USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Medway > The history of Medway, Mass., 1713-1885 > Part 3
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While the people of Medfield were engaged in acquiring a title to new lands, and extending their territory, hoping thereby to benefit posterity, if not themselves, settlements were actually begun on the west side of the river, a number of farms occupying the territory extending from the Farms bridge, now in Sherborn, to the northern border of Boggastow Pond. They were settled by men who had come up from towns nearer the coast, largely from Dorchester and Dedham. Indeed, nearly all the early settlers of the town were sons of the immigrants to America, members of the proverbially large families who were crowded out of the first family homestead by force of numbers, and were, as they then thought, obliged to seek for room and new homes farther west in the wilderness. Religious persecution in England
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had ceased, and the edicts of Star Chamber no longer drove men into exile. The Puritans had long been the dominant party at home. Laud, Strafford, and Charles had perished on the scaffold, and Cromwell was the ruler of England.
Prior to 1640, twenty-one thousand British subjects had settled in New England, the largest portion of whom had arrived between the years 1628 and 1638. After the latter date immigration nearly ceased, and the settle- ment of the interior towns progressed slowly. Boston and Cambridge, at the mouth of the Charles, were already old towns, and it was but natural that as population increased, the settlements should advance up the course of the river. Watertown, Brookline, Dedham, including Needham and Med- field, followed in succession. In those early days the fish furnished by the streams was an important item of food, easily obtained. Shad and ale- wives are said to have run up as far as Popolatic Pond before the dams ren- dered it impassable. The wild game of the forest was more abundant along the water-courses, while some amphibious animals were found only in the swamps and meadows along the margins of the streams. The springs that gushed out at the foot of the hills along the edge of the lowlands furnished water for the cattle and for the family, without the cost and labor of digging. These, together with the grass produced by the open meadows, were impor- tant motives inviting to these locations.
In 1652, within one year or a little more after the settlement of Medfield was fairly begun, Nicholas Wood and Thomas Holbrook, both of Dorches- ter, settled on the west side of the river, between Death's Bridge and Hol- brook's Mills. They were beyond the limits of any town, one-half mile from each other, and four miles from their nearest English neighbors. The same year, or soon after, Hopestill Layland, a man of seventy years, also of Dorchester, with Henry, his son, came to the same neighborhood. He was undoubtedly an exile from the old country, as his age shows that he was born before there was any settlement in New England. In 1658 John Hill and Thomas Breck located a little to the southwest of the others, a third of a mile to the north of Boggastow Pond. These, too, were from Dorchester. About the same time came Benjamin Bullard and George Fairbanks from Dedham, and built very near the northerly border of the pond. There were some others joined them that did not become permanent settlers, but after a few years left. These daring spirits, so far isolated from the rest of the civ- ilized world, attended public worship in Medfield, that being the nearest town, paid their taxes there, and took care of themselves in an independent way as best they could, being but little beholden to the rest of the world. They were all relatives by marriage. Wood and Layland married sisters ; Holbrook married a sister of Henry Layland. Breck married a sister of Hill, and Bullard a sister of Fairbanks. Thomas Bass also appeared among them about 1660, and married the daughter of Nicholas Wood.
These constituted what was then called the Boggastow Farms. None of the owners lived in the territory of Medfield, except George Fairbanks : yet they were all enrolled as citizens, and births, deaths, and marriages in their families were recorded there until 1675, when Sherborn was incorporated, and they became citizens of that town.
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THE FIRST SETTLERS.
GEORGE FAIRBANKS was undoubtedly the first to settle within the ter- ritory of Medway. It would be interesting to know the exact date of his ar- rival on the west side of the river, at least the year, but this we are not per- mitted to know. It is equally uncertain where he was born or who was his father. He married, August 26, 1646, Mary A. Harris in Dedham, where he resided, and had five children, the last recorded in Dedham being born December 23, 1656. The town of Medfield granted, February 6, 1660, to Mr. Fairbanks " such timber for fencing as shall make three hundred rails, with posts for it, as shall be set out by brother Wight, and John Medcalf shall appoint him with what he has already fallen to make up three hundred rails." This is the first mention made of him on the town records. It must have been between these two dates that he established himself within the territory of Medway. There can be no mistake about the locality of his farm, as his descendants to the seventh generation resided upon it, and it is within the recollection of many persons still living, that it was sold and went into other hands. It was originally bounded on the north by that of Benjamin Bullard, recently owned and occupied by the late Daniel Bullard, Esq., and embraced probably what is called the Mason Farm, now owned by Patrick Crowley. His dwelling was the famous Stone House near the north border of the pond. That which has been more recently known as the Fairbanks farm, was the southern portion of his large landed estate. The inventory after his death mentions three hundred acres adjacent to his homestead, and a small lot lying between the three hundred acres and the homestead. It may seem unaccountable that his name does not occur among the proprietors of Medfield in the division and distribution of the New Grant lands ; but his house was near the Sherborn line, which was at that early time not very well defined, and his farm was reckoned one of the Boggastow farms beyond the limits of the town, and did not entitle its owner to town rights. In 1662 he, with thirteen of his neighbors, petitioned for the incor- poration of Sherborn ; and again in 1674. After the formation of the town he seems to have been an active citizen, engaged in public affairs. For four years he was selectman, and was chosen on a committee to engage and settle a minister. He drew land in Sherborn, and seems to have received all the privileges of a citizen. A committee of the General Court appointed to consider Sherborn affairs in 1677, say in their report: "As to the farms adjacent we conceive all those in Medfield bounds that were granted by this Court and received nothing of Medfield shall be accounted and liable to all charges and take up privileges in Sherborn." This explains Fairbanks' anomalous position. Soon after the organization of the town it was proposed to build a meeting-house and a spot was selected and agreed upon near the south part of the town, but after a delay of several years, it was voted to change the spot and build farther north, where the old meeting-house now stands. Upon which, Fairbanks became dissatisfied and, in 1681 " proposed to resign up to the Town all his rights and Interests in Sherborn with his former charges from the first petitioning, provided they would free him from Sherborn." His relations to Sherborn remained, however, unchanged till the time of his death, January 10, 1682.
The town of Medfield voted, June 5, 1683 : " That as the farm of George Fairbanks, Sen., lies within the bounds of Medfield it is liable by law to
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bear public charge, and that it is expected that the Selectmen should put it into the Rates." Sherborn, still anxious to retain the taxes, continued to levy them on the farm until the inhabitants of Medfield petitioned the General Court to break off the arrangement between Fairbanks and the town of Sher- born. His son George, who inherited the southerly part of his father's farm, was considered a citizen of Medfield and allowed rights in the common lands with other proprietors.
JOSEPH DANIELL was the second settler within the territory of Medway. He was the son of Robert Daniell of Cambridge or Watertown, and the pro- genitor of all in Medway who bear the name of Daniell or Daniels, and of many in the neighboring towns, and throughout the commonwealth. He was born probably near the site of the United States Arsenal in Watertown, about the year 1635. When or whence the family immigrated are equally un- known; though there is a widely received opinion that they came from Wales. In 1655 his father died, leaving him at the age of twenty to share his estate with an older brother and three sisters, none of whom were mar- ried except the eldest, Elizabeth Daniell. In 1660, Mary married Samson Frary, of Medfield. Some years afterwards she and her husband removed to Deerfield, where she was murdered by the Indians. The marriage of his sister was probably the reason of the coming of Joseph Daniell to Medfield. February 3, 1662, he was accepted as a townsman by vote of the people, and in October of the same year was present at a town-meeting and drew lands, which fact indicates that he was already the possessor of a farm. His signature is attached to the articles of agreement of the town of Medfield, and his hand-writing is still preserved in old deeds. In 1663 his estate was valued £63 ; and in 1669 it had gone up to £106, 10S.
He probably built his house before 1665. It stood eight or ten rods east of the residence of the late Deacon Paul Daniell. The cellar was still to be seen as late as 1825, but the plow has since obliterated all trace of it. Joseph Daniell was voted, in 1662, a townsman, and Mary Fairbanks, eldest dangh- ter of George Fairbanks, was a mere school girl, if that may be said of a girl that was living where there were no schools. She was hardly fifteen. It would therefore be absurd to suppose that her smiles had any influence in inducing him to secure a farm alongside of her father's in the wilderness, on the very border of civilization. There is a delightful uncertainty sur- rounding almost everything that occurred more than two hundred years ago. But one thing is quite sure : Joseph Daniell and Mary Fairbanks were married on the sixteenth day of November, 1665, and it is nearly certain that this was the first wedding that occurred within the bounds of what became Medway. One other occurred probably the same year, that of Jonathan Adams and Elizabeth Fussell.
Perhaps that 16th of November, 1665, was one of the early Thanksgiving days! Who would not like to know how weddings were conducted so long ago? Were the neighbors invited for miles around? Was hilarity prevalent, or solemnity and decorum? It is related that on a similar occasion which occurred in the same neighborhood many years after, some young men, out of revenge for not having received an invitation, stole the wedding pudding out of the oven, which happened to be on the outside of the house, while the ceremony was being performed within. Which circumstance clearly
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shows that the Puritanic principles of the fathers had not entirely subdued the love of fun and mischief in the young people.
It would be gratifying to know what kind of an outfit these young couples carried to their new homes ; what comforts and conveniences they possessed ; how they passed the dull, cold November days and the long dreary winter that followed ; what were their recreations when gossiping friends were shut off by unbroken snow-fields ; with no musical instruments, no newspapers, and no books save the old Bible. The grand old Bible furnished them with en- tertainment and instruction, and above all with comfort and courage to endure the hardships and privations of pioneer life. They had abundance of fuel for the winter, abundance of work for all seasons, and, no doubt, a super- abundance of young, joyous, hopeful animal spirits that made the old woods resound with songs of gladness.
" More lovely far such scenes of bliss Than monarchs ever saw. E'en angels might delight to dwell Beneath my roof of straw."
The roof under which they dwelt was literally a roof of straw, covering a single apartment, with walls of logs, which was sitting-room, kitchen, pantry, and sleeping-room, all in one. The big stone fire-place with its wide chimney was its grand feature. How the great pile of pine, and maple, and oak blazed and roared and sent its red glare through and through the room, shedding warmth, and comfort, and joy to the loving hearts within! Such were undoubtedly some of the features of those early homes.
One other circumstance which has been overlooked till now, shows that George Fairbanks was the only settler in Medfield on the west side of the river until after 1660. In that year the town came in possession of sev- eral " law books," of which one copy was placed in each neighborhood. One book was designated " to Georg Fairbanks and all the other inhabitants on that side the river." In the case of the other neighborhoods every man's name was mentioned, which certainly renders it probable that the "other inhabitants" were prospective, and that George Fairbanks was the only dweller in that part of the town. One copy was assigned to the " farms, to Nicholas Woods, for him and Daniel Morse, Henry Lealand, Thomas Holbrook, and Thomas Bass." These were Fairbanks' neighbors in 1660; the other families early at " The Farms" not having yet settled there.
JOHN FUSSELL and his son-in-law, JONATHAN ADAMS, were among the earliest settlers on this side the river. They lived near the present residence of Mr. Henry M. Daniels.
WILLIAM ALLIN settled probably on the place of the late Dr. Abijah Rich- ardson about the year 1668, when he married Elizabeth Twitchell, daughter of Benjamin Twitchell. His house stood several rods to the northeast of the present site, upon the old road which ran upon the north side of the hill. He seems to have been a citizen of Sherborn, having a relation to that town similar to that of George Fairbanks. His wife was in full communion with the church in Medfield in 1667. He died in 1736, aged, according to the best accounts, upwards of ninety years. After his death his farm was purchased by Ebenezer Daniell, who was the grandfather of Mercy Daniell,
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the wife of Dr. Abijah Richardson, to whom it descended by inheritance, and in whose family it still remains.
PETER CALLEY also settled near the Boggastow mill before 1669.
THE STONE HOUSE.
In the early days of the settlement the residents of the Farms unitedly built a stone garrison house on the north border of the Boggastow Pond, a
THE SITE OF THE STONE HOUSE.
place of refuge and defense, to which they could flee in times of danger. They occupied one of the very outposts on the frontier of civilization. To the southwest Mendon had advanced a little beyond them, while to the west and northwest there was nothing but the unbroken wilderness between them and the Pacific Ocean, excepting some towns far away on the Connecticut River. To the east they were separated from their nearest neighbors by the river and wide reaches of swamp and country difficult to pass. Thus isolated, they were obliged to provide for their own safety with little hope of aid from others. The Indians, though at first friendly, were never desirable neigh- bors, nor was their character such as to inspire confidence. Under these circumstances the Stone House was an important feature of the settlement.
Though it was built by the united labors of the neighborhood for the benefit of all, tradition, supported by some recorded facts, renders it probable that it was occupied as a dwelling by George Fairbanks.
The Rev. Mr. Wilson, in a letter written the day after the burning of Medfield, speaks of it as " George Fairbanks' palisade."
The stones of which it was built were flat, and somewhat regular shaped, brought, probably, over the snow and ice of winter, from a field a mile dis- tant to the northwest, where such stones are still found. The walls were laid in clay mortar. Morse, in The History of Sherborn, says: "It was sixty- five or seventy feet long, and two stories high. It had a double row of port holes on all sides, lined with white oak plank, and flaring inward, so as to require no one to expose himself before them, while the besieged, by taking
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cross aims, could direct their fire to any point of the compass. This fortress was lighted and entered at the south end, overlooking the pond, where the bank was so low that the assailants from that quarter, in leveling at the high windows, would only lodge bullets in a plank chamber floor, or among the furniture of the garret. The upper story was appropriated to the women and children, and had a room petitioned off for the sick."
As early as 1671 the English had become convinced that the Indians were plotting against them, and had tried to disarm them by requiring them to give up their guns, which had resulted in exasperation, and had also per- suaded them to join in new treaties in which neither party appears to have put much faith. Itwas not, however, until June 28, 1675, that hostilities com- menced ; on that day one man was shot by the Indians at Swansea, and on the next day six or seven more were killed at the same place, and others in the neighborhood. A part of Taunton, Middleborough, and Dartmouth, in the vicinity of Pocasset, upon Narragansett Bay, soon followed the destruc- tion of Swansea, which was burnt immediately after the 24th of June, on being abandoned by the inhabitants. Soldiers were ordered from Boston, an expedition was sent against the Indians, and the whole country was thoroughly alarmed. Imagination cannot picture a situation more trying, or more to be dreaded, than that in which the dwellers at "The Farms " were now placed. Exposed to the attacks of an enemy whose approach was stealthy, sudden, and when least expected, who kept no faith and knew no mercy, to fall into their hands was worse than death,-for it was death amid the fiercest insults, and by tortures the most protracted and excruciating that cruelty could devise. Murders were perpetrated at no great distance, and rumor was rife with threats of attack and destruction. Men slept with their weapons at hand, and carried them to their work in the field, and prayed holding on to their muskets. The narrow bridle-paths which served for highways, winding through the forest, were full of peril, and the stealthy tread of the Indian, more than a wild animal, was a source of constant terror. How could they leave their homes for the house of worship? Who of the loved ones could be left behind amid perils so appalling ?
As the danger became more imminent the women and children were gathered into the Stone House, and after the labors of the day the men spent their nights with them. Such must have been the situation during the latter part of the summer and autumn of 1675 and the winter following. In Sep- tember and October there were frequent battles at Hadley, Hatfield, Deer- field, and Springfield, and on December 19 occurred the great Narragansett Swamp fight.
On the 10th of February, 1676, Lancaster, a town not far off, was sur- prised with complete success, and eleven days later, on the 21st of February, about three hundred Indians attacked Medfield, led, according to his own word, by Monoco, a chief who lived near Lancaster and who was engaged in the destruction of that place, and afterwards of other towns. About half the buildings on the east side of the river were burned and seventeen persons killed or mortally wounded. The savages were frightened by the firing of the cannon, and fled across the " Great Bridge" which they burned ; and it was not rebuilt until 1686. They held a savage feast or pow-wow of exul- ation the following night, on the high ground in full view of the ruined town.
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The spot of this savage pow-wow after the burning of Medfield, Feb- ruary 21, 1676, is marked by a peculiar clump of trees which have become monumental.
THE KING PHILIP TREES.
Dr. Saunders, in his Historical Sermon of 1817, says : " At length the savages were compelled to retire over a bridge in the southwest part of the town. Burning the bridge in order to cut off pursuit, they retired to a sav- age feast on the top of the nearest hill in view of the ruins they had occa- sioned. Philip had been seen riding upon a black horse, leaping fences and exulting in the havoc he was making."
He says further, that "on the sixth of May following, the Indians met with a notorious repulse at the stone house near Medfield in the northeast corner of Medway ; and on the second of July following there was near this a new conflict in the woods and more execution was done upon the enemy." About these trees cluster historical incidents in the early settlement of Med- way, and thus they became monumental of the somewhat tragical events of those early times. These trees impress one as in themselves a great natural curiosity. In the first place the genus of the trees -the Nyssa - is very rare in this region. Flagg, in The Woods and By-ways of New England, says : " This tree has I believe no representation in the old continent, and though there are several species in the United States, only one is found in New England." He gives an illustration of one in the old town of Beverly. He says : "It has received a variety of names in different parts of the coun- try, being called 'Swamp Hornbeam,' from the toughness of its wood; ' Umbrella Tree,' from a peculiar habit of some individuals to become flattened and slightly convex at the top. The name Inpelo was given it by the original inhabitants."
It assumes a greater variety of shapes than most other trees, sometimes grotesque and sometimes very symmetrical. " The foliage of the Inpelo is remarkable for its fine glossy verdure. The leaves are oval, narrowing toward the stem and rounded at the extremity." The most remarkable feat- ure about these trees is their great number in close proximity within a very small space. Were thirty trees from eight to eighteen inches in diameter and thirty feet in height ever before seen standing in a circle not exceeding
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fifteen feet in diameter, making a top which at a little distance resembles but one tree? Is it probable that these can be the original trees or tree standing here two hundred years ago? Their size would seem to forbid the supposi- tion. Are they a growth from the seeds of the ancient tree, or sprouts from the roots of a decayed stump? The junction of several at the ground with each other rather indicates a common origin from roots beneath the soil. These trees in their traditional and historical associations - in their rarity as a species and genus in New England, in their origin from a parent stock and their wonderful proximity and conformation - present so many points of interest as to justify their preservation from decay or accident, some com- memorative structure upon the grounds near them, and deservedly have a place among the more enduring memorials on the page of our local history.
As nearly as can now be ascertained there were at that time in what is now Medway, but six families : those of George Fairbanks, Sen., George Fair- banks, Jr., Joseph Daniell, John Fussell, Jonathan Adams, William Allen, and Peter Calley, numbering thirty persons. On the Sherborn side were six more : Benjamin Bullard, Thomas Breck, John Hill, Henry Lealand, Jonathan Wood, his brother Eleazar Wood, and Thomas Holbrook, em- bracing thirty-eight persons, making sixty-eight in all. Not all these were present at the " Stone House" on this occasion, as will be seen further on, but there were probably as many as twenty men over sixteen years of age, eighteen women, seventeen children, and four persons between ten and six- teen years ; making a large family of at least fifty-nine persons.
Lovers there might have been among them, young men and maidens whose hopeful hearts were not especially depressed by the dangers around them, but rather rejoiced in circumstances which brought them together un- der the same roof, and gave them opportunity to show their heroic devotion. But who can imagine what must have been the emotions of the fathers and mothers who gathered their little ones here for safety? They must have seen the smoke of the burning town across the meadows, and have heard the boom of the cannon that frightened the Indians, but could not have known in those fearful hours of suspense the extent of the ruin which imagination would be sure to exaggerate. And in the keen winter night that followed, while the red glare of the pow-wow fire was seen shining on the tall trees of the forest in the southern horizon, the fierce war-whoop of the savage in the dance of triumph might have been borne over the silent fields and added a new pang to the hearts already overburdened. Nothing but their trust in God could have sustained them in such an hour.
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