USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Boxford > The history of Boxford, Essex County, Massachusetts, from the earliest settlement known to the present time: a period of about two hundred and thirty years > Part 4
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* Hundreds of plans of these tracts of land, highways, &c., have been made by the author. We have no doubt but that, if we had time, a very good map might be made of these ancient landmarks.
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
Gould, on other parts by various persons, touching upon Fishing brook and Wade's neck, so called.
"To Abel Longley, eighty acres ; bounded south-east by said Lambert and Gould, south-west by Fishing brook. Also a hundred and twenty acres more, bounded north by Baker's meadow, on Pye brook, and by various persons.
" To Samuel Brocklebank, two hundred acres; bounded south-east by Topsfield line, north by Baker's meadow at Pye brook ; on other parts by various persons.
"To Ezekiel Northend, three hundred acres, in two parcels ; one parcel lying upon the Village plains, so called; the other piece is bounded north-westerly by Elder's pond, &c.
" To Thomas Dickenson, two hundred acres, adjoining the way to Andover on the north ; the south side is by land belonging to Tops- field men, hereafter named.
" To John Pickard, four hundred acres ; bounded north by the line between Rowley and the village land, by land of E. Northend, and Elder's pond; west by a highway six rods wide, running from the head of Elder's pond to Andover way. Also four hundred acres more, lying easterly of the above piece. Also a hundred acres more, lying easterly of the last piece. Also two hundred and fifty acres more, lying near Johnson's pond, and adjoining the line of Merrimack lands on the north. Bounded easterly by the line between the three thousand acres belonging to Rowley and the village lands.
"To Thomas Dickinson, a hundred acres ; bounded north by the minister's farm; also bounded by the Great pond, and by Sedgy meadow.
"To the Topsfield men, Goodman Dorman, Goodman Peabody, and the rest, six in all, twelve hundred acres. Bounded south by the Fishing brook, west by John Pickard, north by Ezekiel Northend and others, east by Abel Longley.
" To Thomas Leaver, sixty-seven acres ; bounded north by John- son's pond, east by John Pickard [see p. 398].
"To John Sandys, in right of his father, Henry Sandys, two hun- dred acres ; bounded north by the line of Merrimack and a pond, east by undivided land.
"To Wm. Stickney, Wm. Tenny, Thos. Palmer, John Burbank, Peter Cooper, Wm. Scales, to all these sixty-seven acres each, or four hundred and two acres.
" To Richard Langhorn, a hundred acres. These seven have their land together. It lyeth on both sides the highway that goeth from Ipswich to Andover; that on the north of the highway, runneth from
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
the highway at the head of Elder's pond, taking in the little pond and meadow around it, to land laid out to Mrs. Rogers, in right of her first husband, Thomas Barker. The part on the south side the Andover road is bounded east by Thomas Dickinson, by a line running near the five-mile pond; south by a line running near the north side of Humphrey's pond ; west by land of Thomas Dorman, John Cummins, and Robert Stiles ; north by said Andover road.
"To Thomas Dorman, John Cummins, and Robert Stiles, four hundred acres ; bounded east by land of William Stickney and others ; west by Andover line; north by a highway which separates it from Mrs. Rogers' land, in part, and part by other people's land ; south with a line running straight from Andover line to a clump of trees on the north side of Humphrey's pond. These boundaries include a piece of meadow called Fry's meadow, before laid out to Mr. [Philip] Nelson.
"To Francis Peabody, Joseph Bixbie, Abraham Redington, and William Foster, eight hundred acres ; bounded north by land of Dor- man, Cummins, and Stiles ; west by Andover line; south by Wade's brook, &c .; east by various lots of land.
" To Mrs. Mary Rogers, as the right of her former husband, Thomas Barker, a thousand acres ; bounded east by the line of the three thousand acres, so called, of the town's land, and land of William Stickney and others ; north by meadow * laid out to the Heseltines and to Hadley ; west by John Johnson and others ; south by the high- way leading from Topsfield to Andover.
"To John Johnson, sixty-seven acres; bounded east by Mrs. Rogers, north by the Heseltine meadow.
"To Charles Brown, sixty-seven acres ; bounded east by Johnson, north by Heseltine's meadow.
" To Richard Wicom, sixty-seven acres ; bounded east by Brown, north by Heseltine's meadow, west by Andover line.
" To John Spofford, sixty-seven acres ; bounded east by Wicom, west by Andover line.
"To Richard Swan, in right of Michael Hopkinson, sixty-seven acres ; bounded by Andover line.
"To Joseph Chaplin, in right of his father, Hugh Chaplin, sixty- seven acres ; bounded south-east by Hopkinson, west by Andover line.
"To John Dresser, Sen., sixty-seven acres ; bounded south-east by Chaplin, west by Andover line.
* This meadow, by the change of town lines, is now included within the boundaries of the town of Georgetown.
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
"To Mr. [Philip] Nelson, two thousand acres ; bounded by Andover line on the south-west ; the line of the Merrimack land on the north- west, extending the last line to a marked tree at the south-west part of the Little pond, so called; north-west, part by John Sandys' land ; south by John Dresser's land. This includes some meadow laid out to Joseph Jewett, with his land at the neck.
" To John Trumble, seventy acres, adjoining Johnson's Pond." *
The second lot- three thousand acres to the town of Rowley -comprised the western half of the present town of Georgetown. The following year, Rowley laid. out a farm at the "Gravelle Plain, near the Bald Hills," in the three thousand acres. This farm was located upon what is now known as Spofford's Hill in Georgetown. The farm was leased for twenty-one years to John Spofford, who came from Yorkshire, Eng., with Mr. Rogers' company in 1638, and settled with them in Rowley, Mass., where he continued to reside until his removal to the farm, leased as above, in the spring of 1669. After the farm was laid out, and before it was leased, a clearing was made for a pasture on one of the hills, which was afterward known from this fact, probably, as Baldpate Hill. This removal of Mr. Spofford's was several miles into the almost unbroken wilderness. He was the first settler of Georgetown, and was, beyond all reasonable doubt, as Dr. Spofford truly says, the progenitor of all the name in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Canada. For the first five years he was to pay as rent, three hundred feet of white- oak plank; and after that time ten pounds each year - one-half in English corn at price current, or Indian corn if he pleases ; the other half in "fat cattel or leane," at price current. This lease was assigned over to his sons John and Samuel, 16 March, 1676, and the rent reduced to eight pounds, and to be wholly remitted "duringe the time of the Indian wars," and it was extended by agreement three-
* The above is a verbatim transcript from Gage's History of Rowley.
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
score years from the date thereof. At the expiration of the lease the farm reverted to the town. The northerly part of the farm was then leased for nine hundred and ninety-nine years; the southerly part continued to be let on seven-years' leases, till 1851, in which year it was sold to Mr. Sewell Spofford.
John Spofford m. Elizabeth -, by whom he had the following children, viz .: I. Elizabeth,2 b. 15 Dec., 1646. 2. John,2 b. 24 Oct., 1648; m. Sarah Wheeler; lived on the old farm many years, and died 22 April, 1696. 3. Thomas,2 b. 4 Nov., 1650; m. Abigail Hagget, 22 Sept., 1668. 4. Samuel,2 b. 31 Jan., 1653; m. Sarah Burkbee; lived on the old place, and d. I Jan., 1743, aged ninety-one years. [Samuel's 2 son Samuel 3 was the first of the. name that settled in the present town of Boxford.] 5. Hannah,2 b. 1655. 6. Mary,2 b. 1656. 7. Sarah,2 b. 15 Jan., 1658 ; d. 15 Feb., 1660. 8. Sarah,2 b. 24 March, 1662 ; m. Rich- ard Kimball. 7. Francis,2 b. 24 Sept., 1665; m. Mary Leighton.
Among the descendants of John Spofford are many prominent men of. several generations, who have made themselves public benefactors, have bravely led on the field of battle, taught religion in the pulpit, and have practised the healing art with good success. The educators and the educated have been honored by their company. Among these we have room to mention but two or three, viz., Gen. Ira Spofford, Dr. Jeremiah Spofford, and Ains- worth R. Spofford, Librarian of Congress at the present time.
This " three thousand acres" continued to be within the limits of Rowley Village until the incorporation of the town of Boxford in 1685, when the line between the two towns was settled nearly as it is at the present time, thus annexing the " three thousand acres" to Rowley. This was afterwards a part of New Rowley (Georgetown), and in
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
1838, April 21, was incorporated, with other lands, as Georgetown. The settlement of the "three thousand acres " was not continued till the beginning of the eigh- teenth century, when the southern part of the tract was rapidly taken up by new settlers, the common land in that section having been laid out in plots of five acres each, and known by the letters of the alphabet, A, B, C, D, E, &c.
CHAPTER III.
1665-1685.
CHURCH AT TOPSFIELD. - REV. WILLIAM KNIGHT. - REV. WILLIAM PERKINS. - FIRST MEETING - HOUSE IN TOPSFIELD. - REV. THOMAS GILBERT. - EARLY SETTLERS, 1665-70. - ROAD FROM TOPSFIELD TO HAVERHILL LAID OUT. - PICKARD'S FARM. - ELECTION. - MILITARY MATTERS. - IRON WORKS. - " MINIS- TER'S FARM." - REV. JEREMIAH HOBART. - PETITIONS. - IN- DIAN WAR OF 1675-76. - VILLAGE OFFICERS. - EARLY SET- TLERS, 1670-85. - MILITARY ORDERS. - CHURCH AFFAIRS. - REV. JOSEPH CAPEN.
OPSFIELD was first settled in 1635. Preaching was first carried on there in 1641, by Rev. William Knight, a resident of Ipswich, which town paid him for his services. Mr. Knight died, as is supposed, in 1655, as in that year Rev. William Perkins came hither from Gloucester to preach the gospel. Mr. Perkins had been the spiritual guide of the little band of worshippers then living in Weymouth, and removed to Gloucester in 1646, where he continued in the ministry from 1650, for five years, when he came to Topsfield to take charge of spiritual matters there. To his preaching the carliest settlers of Rowley Village (Boxford) listened from sabbath to sabbath, and received the true essence of piety and holiness of life. Far from being an Antinomian or a Liberalist, he preached, whether his audience bore or forbore, the truth in a manner that would make our minis- ters of to-day, who claim to be orthodox, hide their faces
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
for shame. It is said of him that he could pronounce the word "damn " with greater emphasis than any other man. Mr. Perkins was son of William Perkins, a merchant-tailor of London, Eng., where, by his wife Catharine, William was born, Aug. 25, 1607. In 1633 we find him associated with John Winthrop, jun., in the settlement of Ipswich. He was made a freeman in 1634. He married Elizabeth Wooton, at Roxbury, where he was then living, Aug. 30, 1636, by whom he had several children. One of his daughters married a son of Gov. Bradstreet, and thus be- came the ancestor of him who is now penning these lines. In 1640 he revisited his native country, and after his re- turn removed to Weymouth, which town he represented in the General Court in 1644. He was the leader of a military company, and one of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. It is not known that he was ever set apart for the work of the ministry by ordination, or that he was recognized by the ministers of his time as a fellow-laborer of equal standing and authority in the vineyard of the Lord. He preached in Topsfield until Mr. Gilbert was settled (in 1663), when Mr. Perkins turned farmer, and spent the remainder of his days in that pursuit .* He died in Topsfield, May 21, 1682.
The meeting-house in which our first settlers worshipped stood near the residence of the late Sylvanus Wildes, Esq., near the Newburyport turnpike, in the east part of Tops- field. It was without a pulpit, but was probably a very good edifice for the times. In 1663 the church was gath- ered in Topsfield, and Rev. Thomas Gilbert invited to settle over it. This Mr. Gilbert agreed to do if those of Rowley Village would pay their share of his salary, &c. This the Villagers agreed to if the Topsfield people would move the meeting-house so as to be more convenient for
* Babson's History of Gloucester, pp. 193-195; Cleaveland's Address, pp. 33, 62.
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
them to attend divine service. The Topsfield people agreed to this, and accordingly moved the meeting-house into the south-east corner of what is now the cemetery, near the residence of Mr. Samuel Todd.
Nov. 4, 1663, Rev. Mr. Gilbert was installed as pastor of the little church in Topsfield. Besides the Rowley Villagers, the settlers of Linebrook Parish, Ipswich, also attended church there. Mr. Gilbert, by birth a Scotchman, had been a clergyman of the Established Church at Chedlie and at Edling, in England. He was one of the two thou- sand clergyman who were ejected from their benefices by the Act of Uniformity in 1662 ; so that he came almost directly from an English vicarage or curacy to minister to the spiritual wants of the incipient church in Topsfield .*
After the Village lands were laid out, several new settlers came here immediately, viz. :-
DANIEL BLACK, a Scotchman by birth, was in New England as early as 1660. The first we know of him is from the court records, where we find that : " 1660, Sept., Daniel Blake is fined £5, and respited for £4, condi- tionally, for making love to Edmund Bridges' daughter, without her parents' consent." This daughter was Faith Bridges, whom he afterwards married. In 1664 he com- plains of his wife. „It does not appear that he owned land in Boxford ; he owned a small tract in Topsfield in 1663. A Black family lived easterly of the residence of Benjamin S. Barnes, Esq., about a hundred and fifteen years ago, but the original settlement was probably near Fish Brook. He was probably employed by the iron com- pany here, as we find by the court records that he sued Henry Leonard for a debt of £5 12 s. 10 d., and received satisfaction by the court at Ipswich, in September, 1673. The following births of his children are recorded : I. Dan- iel, born 24 Aug., 1667. 2. Mehitable, b. 10 March, 1671.
* Cleaveland's Address, p. 33.
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
3. John, b. 28 July, 1672. 4. Edmund, b. 6 Feb., 1674. He probably had another son, James, who married Abigail about 1700, and lived in Boxford, where his chil- dren and grandchildren also lived. This emigrant was poor, as the following extract from the town records of Boxford proves : -
"The 12th of June in [16]88 the Selact men of Boxford met to hear of the pooer & did order daniell Black Juner to help hif father af much af hee head need of in hay time & to give a Count of it to the Selact men."
Daniel, the father, died Dec. 5, 168 -. Of the other children, except Daniel, we know nothing. Daniel was a weaver by trade, and married, first, Mary Cummings of Topsfield, July 14, 169-, who died Dec. 16, 169 -. Then he married, secondly, Sarah Adams of York, Me., July 19, 1695, and immediately removed to York, where he was living the following May. Of his circumstances there, or of his posterity, nothing is known. For forty-two pounds, while of York, he deeds to Daniel Wood, sen., of Boxford, May 28, 1696, sixty-two acres of upland and meadow lying in Boxford. Twenty-eight acres of this land was in the vicinity of Stetson's Pond, and the remaining thirty-four acres across the Andover road from this piece. No living descendants of this emigrant are known to the writer. The name has been extinct in Boxford for a century.
MOSES TYLER, born in Andover, probably, in 1642, was undoubtedly son of Job and Mary Tyler of that place. He married in 1666, and probably settled here in that year. He lived where Capt. Enoch Wood now resides, a part of the present house being, tradition says, a part of the original mansion. His father's family, no doubt, settled here with Moses, as in the list of families in Rowley Village, in 1680, two Tyler families are named -" Old Goodman Tiler's," and "Moses Tiler's." Moses Tyler was made a freeman, October, 1690. He repeatedly served the town
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
as selectman, committee-man, surveyor, &c. He was known as " Quartermaster" Tyler. He married, 6 July, 1666, Prudence, daughter of George and Dorothy Blake - early settlers of the town. She died 9 March, 1689. He was living in 1712. Their children were: I. Moses,2 born 16 Feb., 1667. 2. John,2 b. 14 Sept., 1669. 3. Joseph,2 b. 18 Sept., 1671. 4. Ebenezer,2 b. 17 Dec., 1673. 5. Job,2 b. 16 Dec., 1675. 6. Samuel,2 b. 2 May, 1678. 7. Nathaniel,2 b. 14 Aug., 1680. 8. Joshua,2 b. 4 July, 1688. Mr. Tyler married 2d, Martha -, who was born in 1649, and died 13 Feb., 1735, at the age of eighty-six years. Moses 2 m. Ist, Sarah -, by whom he had a son Jacob, born 9 Jan., 169 -. He married 2d, Ruth Perley of Ipswich, 3 Jan., 1693-94, who survived him, and died in Andover (?) IO May, 1738, aged sixty-two years. They removed just within the town of Andover about 1698 ; and he died, leav- ing several children, 11 Oct., 1732, aged sixty-five years. John 2 was a captain in the militia, which title he honorably bore to his death. He probably settled on the old home- stead, where his descendants have ever since resided. He married Anna Messenger of Boston, who was born in 1677, and died II Feb., 1745, aged sixty-nine years. Her husband survived her until 17 June, 1756, when he died at the age of eighty-seven years. A lineal descendant of the name, Miss Mercy Wood Tyler, aged eighty-six years, and her sister Mehitable (Mrs. Enoch Wood), now reside on the old place. Ebenezer 2 m. Elizabeth -, who was born in 1668, and died 9 April, 1745, aged seventy-seven years. He died I Dec., 1743. Their issue numbered eight, - several of whom resided in Boxford. Job 2 also resided here, and had by his wife Margaret several children. Tyler has always been a common name in Boxford, especially in the West Parish.
JOHN KIMBALL was an inhabitant of Boxford as early as 1669, - his first child being born here that year. 24 Aug.,
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
1665, Richard Hubbard, Gent., of Ipswich, confirmed to Richard Kimball of Wenham his farm in Rowley Village, which he purchased of Deacon William Goodhue, and the said Goodhue purchased of Robert and Nicholas Wallis, and which was confirmed to the Wallises by Joseph Bixby (who purchased it of Joseph Jewett of Rowley, the original owner), I July, 1661. On this land, probably, John Kim- ball settled. The remains of the cellar of his residence were unearthed a few years since near the residence of his descendant, the late Moses Kimball. He was undoubtedly son of Richard Kimball of Wenham, the owner of the land. John Kimball was made a freeman 22 March, 1689-90. He was styled " Corporal." He was a tax-collector for the Village in 1675, and the frequency with which we meet the name of "Corporal Kimball " upon the early records of Boxford proves that he was prominent in his adopted town. By his wife Sarah he had the following children, viz. : I. Sarah,2 b. 19 Sept., 1669; m. William, son of William Foster- an early settler. 2. Mary,2 b. 15 Jan., 1671 ; m. Benjamin Kimball of Ipswich, 16 Jan., 1694-95. 3. Rich- ard,2 * b. 28 Sept., 1673. 4. Abigail,2 b. 29 April, 1677 ;
* The following is the line of descent of the present Kimballs in Boxford from John's son Richard : -
Richard2 m. Hannah, dau. of Ephraim and Mary Dorman of Topsfield, 22 Feb., 1698-99. Their remains lie in the old cemetery near the residence of Mr. Walter French. He d. 22 April, 1753. She d. - March, 1748. Ch .: 1. Jacob,3 b. 9 June, 1700; m. Sarah Hale, and settled in Boxford. 2. Hannah,3 b. 30 June, 1702 ; m. John Andrews, 3d. 3. Aaron,3 b. 17 Jan., 1704-05. 4. Amos,3 b. 8 Sept., 1707; m. Ist, Margaret Hale ; 2d, widow Abigail Sessions of Andover. 5. Richard,3 b. 18 June, 1710; m. Ist, Mercy Kimball; 2d, Elizabeth Seeton of Lunenburgh. 6. John,3 b. 6 March, 1713; m. Ist, Sarah Barker of Andover; 2d, widow Hannah Andrews. 7. Mary,3 b. 10 Feb., 1715-16. 8. Moses,3 b. 23 Aug., 1718; m. Sarah Prichard. 9. Ephraim,3 b. 11 April, 1721; m. Elizabeth -.
Deacon Aaron 3 m. Ist, Sarah Wood, (pub.) 13 May, 1733; m. 2d, widow Mehitable Kimball of Bradford, 7 Jan., 1767. He was deacon of the First Church. Ch .: I. Lucy,4 b. 30 April, 1734; m. Joseph Symonds of Middle- ton. 2. Sarah,4 b. 3 Dec., 1736; m. Abraham Redington. 3. Rebecca,4 b.
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
m. Jonathan Foster, brother to her sister Sarah's husband. 5. Elizabeth,2 b. 28 Sept., 1679; d. 24 June, 1708. 6. Hannah,2 b. II April, 1682 ; d. 15 Aug., 1709. 7. John,2 *
29 March, 1740; m. Moses Putnam of Danvers. 4. David,4 b. 2 April, 1743; m. Rebecca Flint of Danvers. 5. Samuel,4 bapt. 10 May, 1747.
Samuel 4 m. Ist, Eunice Upton of Reading, (pub.) 16 May, 1782 ; m. 2d, Mrs. Mary Putnam (dau. of Gen. Mugford) of Marblehead, (pub.) 27 Dec., 1799. She d. 28 April, 1847, aged seventy-nine years. Ch. : 1. Samuel,5 b. 4 Jan., ISO1. 2. Mary,5 b. 11 April, 1802 ; d. unmarried, 20 May, 1868.
Samuel5 m. Elizabeth, dau. of John Sawyer of Boxford, 17 March, 1831. Lives in Boxford. Ch .: I. Sarah Elizabeth,6 b. 2 March, 1832; m. Rev. David, son of William and Ellen Bremner, a native of Scotland, 20 Sept., 1854. 2. Mary Ann,6 b. 8 March, 1834 ; m. Jacob P., son of Dea. J. A. Palmer. 3. Samuel A.,6 b. 13 Nov., 1845; d. - July, 1864.
* The following is the line of descent of the present Kimballs in Boxford from John's son John : -
John2 m. Elizabeth Chapman, 5 Dec., 1700 (?) ; and d. 10 May, 1760, aged eighty years. Ch .: I. Nathan,3 b. 18 Nov., 1706. 2. Sarah.3 3. Hannah ;3 m. Thomas Holt of Andover. 4. Mercy ; 3 m. Richard Kimball, jun. 5. Alice ; 3 d. 14 June, 1751. 6. Mehitable; 3 m. Timothy Barker of Andover. 7. Elizabeth.3
Nathan3 m. Sarah Goodridge, (pub.) I Nov., 1730; and d. 9 Dec., 1784, aged seventy-eight years. Ch .: I. Sarah,4 b. 10 Feb., 1731. 2. Hannah, 4 b. 27 Sept., 1734; m. Asa Carleton of Andover, 6 Jan., 1757. 3. John,4 b. IS Sept., 1737 ; d. 5 Dec., 1759. 4. Moses,4 b. 16 April, 1740. 5. Mehita- ble,4 b. 29 Oct., 1742 ; d. 9 Jan., 1785. 6. Eunice,4 b. 3 May, 1746; m. John Pearl. 7. Nathan,4 b. 25 April, 1749; m. Mary Poor, 12 July, 1770 ; lived in Boxford, and had children. 8. Samuel,4 b. 2 May, 1753; d. 30 Dec., 1762.
Moses 4 m. Rebecca Poor, who was born in Newbury 25 Dec., 1742. Mr. Kimball dying 16 or 18 Feb, 1795, she m. 2d, John Runnells of Bradford, 26 Oct., 1797, and d. 3 Nov., 1821. Ch. : I. Samuel,5 b. 18 Jan., 1767; m. Susanna Kimball of Bradford ; lived in Boxford, and had children. 2. John,5 b. 26 Sept., 1769. 3. Hannah,5 b. 8 June, 1772. 4. Sophia,5 b. 12 April, 1780.
John5 m. Ruth Eastman of Haverhill, N.H., (pub.) 17 Nov., 1792, who d. 8 July, 1830, aged fifty-nine years. He d. 24 April, 1850. Ch. : I. Almira,6 b. 24 Oct., 1795 ; d. in Byfield, 15 June, 1828. 2. Moses,6 b. 8 Jan., 1798. 3. Abigail Tyler,6 b. 13 July, 1801 ; m. George Pearl. 4. Rebecca Poor,6 b. 15 Jan., 1805. 5. Dorcas Foster,6 b. I Nov., 1808; d. 27 Nov., 1829. 6. Horatio G.,6 b. 10 March, 1811 ; d. 4 April, 1836. 7. Ruth,6 b. 3 Oct., 1813; d. I Jan., 1817. 8. Ruth,6 b. 4 April, 1818; d. 5. Sept., 1834.
Moses6 m. Mary Stone, dau. of Rev. Peter Eaton, 20 Oct., 1833, who d. 23 March, 1846. Mr. Kimball d. 8 June, 1879. Ch. : I. Lucy Stone,7 b. 21 June, 1834.
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
b. 7 Feb., 1685. His first wife dying, Corporal John Kimball m. 2d, Hannah Burton, 29 Oct., 170-, who d. 27 July, 1706. The date of his death is unknown. John 2 and Richard 2 settled here, where their lineal descendants of the name still reside. Kimball is a name that has held a prominent position upon the records of our town; and in other places where the name has been known, thrift, virtue, and education are also found.
In March, 1668-69, a highway was laid out from Tops- field to Merrimac River, at Haverhill. This road is that which now leads from Mr. Samuel Todd's to S. D. Hood's residence, both in Topsfield, where it joined the " Old Andover Road " at the head of Prichard's Pond (then called Baker's Pond, because Baker owned the meadows near by on Pye Brook). It then followed in the " Old An- dover Road" till it came near Stetson's Pond, when it left the road, and, turning more northerly, passed on the east side of Stetson's Pond, and, continuing in the road now travelled past the residence of the late Capt. Aaron Spof- ford, so on the nearest way to Haverhill Bridge. The following is the record of the laying-out of this highway as recorded in Essex Registry of Deeds at Salem, Vol. VI., folio 305, Ipswich records :-
" A return of the highway from Topffield to Haverell fferry.
" Wee whofe names are under written being chofen by [the] refpec- tive Townes of Rowley Topffield [and] Rowley Village by merrimack To lay out a country high way betwixt Topffield and merrimack River, we have agreed & detarmyned, That from Topffield meeting houfe, along vnder the North East Syde of the Hill called bare Hill, along as the trees are marked, over the brooke by Ephraim Dormans Houfe, and so along the plaine, called the Pine plaine, trees being marked, to the end of Bakers Pond, and over the brooke at the pond end, by william Pritchetts houfe as the trees are marked, vnto the high way yt comes betweene Andover and Ipfwich and so along that High way, vntill we come near vnto a pond calle[d] ye five mile pond, and then turneing of to the right hand, as the trees are marked, vntill we come to the brooke called Hafelltines brooke, where they of Row-
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