USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Milton > The history of Milton, Mass., 1640 to 1877 > Part 2
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5
ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS.
they took heart and entertained us in the best manner they could, boiling cod, and such other things as they had for us. At length, with much send- ing for, came one of their men, shaking and trembling for fear. But when he saw we intended him no hurt, but came to truck, he promised us his skins also. Having well spent the day, we returned to the shallop, almost all the women accompanying us to truck.
It is impossible to identify with certainty the hills and places spoken of by these early visitants. The bottom where the king lay buried may have been any of the valleys west of Milton Hill. The hill on which was the house where the sachem was killed may have been Academy Hill, or Wadsworth Hill, or Wigwam Hill, or it may have been none of these; the exact locality is of small account.
That this band of the Pilgrim Fathers was hereabouts, two hundred and sixty-six years ago, and found the Indian the rightful owner of these lands which we now occupy ; his wig- wams, with its sable inmates, on these summits where now stand our dwellings ; his corn growing on the fields we now cultivate, - cannot admit of doubt.
THE UNEXPLORED WILDERNESS.
Could we repeople this territory from the Blue Hills to the Bay with its aboriginal tribes, and reproduce nature in the forms, and aspects, and similitudes of two and a half centuries ago, a picture would be before us calculated to bewilder and surprise the beholder.
I cannot venture on a minute description ; but give back again to nature this place of our homes; let our churches and school-houses and dwellings disappear; strike out from the landscape all roads and lines of demarcation, and all the improvements that embellish and beautify ; let the wilderness, with its native inhabitants of bird and beast, assert its claim over these mountains and fields ; and then replace the red man, his trails leading from hill to hill, from seaboard to mountain, the paddle of his canoe alone disturbing the quiet of the river, now vocal with the hum of business, the smoke of his wigwam enlivening the scene by day, and his council-fires lighting up the woods by night, - thus, in imagination, we may gain an im- perfect view of those primeval days.
6
HISTORY OF MILTON.
MASSACHUSETTS.
Looming up six hundred and thirty-five feet above the level of the ocean, and plainly seen along our coast, and far out at sea, are the Blue Hills of Milton.
It is now generally conceded that from these hills was derived originally the name of this Commonwealth. Roger Williams says [ Deposition taken at Narragansett, 28 June, 1682, 3d Mass. Hist. Coll., II., 235 .- R. I. Coll., IV., 208]: "I have learnt that the Massachusetts was called so from the Blew Hills." Josias Cotton, at the end of "Cotton's Vocabulary," refers to Massachusetts as " an hill in the form of an arrow- head."
According to the view advanced and ably supported by the the great Indian scholar, J. Hammond Trumbull, of Hartford, Conn., the lineage of the name seems to be this: -
1. The tribal name of the Indians living around the Great Hill was, among themselves, Massadchuseück; this became corrupted, through ignorance of the language, into Mass-adchu- set, of which we have the anglicized plural Massachusetts.
2. Hence their country came to be called by their name.
3. Hence the Colony and then the State took the same appellation.
For the benefit of those interested, the question as to the disputed signification of Massachusetts is fully treated in the Appendix, where may be seen the letters of Dr. Trumbull, and his conclusions on the subject.
7
HOME OF THE TRIBE.
HOME OF THE TRIBE.
The Massachusetts tribe never attained to it's former glory. Chickataubut died of small-pox in 1633, leaving a family of young children. During the minority of his heirs Kitchamakin, his brother, was made chief of the tribe. This chief failed to possess a character calculated to inspire his people with hope and courage. He seems to have gathered the scattered rem- nants of the nation near the head of tide-waters, on the Neponset, and to have settled down in quiet subjection to the incoming people. In 1636 he deeded the whole territory of Unquity to Richard Collicot.
DEED OF KITCHAMAKIN.
This Indenture made the eiglith of October in the year 1636 between Richard Collicot and Kitchamakin Sachem of Massachusetts witnesseth these presents. That I Kitchamakin doe covenant grant and sell unto Richard Collicot of Dorchester all that tract of land beyond the Mill within the bounds of Dorchester to the utmost extent, for the use of the planta- tion of Dorchester, for them and their heirs forever; only reserving for my own use and for my men forty acres where I like best, and in case, I and they leave it, the same alsoe to belong unto Dorchester, giving some consideration for the paines bestowed upon it. Moreover forty acres I have given to Richard Collicot lying next to his lott by the south side. And I the said Kitchamakin doe acknowledge to have received the vallow of twenty-eight fathoms of Wampum, being the full payment of the fine; and I the said Kitchamakin doe acknowledge myself satisfied.
In witness whereof, to this present indenture I have sott my hand the day and year above written.
The mark of
KITCHAMAKIN.
Signed in presence of me. The mark of 18th (4) 1649.
5 S STEVEN HOPPING.
These are to certify whom it may Concern that we whose names are hereunto subscribed were present when Kitchamakin above named, did voluntarily signe the Indenture above, as his own act and deed, at the re- quest of the select men of Dorchester, because the old deeds were some- thing decayed with ill-keeping, the day and year above written.
[Public Archives.]
HUMPHREY ATHERTON. JOHN WISWALL.
He went with the colonial commissioners to Narragansett as guide and interpreter. He was always ready to serve the Eng- lish, sometimes perhaps to the injury of his own people.
8
HISTORY OF MILTON.
LABORS FOR THE INDIANS.
A deep interest and real enthusiasm was awakened in the hearts of the colonists for the native inhabitants. They were brought into daily connection with them as laborers on the farm, and as helpers in the family; and great efforts were made to teach them the arts of civilization and the truth of Christianity. Some of the people of Unquity then living on Milton Hill devoted much time, year after year, in teaching them to read. There was an earnest and heartfelt concern for their moral and spiritual welfare. Plans were devised for their education and enlightenment, by creating an Indian department in Harvard College, and erecting a building for this purpose. Excellent men and women gave their thoughts and devoted their lives to this service.
REV. JOHN ELIOT.
First and foremost of all was Rev. John Eliot of Roxbury. He attained a knowledge of the dialect, and began to preach to the Indians as early as 1646. His labors were confined to no locality. We find him at Dorchester, Nonantum, Natick, Plym- outh, on the Cape, and wherever the tribes were scattered. " He made a missionary tour every fortnight, planted churches, and visited all the Indians in Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies, even as far as Cape Cod." And he was rewarded with wonderful success in his work. Opposition only increased his zeal, obstacles but fired him with fresh energy. He says in a letter: "I have not been dry, night or day, from the third day of the week unto the sixth; but so traveled and at night pulled off my boots, rung my stockings and on with them again and so continue. But God steps in and helps."
He translated the Bible into the Indian language; it was printed at Cambridge in 1663, and a second edition in 1685. The following is the title-page : -
" Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe UP BIBLUM GOD. Na- neeswe NUKKONE TESTAMENT Kah Wonk WUSKU TESTAMENT."
This was the first Bible printed in this country, and it is believed that there is but one man living who can read it. Mr. Eliot often labored with the Neponset Indians. Gookin says he preached to the Indians at Stoughton's Mill. Tradition has fixed these meetings in Vose's grove, and on the Milton side at the wigwam of Kitchamakin.
9
HOME OF THE TRIBE.
Eliot describes a collision between himself and the Dorchester sachem, Kitchamakin, who remonstrated against the apostle's course, which, he said, all the sachems were determined to re- sist. "It pleased God," says Eliot, "to raise my spirit not to passion but to bold resolution, telling him it was God's work I was about, and He was with me, and I feared not him nor all the Sachems in the country."
Kitchamakin afterwards became a Christian. King Philip treated Eliot with scorn, but dared not injure him. He took hold of his button, saying he cared no more for the Gospel than for that button.1
REMOVAL OF THE INDIANS.
As the inhabitants were increasing at the Mill, and the out- lands of Dorchester were needed for the colonists, at the request of Mr. Eliot in 1657 the town granted a tract of land of six thousand acres, for the use of the Indians, at and about Pon- kapog pond, now mostly in Canton, but then in Dorchester. From this time they took the name of the Ponkapog tribe.
The following is Gookin's account of the place in 1674: " The next town is Pakomit or Ponkipog. The signification of the name is taken from a spring that ariseth out of red earth. This town is a small town, and hath not above twelve families in it, and so about sixty souls. This is the second praying town. The Indians that settled here removed from Neponset Mill."
To this place they removed in 1657, and continued in quiet possession of the schools and religious privileges supplied them, under the charge of Corporal Thomas Swift, of Milton, until the general uprising of the Indians in 1675, when the various tribes combined against the English, Then, from considerations of prudence and safety, in the fall of 1675, they were removed temporarily to Long Island in Boston harbor. In the fol- lowing spring they were remanded to their planting-grounds.
Court Records, V., 86, 5, May, 1676 : -
Ordered that the Indians be immediately removed to convenient places for their planting, i.e., Ponkapoag Indians at Brush Hill, or as near as they may with safety to their own planting fields, and that they place their wig- wams in or near some English garrison there.
These Indians remained loyal to the English, and engaged with them against their own race, in King Philip's war, in
1 Neal.
10
HISTORY OF MILTON.
which nine-tenths of the hostile Indians were destroyed; and, according to the estimate of Dr. Trumbull, in his "History of Connecticut," "about one-eleventh part of the able-bodied men of the colonies were killed or lost."
In the year 1684, six years before the death of Mr. Eliot, Rev. Peter Thacher of Milton, who had acquired the language, at the request of Mr. Eliot, instituted a monthly lecture at Ponkapog for the benefit of the Indians. This was continued for many years.
Thacher's Journal : -
July 8, 1684. This day the Major-General [Gookin] and old Mr. Eliot were at my house to speak to me about preaching a lecture to the Indians once a month.
It is said that they never lost their attachment to Unquity; but as long as the pure-blooded Indians remained at Ponkapog they made a yearly pilgrimage to the home of their fathers, and the graves of their ancestors. "There are those now living who remember when the Mohoes and the Auhaughtons drew their grandmother, Dinah Moho, blind with age, on a hand-sled to the home of her ancestors.1 Gradually the territory ceded to them passed into other hands. The last land belonging to the plantation was sold in 1827.
This was done, at first, by long leases, in some cases approved by the town of Dorchester, but not without the careful scrutiny of the General Court. Many papers are found in the "Public Archives," indicating the care that was exercised over these lands, and the protection thrown around them to secure these homes to the Indian and his descendants. In vain, - the lapse of two centuries has effaced every claim of the red man from the record books. They and their homes have disappeared from among us.
1 Dorchester History, p. 582.
11
PRECINCT INHABITANTS.
CHAPTER II.
PRECINCT INHABITANTS.
T THERE is a charm in reverting to those early times when the first inhabitants began to gather here, seeking a quiet home, and a refuge from oppression in this wilderness. We look upon the men and women of that day with feeling akin to reverence. They may have been rough in their exterior, and stern and unyielding in their nature; but they had clear heads and earnest hearts. Seen through the perspective of years the rough lines are softened down and a noble, stalwart character comes out to view. As a class, they were well educated, devout Christians, and zealous supporters of liberty. Some, indeed, had held eminent social position, and had enjoyed the advantages of the highest culture. Not a few were educated in the universities of Europe, and were remarkably qualified to solve the great problems of existence and government on these western shores. All this power, natural and acquired, was found needful in the experience that followed.
The struggle for existence in the early years of the colony ; the oft-repeated onset with native tribes; the French and In- dian and Spanish wars, extending through long periods of time, together with the conflicts with the mother-country, -brought into exercise executive ability, military knowledge and skill, moral courage, and physical endurance of the highest quality and in the highest degree. Nobly did these brave spirits face every obstacle, ward off every threatening danger, and turn the tide of apparent defeat into a successful and prosperous issue.
Of such character were some of those who, though belong- ing to Dorchester, occupied the outposts or environs of her territory, on the south side of the Neponset, and were called Precinct Inhabitants. We learn of these men and times from the gleanings of the earliest records, from the statements of contemporaneous writers, and from other original sources of in- formation.
ANCIENT PLAN.
In December, 1838, an ancient plan of Milton on parchment was discovered, among the papers belonging to the proprietors
12
HISTORY OF MILTON.
of Dorchester, inscribed with the following memorandum : " This plan was drawn on a paper plat formerly made by Mr. John Oliver for the Town of Dorchester, and now by their order is drawn on parchment by Joshua Fisher, April 25, 1661." John Oliver died in April, 1646, and his plan, drawn on paper, was copied on parchment in 1661, by Joshua Fisher.
This plan has been reproduced for our history, and is found on p. 16. This furnishes the outlines of our town at the time the first grants were taken up, and when but few actual settlers were upon the ground. From this plan, and from other sources, we are able to obtain the following list of the first owners of these lands : -
Robert Badcock,
William Hutchinson,
Nehemiah Bourne,
Thomas Lewis,
Richard Collicot,
Anthony Newton,
William Daniels,
Andrew Pitcher,
Nicholas Ellen,
William Salsbury,
John Glover, Israel Stoughton,
Jolın Holman,
Bray Wilkins.
LOCATION OF GRANTS.
Israel Stoughton first appears on the Dorchester records as grantee of land in 1633.
His grant was a tract of one hundred and one acres, on the south side of the Neponset, described as the "Indian Fields," embracing all the land from the river as far west as Ruggles lane and School street, and south and east as far as the Russell estate extends ; by a subsequent grant, purchase, or exchange, Mr. Stoughton came into possession of a second tract of sixty- one acres, adjoining the first and extending over Milton Hill to Mr. Dudley's estate.
These two lots include all the estates on both sides of Adams street from the river to Mr. Dudley's residence, and also westerly as far as Ruggles lane and School street. Directly south of this was a tract of one hundred and twenty-nine acres, described as the "first lot in the three divisions already layed out," owned in common by John Grenaway, Edward Bullocke, and Robert Pearse, husband of Ann Grenaway. This includes the estates of J. M. and W. H. Forbes, Dudley, Tappan, Ware, Merriam, Bancroft, and Glover; and also the estates on the westerly side of Adams street from Mr. Dudley's to the mansion of J. W. Brooks, as far west as the base of the hill. The marsh was not embraced in this tract.
June 10, 1650, John Grenaway, millwright, conveyed his portion to William Daniels and Katherine, his wife, daughter
13
PRECINCT INHABITANTS.
of said Grenaway. Mr. Daniels very soon erected a house on the site now occupied by the house of Mr. Glover, where he kept a tavern for many years. South of this lot and on the east side of Adams street, with the exception of a small tract, was the grant of fifty-eight acres to Nehemiah Bourne. This includes the estates of R. B. Forbes, R. S. Watson, and H. P. Kidder ; the latter perhaps only in part.
On the westerly side of Adams street, directly opposite the land of Mr. Bourne, was located the grant of Richard Collicot of fifty-six acres ; this was sold in 1682 to Benjamin Babcock ; was afterwards known as the Pratt farm, and now belongs to the Brooks, Forbes, and Lovering estates. South of the Bourne grant, and on the east side of the street, was the tract of fourteen acres granted to Bray Wilkins. This includes a small part of Mr. Kidder's land, and the estates of Babcock and Hinckley.
Between this and the brook, on the easterly side, were two small tracts, on which once stood three very ancient houses, which may have belonged to Nicholas Ellen, Anthony Newton, and William Salsbury, who were ship-builders and are known to have lived near the place of building, at the mouth of Gul- liver's creek, where small vessels or boats were built at a very early date.
On the other side of the street, opposite the Bray Wilkins lot and adjoining the Collicot land, was the grant of John Holman of forty-three acres, embracing the old Holman and Governor Belcher estate, now belonging to Mrs. Payson and others.
Lying between the Collicot lot and the Braintree line was another tract of sixty-two acres, also the property of Sergeant Collicot ; and abutting the land of John Holman, and extend- Eng thence to the Braintree line, was a second tract of seventy- five acres, belonging to Ensign Holman. Beyond the land of Richard Collicot, south-westerly, was land of Richard Mather, and adjoining this and John Holman's land was the grant of Henry Wolcott. South of Gulliver's creek, or, as styled in an old deed of 1652, "Uncaty Brook," commenced the section purchased by William Hutchinson, occupying the south-easterly corner of the town, adjoining his grant in the "Great Lott," Braintree. The Hutchinson lot includes the whole of that por- tion of East Milton on the east side of Adams street, and a part of the estates on the west side.
The grant of "The Worshipful John Glover" was located west of Milton Hill, bounded easterly by Ruggles lane and School street, and northerly by the brook; it extended west as
14
HISTORY OF MILTON.
far as the wall of Charles Breck, east of his house, and then south to the central line of the town, and most likely farther, embracing a wide territory of one hundred and seventy-six acres. He built a house near the brook, on Canton avenue, not far from the wool-shops, and placed Nicholas Wood, who came over with him from the old country, in charge of his farm. The guide-boards, at the junction of Canton avenue and Brook road, stand on the site of his house. Here Mr. Wood lived until July 13, 1654, when the farm was sold by the heirs of Mr. Glover to Robert Vose.
Robert Badcock's claim, or purchase, was between the brook bearing his name and the Neponset river, a tract of one hun- dred and seven acres. In 1670 he added to his estate by pur- chasing of Teague Crehore a tract of land west of his own, and in 1671 by a subsequent purchase of Nathaniel Duncan.
Thomas Lewis owned a tract of sixteen acres, situated in the bend of the brook, on the north side, embracing a part of the Ruggles and Davis estates, and the land now occupied by the wool-shops.
Andrew Pitcher held one hundred and twenty-two acres of land, extending from the Neponset to the parallel line. It prob- ably embraced the land on which the churches and town hall stand, having for its westerly boundary the wall east of the Centre school-house, and stretching in a straight line, at nearly right angles with Canton avenue, to Mattapan. Mr. Pitcher's house was the old house which stood where the academy house now stands ; there he died, in February, 1661.
MINISTERIAL LANDS.
Adjoining the Pitcher lot four hundred acres of land were set apart and laid out for the use and maintenance of the ministry. 16, (11,) 1659. This land was all within the limits of Milton,
1 LAYING OUT OF THE COMMON LANDS.
Whereas Deaeon John Wiswall, Deaeon John Capen, William Sumner, Robert Vose and William Robinson were chosen a committee for ye laying ont of ye common lands as by Town order doe appear bearing date ye 16 (II) 1659. In order hereunto, the eom- mittee here-above-said, met on ye 30 of ye (1) 1660 and did conelude that ye 400 aeres of land for the ministry shall be first taken up next without Goodman Vose's field in the plaine in that range next Neponsit River. Also that there shall be a highway of four rods broade between the two ranges; and the way to begin at the parallel line between the ends of the 13 and 14 lotts of the former divisions; also it is agreed that the first lot shall begin next without the 400 acres, and soe to multiply as far as that range shall extend. And then to come back again to the outside of the 13th lot, and soe to multiply towards the Blue Hill. Also it is eoneluded that there shall be a way of 2 rods wide to go from the Town over the river, about the ox-pen where may be most convenient, and soe to go along cros over ye 400 aeres, and all the other lots in the range by the river, to
15
ALLOTMENT OF THE SIXTH DIVISION.
extending from the parallel line on Canton avenue to the Neponset river. It is supposed to be bounded southerly by the parallel line, or Canton avenue, from the east wall of the Centre School lot, to Pine Tree brook; westerly by a line at right angles with the parallel line, extending from the Pine Tree brook to the river, and dividing the estates of James M. Robbins and Amor L. Hollingsworth; northerly by the river ; and easterly by a line at right angles with the parallel line, ex- tending from the south-east corner of the Centre School lot, or thereabouts, to the river.
Several changes were made in the ministerial lot soon after it was laid out.
April 9, 1705. Thomas Vose received a portion of this lot in exchange for land on his own estate. When the road was deter- mined upon from the ox-pen to Mattapan bridge, in 1732, through this land, the "Trott Pasture " may have been exchanged for the church land thus taken.
After the establishment of the town of Milton half of the ministerial land was appropriated to this town. As Milton gave the preference to the part nearest Braintree, two hundred acres were set off from the south-easterly part of the land as the ministerial land of Milton, July 10, 1663. The length of time that has elapsed, and the changes that have occurred, tend to make the exact boundaries of the church lot somewhat obscure, while the general territory and lines are well known.
Milton has disposed of all her portion, and the dwellings of her citizens cover the Canton-avenue front of this land. The church of Dorchester still owns about sixty acres of her por- tion, fronting on Blue Hill avenue.
ALLOTMENT OF THE SIXTH DIVISION.
All the rest of the territory belonging to Dorchester, south of the Neponset river, as far as the present easterly boundary of Canton, or the Blue Hill meadows, and known as the Sixth Division, was, in 1660, divided by metes and bounds into two ranges, and apportioned to the inhabitants of Dorchester, who held lots in the First Division. This allotment was governed by the amount each proprietor paid into the company, or by the taxable property of each.
be determined by the Select men [or such as they shall select for that end] where it shall ly for the conveniency of it to run up to the fresh meadows. Also that there shall be a way of a rod and a half broad between the 400 acres and the first lot for to come into the middle great highway between the ranges. - Record of Proprietors of Dorchester, Vol. 2, p. 58.
16
HISTORY OF MILTON.
PARALLEL LINES.
The area was made ready for this partition in the following manner [as shown on the map] : -
At that time the boundary between Braintree and Dorches- ter commenced at Woodcock Hill and ran in a straight line to the top of great Blue Hill. Midway between this boundary and the river, and parallel with it, a central line was drawn longitudinally, from the south-westerly slope of Milton Hill on the east, to the fresh meadows or Canton line on the west, dividing the whole territory between the river and Braintree into two ranges ; this was called the central parallel line. After the town of Milton was incorporated, the road now known as Canton avenue was laid out on this central parallel line, from Atherton Tavern to the residence of Mr. Charles Breck, taking the parallel line as the central line of the road.
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