USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Melrose > The history of Melrose, County of Middlesex, Massachusetts > Part 3
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Concerning the formation of this town, Captain Edward Johnson, of Woburn, in his Wonder-working Providence of Sions Saviour in New England, published in London, in 1654, says that Malden was settled
by certain persons, who issued out of Charlestown, and indeed had her whole structure within the bounds of this more elder Town, being severed by the broad spreading river of Mistick the one from the other, whose troublesome passage caused the people on the North side of the river to plead for Town priviledges within themselves. which accordingly was granted them; the soyl is very fertile. but they are much straitened in their bounds, yet their neerness to the chief Market Towns, makes it the more comfortable for habitation.
Malden was named after the town of Maldon, England, by Joseph Hills and others, who came from that town. "The affections of the first planters of New England still clung, as was natural, to the soil of their nativity; and they designed, by the names they bestowed on the places of their
1 Davis, History of Malden, for Lewis' History of Middlesex County, 1890.
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HISTORY OF MELROSE.
abode, in this land of their adoption, to keep alive in their breasts the tender associations of home."> Mr. Hills was not only an early settler in Mystic Side, but a very prominent citizen, and a man of marked ability. He took a very prom- inent part in the revision of the Massachusetts laws, in 1648, which were first issued in 1641, as the Body of Liberties by Nathaniel Ward, and which became the authorized code of laws for New England.
In 1727, Malden lost quite a large tract of territory which would now have formed a part of Melrose had this action not have taken place. A number of families who lived at the extreme northerly part, became dissatisfied by being
so remote from the Middle of the Town, that they are under great Inconveniences & Difficulties to attend the publick Worship there, & their Civil & Military Duties in the Said Town & that they ly much nearer to Reading.
They therefore made application by petition, to be annexed to that town; and at that time the town of Reading voted:
That upon the petition of our neighbors of North end of Malden, Richard Upham and William Green representing them, we will petition the General Court that a number of our neighbors of North End of Malden be set to Reading."
The town of Malden voted, May 22, 1727:
That ye tenn famelys yt have petioned to be Laid off from this Town, unto ye Town of Reding, have Liberty to goe to Reding with there Estates Acording to their petion.
" In its present aspect, Maldon retains many of the features which were familiar to that little band of pilgrims who, about the first of April. 1638, sailed down the river in an "Ipswich Hye." Its single main street, running about a mile east and west, and now intersected by several cross streets, its vener- able churches and halls, the ebbing and flowing river washing its an- cient wharves, the green fields around, and all those kindly in- fluences which have made Essex the garden of England, were often remembered by wistful hearts in
New England. . .. Out of this ancient Maldon came in 1638, Jo- seph Hills, a woollen-draper, and with him, or a little later, John Wayte, who married his daughter Mary. . . These men became early holders of land in the vicin- ity of Wayte's Mount, on Mystic Side The misuse of many years, by substituting Malden for Maldon, has permanently fixed the incorrect form of the same which We now use. Corey, History of Malden, 9, 12.
3 Eaton, History of Reading, 142.
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The Legislature accordingly confirmed the wishes of both parties as follows:
Resolved. That the Prayer of the Petition be granted. & that the said ten Families & their Estates be annexed to & accounted as Part of the Town of Reading for the future. according to the Line set forth in the Petition; Any Law, Usage or Custom to the Contrary Notwithstanding. Jn Council : Read & Concur'd Consented to, Wm DUMMER.4
The section thus lost to Malden shortened the town more than a mile. and carried with it some of the wealthiest inhabitants. It is to this addition to the limits of the old town of Reading that the town of Wakefield owes the peculiar configuration of its southerly portion em- bracing the present village of Greenwood.5
The names of the ten families thus changing their town connections were: William Green, Thomas Upham, Nathaniel Evans, David Green, John Walton, Samuel Evans, John Evans, Richard Upham, Samuel Howard and Thomas Green. In 1734, still another tract of the northwestern part of Malden was set off, by Legislative act, to the town of Stoneham. There was a cluster of Green families in this part of the town who were also remote from religious privileges, and who were not embraced in the action of 1727. A petition to the General Court, June 21, 1734. signed by John Green, Isaac Green, John Dexter and Jonas Green of Malden, and David Green, Thomas Green and Samuel Green of Reading, which petition set forth "their Difficulty to attend the Public Worship of God in their Towns by Reason of their Remoteness from the meeting house; "and praying " That they and their family's and Estates may by order of this Court be annexed to the Town of Stone- ham." Favorable action was granted Dec. 21, 1734. This territory comprised most all of that now known as the Melrose Highlands, and it remained a part of Stoneham until 1853, when, after much opposition on the part of that town, it was reunited to the territory of Melrose.
A General Court Records, xiii, 322.
& Corey, History of Mald. n. 502.
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HISTORY OF MELROSE.
@ Monday the Seunten Day of aprofit 1798 the Committe of Stone hom raud the Committee of mother
mett of the Derional fine which formly was Charts town and now Munchen the forst county was a field and hear of fond Eaton planes Sprangdle ton An Roseth Greenland whom mother and Home from Arose 2 month for allage and flower of Smoothalong is aberg of stores on the side of abullet if want is alway of trong neave a letel wormen theo. amis a word to a stare wall that flow) Right in the Line = & month I ahead of Homes one a rock near a saven bush one the last of it I 5minut is ating of stories on the southwest of the food bay somend Spraque sind an storing lyng lew = T mord is the only by a great Lack In not wall = 8 mond is a a lump of Story about a white ante strony=gris 2 hear of thrones on a fi cat flat Roof to month is . a finale of broms arcare alettel white pine='11 work is great pichpine Lice al the south side of agreat back =12 mort is head of shows upon abook = 13 mor fis the Corner mord bowen mother Charlestown in Hohem= on the Day about riunito mr forthe Bomitt Ins Jonathan given Der Stomer Lyna 92. Jemas hurry for. morten an- peter-haydena Janich fouls frun for Morehow Di mult ons) Peau the above mentioned hours alive nation of the above mentinói Como
THE COMMONS. This was an extensive tract of land belong- ing to the town of Malden, embracing about thirty-five hund- red acres, which was nearly one-half of the town, as then con- stituted. About twenty-three hundred of these acres covered all of the eastern part of what is now Melrose, and most of what was once the northerly part of Malden; that portion now known as Greenwood. It was the land lying east of Ell Pond, and east of Lebanon and Green Streets, extending from a little way below Swain's Pond in the south, up into Wakefield, then Reading, to Smith's Pond, now called Crystal Lake; and to within about half a mile of Reading meeting-house. It was "full of stately timber," and, say the Charlestown records :
" The above is a facsimile of the report made by the Selectmen of Malden, Jonathan Barrett, Deacon Thomas Lynde and James Hovey ; and Stoneham, Jonathan Green,
Peter Hay and Daniel Green, Jr., of the running of the bounds be- tween Stoneham and Malden, after this tract had been annexed to Stonehanı.
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TERRITORY.
"indeed generally all the country round about was an uncouth wilderness."
It was the home of the Indian and the wild beast.
We are told that when our ancestors made their settlement at Shaw- mut. now Boston, they sent out a number of persons to examine the country to the North, who, having searched the first range of hills. probably the range near us. then covered with forests, returned and reported, that, having reached a mountainous and rocky country, they deemed it best to come back, as there was little probability that the settlement would ever extend bevond these mountains .?
In the process of time these lands came to be very desirable both for woodland and pasturage; and the Town of Malden had been greatly troubled, not only by its own citizens but by their "Charlestown neighbors," to whom frequent warnings had been given, prohibiting them from thus trespassing, and cutting and teaming wood and timber from this common land, or in pasturing sheep and cattle. Therefore action was taken by the town looking to its preservation and utility.
In March, 16834 it was voted:
That no fyrwood shall be feld or cutt vppon the common this yeare ensueing but what is or shalbe lying on the ground on penalty of fiue shillings pr tree. Excepting on the south syde of the rocks from Joseph Wayts house to Lem" Jenkins & from thence on the Southrly side the swamp to the Town lyne.
In 1687 a citizen was fined $3. 10 for "carriing and cutting timber of the common contrary to a Town order ; " and in 1691,
John green Jnr Joses Bucknam Ser Thomas newhall Isak Hill Jacob parker thay were chosen as a committy to prosecute in a course of law any that shall offend by cutting and carring wood of malden common.
Action was taken for a division of these "Commons " among the freeholders, by the Town, July 12, 1693, when a committee was appointed "to Run ye line between the common and pro- prietors land;" and March 26, 1694:
The former Comitie met and Run ye bounds Round Reedy pond ye bounds Are first a great buttenwood tree before Joseph Lines dore. and so bounded Round with seuerall trees marked with letter C' next common.
And erected seuerall heapes of stons
The same day Run ye line about Joseph waits plain : and markt seuerall trees with letter C next ye common.
7 Adams, Bi-Centennial Book of Malden, p. 94.
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HISTORY OF MELROSE.
ye same day Run ye line Round Swains pond meddow and marked seuerall trees with letter C next ye common :
Je same day ye bounds was Run about wilkesons land [near Long Pond] and marked seuerall trees next ye common with letter C.
The same day ye bounds was Run about Squiers meddo and marked seuerall trees next ye common with letter C.
Nov. 20, 1694, a committee consisting of three men, not resi- dents of Malden, was appointed to devise a plan for this division of these common lands among the inhabitants of Mal- den; and it was then also voted: "That ye common shall be deuided: bottom and top yt is land And wood."
& Genreall Skin-meting jr malden ig 20 of novembre 2 694 woked y & sour doe Leave it as a comitis of These men y ate
resident in form office ofcion is having for so preferite a rule. how to druids y Jason comen: find These man ais to be Chosen by offic stumbly: And the juin to ground to what refine dan-dated if ig of sangriff 2733 satire capis Tages. out of malen Town book shift Golin framland Joura class
That committee made the following report:
Nov. 26, 1694. Whereas, we Subscribers are Requested or Im- powed : by ye inhabitants of Maldon To prescribe a way for ye deuid- ing of their common both Land and wood :- we considering the seuerall methods and way of Their Raising of Town Charges for time past : first we doe adjug their be a commite chose of Indeferant men To set out so much land for perpatuall common as they shall see meete.
2ly. that there be a true Invoice taken of every true propriotors estate And twenty pounds aded for the heads of euery free-holder according To town vote whather male or famale.
3ly. then for ye Rest of ye common draw lots for equall proportions Acording to the Inuoice beginning your lots at ye uper end of your common next Reding : at ye southwest corner and so Run dowards in two deuisions or more if you see cause.
MAJOR WILLIAM JOHNSON. CAPT JOHN SMITH. CAPT JOHN BROWN.
Dec. 25, Deacon John Green, John Greenland, Tryal New- berry, Phineas Upham, Thomas Newhall, Lieutenant Joseph Wilson and Henry Green were chosen to proceed with the division of the "Commons" according to the direction "of ye formar commite namely those gentillmen That are chosen out
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TERRITORY.
of this town." Many other votes giving details for accomplish- ing this important matter were passed; among them it was:
Also agreead upon by ye commitie yt for ye deuiding of je common euery properioters name shall be writ distintly: and yt ye lots be well shuffled together : And one man chose by ye town : To draw ym out of a bag: and ye first man yt is drawen shall have ye first lot in ye com- mon begining as aforsaid And so sucksesiuely as ye are all drawen To the proportion of 1000 accres and then to proseed in ye same way and method for another 1000 accres.
It is also agreead upon by ye commite That there shall be 2 pols in breadth between euery Raing of lots for high wais: and that euery mans lot shall Run Eighty two pool in leangth for yt end.
Also that "this comitee hes pouer to improue An artis to lay out ye lots," and that John Sargeant Jr., be authorized "To draw ym out of a bag."
Mr. Corey, who has made a very thorough study of these "Commons" and their disposition, says:
The allotment was finally completed; and the record begins as follows :
Recorded May ye 30: 1695: An a Grement of the Town of malden In deuiding of The common The first deuision begining at the upar end next to nathaniell eueness land by Charlstown line: In mannar as followeth : ye lots Runing 82 pool in length.
This division, which contained nine hundred and thirty-one acres and fifty-one poles, was laid out in seven ranges and seventy-four lots. It comprised the northern portion of the town between the bounds of Boston and Charlestown. The Evans farm of sixty acres, on the westerly side of the road, and the woodland, which had been reserved for the ministry, on the easterly side, alone parted it from the Reading line at Smith's Pond. This tract of common was broken by the Green farm, by a piece of land north of L Pond which belonged to the estate of Thomas Coytmore as early as 1653, by ten acres of meadow " aboue the old cow pen in Mauldon " which Joseph Hills had sold to Henry Evans in 1660, and, perhaps, by smaller lots of appropriated land. [This division extended to our present Howard Street.]
The second division of the two thousand acres, containing nine hundred and forty-two acres and twenty-eight poles, was laid out in six ranges and seventy-five lots. [Extending from Howard Street to south of Grove Street.] Beginning " by elle ponde," it stretched over the highlands towards the Boston line, covering the country east of the Reading Road [Main Street] and north of Swain's Pond. [Quite a large proportion of this territory is now known as East Side.] Some of the ways reserved for passage between the ranges in this division be- came highways in time and still exist. [Porter, Upham, and Grove
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HISTORY OF MELROSE.
Streets.] ... These two divisions comprised the territory known as the two thousand acres and contained, together, eighteen hundred and seventy-three acres and seventy-nine poles, as measured by Mr. Fisk. the " artis."
The third division is described as "The third diuision for the Remander of the wood Land one the este sid the mill brook called the three hundred ackrs Begining at sargent Skiners Lote and are to rune 40 poles in length." Its seventy-four lots embraced three hundred and eleven acres and fifty-eight poles of the woodland between Swain's Pond and Scadan. [Now known as " South East," and includes the high summit of Mount Hood.]
The balance of these "Commons" now divided, was on terri- tory now Malden. There were seventy-four proprietors and freeholders who shared in this allotment; the names are all given by Mr. Corey, in his History of Malden, pp. 376-7.
Soon after this division was made many of the lots were sold to persons who had no interest in the common land, and about the year 1700, many of the people who already owned, or now bought, began to build houses and settle upon their lots.
A piece of land at the eastern end of Ell Pond, where now stand the ice-houses, was reserved for a watering place, and for the washing of flax, the material of which the home-made clothing of the early inhabitants was made. It appears that the abutters began to encroach upon this public water resort, and April 17, 1699, Corporal John Green, Phineas Upham, and Joseph Floyd were chosen to run
ye bounds and renew ye marks between proprioters land : and ye small peece of common land : adjoining to L pond : which was left for convenence of watering.
Still later, at the annual meeting held March 4, 1765, another vote concerning this public privilege was passed:
It was put to vote to see if the town will give liberty to mr Samuel Green and others to run a fence between ell pond and the highway. provided they leve a convenient way open for watering of cattle at the pond And keep convenient draw bars or a gate for people to pass and repass with their teams in the usual place of their going to and from said pond with their flax. And it passed in the affermative.
MELROSE.
At the time the Boston and Maine Radroad was completed, the territory of Melrose, then known as "North Malden," and earlier as "North End," was very sparsely settled. Very
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TERRITORY.
soon after it commenced operation, July 4, 1845, people from Boston and other places, began to investigate our pleasant vale for residences; and in a short time many families had here made their homes. The church, business, town and social relations were so separated from the centre and main town of Malden, that the citizens began to agitate a separation from the mother town, and the setting up of a municipality by itself; and in 1848, and 1849, this matter was most earnestly can- vassed, and action taken. On March 22, 1849, an act was reported to the House of Representatives for the incorpora- tion of the Town of Melrose, which was passed April 10, almost unanimously; but it failed to receive the concurrence of the Senate by a vote of twenty-seven to three.s
Later in this same year, 1849, Malden, foreseeing that with these railroad facilities, and the varied and natural beauty of our situation, we should in a very few years become a growing, thrifty and prosperous community, and cherishing the most kindly and friendly feelings for their brethren in the north part of the town, wisely con- cluded to make no further objection to such separation; and, at a legal meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Malden, held Nov. 26, 1849, it was voted:
Valuation of the Jour of Melrose Os appearedin 1449 a Jane Colity From Malden Book Real Estate 3,36,3.52 Personal Estate 43,5,09 Total $ 384461 Kumalocar Pools 272 Aaron GMAIL al fressers .Melrose
To choose a committee to view and report to the town such line as the committee shall think to be the proper line between the town of Malden and the pro- posed town of Melrose.
The FOURTHAS The selectmen were chosen to act on this committee; and at a town meeting held Dec. 21, IS49, the selectmen re- ported the divisional line which was then adopted and is in existence today. The town also voted at this same meeting, to instruct their Representative elect
8 Diary kept by the late Aaron Green, for 1849. But so thoroughly convinced was every one that North Malden - now regularly
called Melrose - was to be set off from Malden, that assessors were appointed to take the valuation of this part of the town; and accord-
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HISTORY OF MELROSE.
that if the inhabitants of Melrose petition the Legislature for the divi- sion line as reported by the Selectmen to advocate the setting off of Melrose but if any other line be asked for then to oppose the setting off.
A petition was presented to the Legislature early in 1850, by Elbridge Green and others, praying that the northerly part of Malden, which had been called North Malden for many years, be set off and incorporated as a separate town to be called Melrose.
At a town meeting held in Malden, February 7, 1850, it was voted:
That whereas, a petition had been presented to the Legislature, by Elbridge Green and others, praying that the northerly section of Malden may be set off and incorporated as a separate town, to be called Melrose, and whereas an order of notice has been issued on said petition therefore, Resolved, That we, the citizens of Malden in town meeting assembled, called according to law, to act on said order of notice, do hereby express our approval of said petition.
Resolved, That the line of separation petitioned for is a proper line, and one that meets our approval, and which, in our opinion, ought to be adopted, and the prayer of said petition be granted.
Resolved, That the representative be, and he is, hereby instructed to aid the petition, in all honorable ways, to accomplish the object of their petition, keeping always in view the interest of the town in word- ing the act of incorporation.
The Joint Special Committee, in reporting to the Legisla- ture, April 27, 1850, among other advantages enumerated these:
This part of the town, which bears the name of Melrose, is separated from the other by a natural barrier ; the proposed line of division run- ning through a wild, unimproved, and almost uninhabitable territory, constituting, in most respects, a far better boundary than a line passing through a cultivated and populous region, cutting farms, and sep- arating immediate neighbors into different towns.
The business and social relations of Melrose are not with the other
ing to this same diary, now in the possession of Maurice G. Cochrane, a grandson of the diarist, they commenced their duties May 1, of that year, aud finished May 11. The result as given in a written poster was as follows :
Valuation of the Town of Mel-
rose as appeared in 1849. A True Coppy From Malden Book. Real Estate, 336,352 ; Personal Estate, 48,509 ; Total, $384,861. Number Polls, 272. Aaron Green, S. L. Taylor, W. J. Farnsworth, asses- sors of Melrose.
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TERRITORY.
portions of Malden ; it seems to form a distinct community, and, in the opinion of the committee, is destined to become a separate town, and that a separation would contribute to the convenience, harmony, and prosperity of the inhabitants, and would be no injury or disadvantage to the remaining part of Malden. It would leave a fine, pleasant, and prosperous town, within full view, and in the immediate vicinity of Boston, affording many eligible building sites. and containing num- erous valuable farms.
In accordance with the mutually expressed wishes of the inhabitants of both sections, an act was drawn and reported to the Legislature, which was adopted; and Melrose was in- corporated May 3, 1850. It then had 1,260 inhabitants, and an assessed valuation of $483,446.00.
A committee of three from each town was appointed " to make a just and equitable settlement of all the financial concerns appertaining to said towns & the property belong- ing to the same." Gilbert Haven, Lemuel Cox, and Daniel A. Perkins were appointed for Malden, and George Emerson, Isaac Emerson and Aaron Green for Melrose.
In 1853, that part of Malden which was set off to Stone- ham in 1734, most of the territory of which is now known as the Melrose Highlands, and which embraced also what is now the Sewall Woods Park, containing about twenty-five houses with seventy-five inhabitants, was set off and annexed to Melrose. The residence of Hon. Samuel E. Sewall was until then in Stoneham; and he was elected Senator to the Massachusetts Legislature in 1852, from that town. A move- ment had begun sometime previous to this to have this sec- tion set off to the new town of Melrose, for the reason that the inhabitants could be much better accommodated with school, church, business, and town facilities. For this pur- pose an act was introduced in the Legislature of 1852, but it was unsuccessful. The next year an act of annexation was passed, March 15, 1853, thus adding three hundred and eighty-one acres to the area of our territory, making a total of thirty-one hundred and fourteen and seventy one-hundredths acres.
Melrose is situated in the eastern part of the County of Middlesex, and is seven miles directly north of Boston. It is bounded on the north by Wakefield, on the east by Saugus, (which is in the County of Essex, ) on the south by Malden,
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HISTORY OF MELROSE.
and the west by Stoneham, and a small corner of Medford. Its shape is somewhat irregular, having a width on the Wake- field line of about a mile and a half, on the Saugus line two and a half miles, a little less than three miles on the Malden, and nearly two and a half miles on the Stoneham and WAKEFIELD Medford line.
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