Dublet, saying that his hut was located near Mr. Proctor's house, and just across the street, that he was a good and tractable Indian, always
IO3
LITTLETON HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
friendly to white people provided they did not disturb him or fish in his " hole " a short distance down the brook. The fragments of an Indian pot presented to the Reuben Hoar Library by Mr. Proctor, he said were supposed to be Tom Dublet's pot.
Sarah Dublet, no doubt the same who was Tom's wife, was mentioned in the act of incorporation of this town in 1714, which says, "And that Five hundred Acres of Land be reserved and laid out for the Benefit of any of the Descendants of the Indian Proprietors of the Said Plantation, that may be surviving ; A Proportion thereof to be for Sarah Doublet alias Sarah Indian." In accordance therewith the " Indian New-town" or " Indian farm " was laid out in that year.
In 1734, Sarah Doublet, according to Shattuck's History of Concord, was the only heir to this 500 acres, "and being then old and blind and committed to the care of Samuel Jones of Con- cord she petitioned for liberty to sell it to pay her maintenance;" and it was granted for that purpose to Elnathan and Ephraim Jones of whom the latter sold to Tenney.
It is worthy of note that as the registry of deeds gives the deed of June 15, 1686 to Bulkeley and Henchman, Wunnuhhew (that is Sarah Dublet) was the only one who did not sign by mark, and her name is put first, while on March 6, 1684-5 both Tom Dublet and his wife had signed by mark, (the latter being given as Sarah Indian) a deed to the Willard family of 1000 acres in what is probably now Rutland, Mass.
James Speen or Spean was one of the Nashobah Indians, and his name is retained to this day in "Speen's field " and " Speen's End," it being the northerly end of Fort Pond. The late Francis P. Knowlton stated in one of his articles in the Lowell Mail, published in June, 1886, that on one of Rev. John Eliot's visits to this place about the year 1652, he preached " and James Speen with his Indian choir sung a psalm," not stating his authority for this interesting item.
104
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
Samuel G. Drake says that James Speen was among those whom Philip had hired some to kill; also James Speen was among those who sold land in Marlboro to Capt. Gookin and others in 1677. Whether these were all the same man and our Speen, I am unable to say ; but I think very probably they were.
Rev. Edmund Foster in his historical sermon delivered in 1815 says :
"At the south-easterly part of the town and on the northerly side of a pond lying there, the Indians erected and maintained a fort, which gave to the waters adjoining, the name of Fort Pond. The fort was built on an elevated spot of ground, occupied and improved by the Indians, according to their manner of cultiva tion. The principal owner, or oldest possessor of this plot of ground, was an Indian by the name of Spean ; and the land is known to this day by the name of Spean's field.
"The oldest apple tree in the memory of the inhabitants of Littleton, and probably the first grown in the town, was found standing in this field. Though it bore the marks of age and of some partial decay, yet it remained alive and continued to bear fruit till the twenty-third day of September, 1815, when it was blown down by the violent gale on that memorable day."
Francis Flagg, now eighty-three years old, and who formerly owned that portion of the land known as " Speen's field," tells me that the cellar-hole on the side hill north-east of the pond and near the spring, was where Speen lived. He has also pointed out to me where stood the apple tree mentioned by Rev. Mr. Foster in Speen's field at the foot of the hill and on the north side of a partially sunken wall. We therefore see that Mr. Fos- ter positively locates the fort as on elevated ground northerly from the pond, in Speen's field, and the same field in which the apple tree stood, and Mr. Flagg positively locates the tree.
Does it not then seem certain that Speen's cellar-hole and the location of the fort are one and the same? It is true that
-
IO5
LITTLETON HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
traditions differ as to the location of the fort, but I find more in favor of the cellar-hole on the side hill near the spring than for any other spot.
It must be remembered that the oldest Indians lived in Nashobah from 1646 and earlier to 1675, that a very few returned and Sarah Dublet was the last one, old and feeble, when the In- dian farm was sold in 1734. Therefore no Indians lived here of right after that date. It is certain, however, that Indians were here at times until about the beginning of the present century. Elbridge Marshall remembers a tall Indian named Hennessy or Henderson who used to come and go, and lived near the pond. Others now living or recently deceased remembered Indians, or had seen their ovens and traces of huts near the pond, on the " island " as we call the hard land surrounded by water and swamp, and on or near the flat ledge where the mountain cran- berry grows, but it must be remembered that these later Indians were squatters, who came and went by suffrance, and I believe I can suggest a good reason why they camped on the island near the pond. Their ancient burying-ground was there-somewhere -I am unable to locate the spot, but the late Jeremiah A. Tuttle told me it was " between the brook and the swamp," and I made a note of it at the time.
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.