USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Marlborough > Topographical and historical sketches of the town of Northborough, with the early history of Marlborough, in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, furnished for the Worcester magazine > Part 3
USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Northborough > Topographical and historical sketches of the town of Northborough, with the early history of Marlborough, in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, furnished for the Worcester magazine > Part 3
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This tradition is corroborated by the following circumstances.
In the account of Daniel Gookin, in 1 Hist. Col. 1. 228, it is said that " some instances of perfidy in Indians, who had professed themselves friendly, excited suspicions against all their tribes. The General Court of Massachu- setts passed several severe laws against them ; and the Indians of Natick and other places, who had subjected themselves to the English government, were hurried down to Long Island (Hutchinson says Deer Island,) in the harbor of Boston, where they remained all winter, and endured inexpressible hard- ships." We learn further from Hutchinson, that the Indians of Punkapog alone (now Stoughton) were exempted from this severity of treatment. The ground of the harsh measures adopted in reference to the Indians in the neighborhood of Boston, was, the perfidious conduct of the Springfield Indians, in assisting in the destruction of Westfield, Hadley, and other places, in Octo- ber 1675. "This instance of perfidy," says Hutchinson, "'seems to have in- creased the jealousies and suspicions, which had before begun of the Indians round Boston, viz. Punkapog, Natick, &c."
At the session, in October, the General Court ordered " that no person shall entertain, own, or countenance any Indian under the penalty of being a betrayer of this government."
" That a guard be set at the entrance of the town of Boston, and that no
22
HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
This war, if calamitous to the English, proved fatal to nearly all the Indian Plantations in New England. Among the rest the
Indian be suffered to enter upon any pretence without a guard of two mus- keteers, and not to lodge in town."
" That any person may apprehend an Indian, finding him in town, or ap- proaching the town, and that none be suffered to come in by water."
To this we may add, that Capt. Mosely's character was such as to render it highly probable that he performed the part which tradition has assigned to him. Hutchinson says, "he had been an old privateerer at Jamaica, proba- bly of such as were called Buccaniers." He commanded a company of 110 volunteers, in the war with King Philip, and was one of the most resolute and courageous captains of his day. It was he who, on Sept. 1, 1675, went out to the rescue of Capt. Lathrop, who with only 80 men was attacked by a body of 7 or 8 hundred Indians at Deerfield, when all Capt. L's company, with the exception of seven or eight, were cut off. He also led the van in the terrible assault made upon the Indians, Dec. 19, in the Narragansett country, in which six English captains were killed, and nearly 200 men kil- led and wounded.
I hope I shall be pardoned for adding to this already extended note, the following particulars respecting the remains of the Marlborough Indians.
After the close of the war, some of the Indians of Marlborough appear to have returned to their former place of abode. But their plantation was brok- en up, and they were forced to find shelter and subsistence as they were able.
A considerable number of the Indians who remained in, or returned to, Marlborough, after the war, lived in the westerly part of the town, on the farm of Thomas Brigham, one of the oldest proprietors, the common ancestor of all the Brighams in this town, as well as of many of that name in Marlbo- rough, Westborough, and other places. The late Judge Brigham, of West- borough, and Rev. Benjamin Brigham, of Fitzwilliam, were great-grandsons of Thomas.
Among those who returned was David, alias David Munnanaw, who had joined Philip, and as he afterwards confessed, assisted in the destruction of Medfield. This treacherous Indian had, it is said, a slit thumb, which cir- cumstance led to his conviction. He had been absent from Marlborough several months, but after his return would give no account of himself whith- er he had been, or how he had employed himself in the mean time. At length, however, an inhabitant of Medfield, one whom Munnanaw had wound- ed, being at Marlborough, immediately recognized him by the mark on his thumb, and charged him with his treachery. At first he denied the charge ; but, finding that the proof against him could not be evaded, he at length own- ed that he had been led away by Philip, and had assisted in the burning of Medfield.
He was, however, suffered to live without molestation. His wigwam stood on the borders of the beautiful lake, near the public house kept by Mr. Silas Gates, where he lived with his family many years, till the infirmities of old age came upon him. He was accustomed to repair to the neighboring or- chards for the purpose of obtaining fruit. There was one tree of the fruit of which he was particularly fond, and which was accordingly his favorite place of resort. In this spot the old warrior expired. Old David Munnanaw died a little more than 80 years since, having lived, as was supposed, nearly or quite a century of years. Capt. Timothy Brigham, now in his 91st year, well recollects having seen him, when he was a child of about 9 or 10 years old, at his grandfather's, Jonathan Brigham's, of Marlborough. According to this account, Munnanaw must have been a young man, 25 or 30 years of age, at the time of Philip's war. Capt. B. represents him as bearing the marks of extreme old age, his flesh wasted, and his skin shrivelled. He understood that he had the reputation of having been treacherous to the English. Abim- ilech David, supposed to be a son of the former, was a tall, stout, well pro-
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HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
Plantation of Marlborough, was completely broken up and soon passed into other hands. On the 15th of July 1684, a few weeks subsequent to the date of the Indian deed of the English Plantation, the Indian lands were formally transferred by deed to John Brig- ham of Marlborough and his fellow purchasers ;* and in October, 1686, the aforesaid John Brigham who was a noted surveyor and speculator in lands, was appointed " to lay out 30 acres to each of the proprietors in some of the best of the land lying as convenient as may be to the town of Marlborough."
June the 5th 1700, the inhabitants of Marlborough petitioned the General Court, that the proprietors of the Indian lands might be annexed to the said town, which petition was granted, and Marl- borough accordingly received an accession of 6000 acres, a large proportion of which is good land.
After the close of Philip's war the inhabitants of Marlborough do not appear to have been seriously molested by the Indians till after the commencement of the eighteenth century.
In the mean time the settlement had extended itself towards the borders of the town, so that some time previous to the close of the
portioned Indian, is well remembered by many persons now living. Abimi- lech had several daughters, among whom were, Sue, Deborah, Esther, Pa- tience, Nabby, and Betty. They lived in a wretched hovel or wigwam, un- der the large oak now standing, near the dwelling house of Mr. Warren Brig- ham. They had become dissolute in their habits, and were exceedingly troublesome to their neighbors; and they are remembered with very little respect or affection.
The Indian burying ground, where the last remnants of the race were in- terred, is situated a few rods from the south road, leading from Marlborough to Northborough, near the residence of Widow Holyoke, in a field belonging to the old Brigham farm. It has been enjoined on the family in each suc- ceeding generation, not to trespass on this repository of the dead ; an injunc- tion which has hitherto been duly regarded. The burying ground is about five rods in length, and somewhat more than one rod in breadth, covered with wild grass and loose stones. A few years since, as I have been informed, as many as twenty or thirty graves were plainly distinguishable, though they have now almost wholly disappeared. Two of the graves were situated with- out the bounds of the rest, and in a direction perpendicular to them ; the for- mer being from north to south, the latter from east to west. Many aged per- sons can remember when the last degraded remnants of the race, once inhab- iting the soil we occupy, enclosed in rude coffins of rough boards, hastily put together, and without any religious ceremony, were conveyed to this reposi- tory of the dead.
* This deed appears to have been obtained by unfair means, as in the following September, a committee appointed by the General Court to exam- ine into the grounds of complaint made by the Indians against the English of Marlborough, reported in favor of the Indians, and "the Court ordered and de- clared that the Indian deed of sale to the inhabitants of Marlborough of 5800 acres of land (the whole of the Indian Plantation with the exception of the Indian Planting field) bearing date July 15, 1684, is illegal and consequently null and void."
₣
1
24
HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
seventeenth century, some of the lands now included within the limits of Westborough and Northborough, then called Chauncey, or Chauncey Village, had been laid out for farms.
Indeed so early as 1660, the very year that Marlborough was incorporated, several tracts of meadow, lying within the limits of this town, were surveyed and the names given them which they now bear .* And, in 1662, three large meadows, Cold Harbour Meadow, Middle Meadow, and Chauncey Meadow, the first of which and part of the second, lie within the limits of this town, were or- dered to be surveyed, and each to be laid out in thirty four lots, which was probably the number of proprietors at that time.t
The first grants of land lying within the limits of what is now Westborough and Northborough, with the exception of the mead- ows above named, bear the date of 1672. From this time, and be- fore the close of the century, many of the proprietors of Marlbo- rough had taken up their 2nd, 3d, and 4th divisions in the wester- ly part of the town, several of them west of the river Assabeth.
It is asserted by Rev. Mr. Whitney, in his history of this town, that there were settlers in this part of Marlborough before there were any in what is now Westborough. The first settler according to tradition was John Brigham, from Sudbury, a noted land survey-
* Three Corner Meadow, Stirrup Meadow, Crane Meadow, Cedar Mead- ow, &c.
t The origin of these names according to tradition was as follows :-- Cold Harbour Meadow, in the western part of this town, so called from the cir- cumstance of a traveller, having lost his way, being compelled to remain through a cold winter's night in a stack of hay in that place, and on the fol- lowing morning, having made his way through the wilderness to the habita- tions of man, and being asked where he lodged during the night, replied, " In Cold Harbour." Middle Meadow, on the borders of Westborough and North- borough, so called probably from its situation in reference to the two others.
Chauncey Meadow, in Westborough, so called probably for the same reason that the western part of Marlborough was called Chauncey. The ori- gin of the name was known only by tradition in the Rev. Mr. Parkman's day, who was ordained in Westborough, Oct. 28th, 1724, and who gave the fol- lowing account. " It is said that in early times one Mr. Chauncey was lost in one of the swamps here, and from hence this part of the town had its name." I find from the records of the General Court for the year 1665, that Mr. Chauncey had taken up lands within the limits of Marlborough, and that the proprietors of Marlborough were ordered to remunerate him for his expen- ces incurred in laying out his farm, " and he hath liberty to lay out the same in any land not formerly granted by this Court." Quere .- May not this have been President Chauncey, of Harvard College, to whom, an account of the smallness of his salary, repeated grants of land were made about this time by the General Court? Dr. Chauncey, of Boston, the great-grandson of Pres- ident Chauncey, says that the latter was the first, and the common ancestor of all of that name in this place. If so, the Mr. C. above mentioned must have been President Chauncey or one of his sons.
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HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
or, undoubtedly the same person who has been mentioned in our ac- count of the Indian Plantation. It appears from the Proprietors' records that a grant of land was made to John Brigham, in 1672, "in the place formerly desired, that is, on Licor Meadow plain." This land was probably part of the Coram Farm, so called, the principal part of which lay on the northern side of the old Maribo- rough line,* and now constitutes, in whole, or in part, the farms of Nahum Fay, Esq. John Green, Asa Fay, Lewis Fay, and Stephen Williams, Esq. The lands of Mr. Brigham extended to the saw mill of Mr. Lowell Holbrook, near which he erected a small cabin, in which he lived several years, remote from any human habitation, till, at length, the fear of the Savages compelled him to retreat to a place of greater security ; and, it is said, that only a few days after his removal, a party of Indians came to the place and burned his house to the ground.
The first Saw Mill erected in this town was built by the above named Brigham, and stood on the same spot, which is now occupied for the same purpose.f
In the same year (1672) a grant of land was made to Samuel Goodenow, grandfather of the late Asa Goodenow, and to Thomas Brigham, the person mentioned in the last note, "by Double Pond Meadow, on both sides said meadow."} The lands taken up on the account of the above named Samuel Goodenow, constituted three
* The old Marlborough line, was a straight line of seven miles in extent, running through the northwest angle of this town, and cutting off more than 2000 acres, which constitute what is called the new grants, of which an ac- count will be given hereafter.
t John Brigham was one of three brothers (John, Samuel, and Thomas) who came from Sudbury to Marlborough sometime previous to 1672. Their father was from England, married a Mercie Hurd also from England, settled in Sudbury, where he died probably in middle life, as his widow had buried a second husband by the name of Hunt, before her sons removed to Marlbo- rough. Samuel Brigham, was the grand-father of the late Dr. Samuel Brig- ham, of Marlborough : Thomas was an ancestor of the late Judge Brigham, of Westborough, and John, who was sometimes called Doctor Brigham, was the father of the Mrs. Mary Fay, wife of Gershom Fay, of whose remarkable es- cape from the Indians we shall presently give an account. John Brigham was one of the selectmen of Marlborough in 1679, and in the winter of 1689 90, representative to the Convention then sitting in Boston. The Coram Farm, was granted him, it is said, by the General Court to compensate him for ser- vices as a surveyor of lands. Mr. Brigham lived to be quite aged, and used to come to reside with his daughter Mrs. Fay, in this town.
# Quere. May not this meadow be the one which lies between Great and Little Chauncey ponds, which, as they are connected with each other by a water communication, might have been called at first Double Pond ? David Brigham, son of Thomas, lived on the borders of Great Chauncey, on the farm now in the possession of Lovett Peters, Esq.
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HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
of the oldest settlements in this town, on one of which was the prin- cipal garrison house, used for many years as a defence against the Indians, and which stood on the farm of Mr. Gill Bartlett, then own- ed by Samuel Goodenow, Jr. The other two, were in the vicinity of this, and constitute in whole, or in part, the farms of Deac. Jonas Bartlett and Mr. Stephen How.
In the same year, a grant of land was made to John Rediet, "west of Assabeth River, northwest side of the Chauncey Great Pond, bounded on the east by a Spruce Swamp :" another tract on "the Nepmuck road, that formerly led toward Coneticoat."* The land of John Rediet, who was one of the first proprietors and great- est land holders of Marlborough, came into the possession of Na- thaniel Oaks, who married his daughter, and who lived on the farm owned in succession by Rev. John Martyn and Rev. Peter Whitney, and now in the possession of Mr. Jacob Pierce.t Capt. James Ea- ger was another of the first settlers of this town. He lived near the centre of the town on the farm now in the possession of Mr. John Fisk. His house was once used for a garrison, and was for many years occupied as a tavern, being the first that was opened in the place.}
*"The Nepmuck Road, that formerly led toward Coneticoat," was the old Connecticut road that passed through the southeast part of this town, over Rock Hill, east of Great and Little Chauncey ponds, into Westborough and thence through Hassanamesit or Grafton, 1. Hist. Col. 1. p. 185 and 192.
t Nathaniel Oaks came from England, married Mehitabel, daughter of John Rediet, who died Nov. 25th, 1702, without children. His second wife Mary, was a daughter of Adam Holloway, by whom he had the following children, viz .- Nathaniel, who lived at Bolton. William, burned to death at Shrewsbury in the house of Capt. Keyes. Hannah, married to Gersham Fay, Jr. died March 8, 1806, wanting but a few months of a century. She was the mother of the late Thaddeus Fay, who died, July 22, 1822, aged 91 years. Mary, married to Daniel Maynard, Marlborough. Ann, married to David Maynard, Westborough. John, built the house near Col. Crawford's, owned by Joel Gasset. Jonathan, removed to Harvard. George, lived near the house of Mr. Luther Hawse, and built a saw mill on the river Assabeth.
¿ Capt. James Eager was a native of Marlborough, born in 1685, died 1755, aged 70. He was one of the leading men of the place at the time that Northborough became a separate precinct. It is said that his house was the first that was built on the new Connecticut road, between the house of Samu- el Goodenow and the town of Worcester. It is but little more than a hund- red years, since there was not a human habitation on the road from Marlbo- rough to Brookfield, west of the Goodenow farm, in the eastern part of this town, with the exception of a few log houses in that part of Worcester called Boggachoag. James Eager, Jr. a son of the above, was married to Mariam, daughter of Joseph Wheeler. Their daughter Zilpeh, was married to Mich- ael, son of Rev. John Martyn through whom there are several persons in this town who trace their descent from the first minister of the place.
1
27
HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
Several other persons settled in what is now Marlborough, in the early part of the last century .*
Soon after the commencement of the eighteenth century, the English settlers of Marlborough were again exposed to the horrors of Indian warfare. It will be difficult for us, who are permitted to dwell in security under the shelter of the domestic roof, to form an adequate idea of the perilous condition of our forefathers, at this gloomy period. "We have, indeed, heard within our ears, and our fathers have told" us the story of their dangers and suffer- ings " in the waste and howling wilderness." But how difficult to enter into the feelings of men, who were in constant peril for their lives ; who, like the children of Israel in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, repaired to their work with weapons in their hands, and who were liable to be waked from their midnight slumbers by the savage yells of a pitiless foe ? In many instances were they
*Simeon Howard was the father of Cornet Simeon Howard, and of Jona- than Howard, whose son, Gideon Howard, removed to Worthington, in this state, where his descendants, it is supposed, still live.
Simon Howard, Senior, from Concord, was another of the first settlers. His house stood near the hearse house, on the land of Mr. Asa Fay.
It is not known whether the Simeon Howard mentioned above, was re- lated to Simeon Howard, D. D. late pastor of the west church in Boston.
Adam Holloway, from Concord, (died in 1733, aged 80,) and his son Lieut. Wm. Holloway, (died Jan. 6, 1760, aged 71,) settled on the farm now owned by Stephen Williams, Esq.
Lieut. Wm. Holloway, married Mary, (died March 9, 1788, aged 94,) a daughter of Simeon Howard, Senior, by whom he had two sons and four daughters. The sons died young. Of the daughters, Mary, married Jonathan Bartlett, died Dec. 22, 1821, aged 95 .- Hannah, married Capt. James Stone, of Western. - Betty, married Daniel Wheeler, of Hardwick .- Jemma, mar- ried John Taylor, who died at St. Albans, Vt.
John Taylor, was the father of Col. Holloway Taylor now of St. Albans and of John Taylor, Esq. an Attorney at law, at Northampton.
Gershom Fay, Senior, was one of the first settlers of this town. He was the son of John Fay, of Marlborough, married Mary, a daughter of John Brigham, died in 1720. He lived at first in the easterly part of the town, af- terwards, built a house on the Coram Farm, near the bend of the road, between the dwelling house of Capt. Hastings, and that of Stephen Williams, Esq. His children were Gershom, Mary, Susanna, Sarah, Silas, Timothy, and Paul.
Thomas Ward, from Marlborough, was the first settler on the farm now in the possession of Asaph Rice ; and Deac. Isaac Tomblin on the farm of the late Deac. Isaac Davis.
Hezekiah Tomblin, lived first on Tomblin Hill, so called ; Ephraim Bee- man, on the farm of Samuel Dalrymple.
Joseph Wheeler, (died in 1747, aged 56,) lived on the southern declivity of Ball's Hill, so called.
Ephraim Allen, from Roxbury, purchased of an Eleazer How, a few acres of land, with a grist mill erected thereon, the site of the present mill, and Cotton Factory. This was the first, and for many years the only grist mill, in this town.
4
28
HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
compelled to desert their farms, leaving their lands untilled, while old and young, the strong and the feeble, flocked to the frail forti- fications, denominated garrisons, as their only means of safety.
These were usually nothing more than common dwelling hous- es, surrounded by palisades, and furnished with a supply of fire arms and ammunition. In the year 1711, there were no fewer than twenty six garrison houses within the limits of Marlborough, to each of which were assigned, on an average, five or six fami- lies, the whole number of families being one hundred and thirty seven .*
* " MARLBOROUGH, DECEMBER 11, 1711.
" These several persons are allowed by the Captain Generall.
" The persons assigned to each particular Garrison are as followeth : Ordered, by us the Subscribers, by the direction of an act of the Generall Court, entitled an act for the better security and defence of the fronteers.
Capt. How's GARISON. Samuel Stevens James How
Lieut. WILLIAMS' GARISON.
Thomas Beman
Peter Bent
Richard Barns
Edward Barns
ENSIGN HOW'S GARISON.
Ensign Bouker
Joseph Wait
David Church
Benjamin Rice
Peter Rice
Jacob Rice
Joseph Rice.
SAMUEL MORRIL'S GARISON.
Sergeant Barret
John Barns
Benjamin Baylis
Joseph Ward
Joshua Rice
Thomas Martin
Samuel Bush.
ISAAC AMSDEN'S GARISON.
Thomas Newton
THOMAS BRIGHAM'S GARISON.
Sergeant Mainard James Woods Adam Martin Is. Tempels
Jonathan Brigham Oliver Ward Increas Ward.
Deacon Newton John Amsden.
JOHN HOW'S GARISON. Zac. Eager
Moses Newton
David Fay John Newton Widdow Johnson
Samuel Wheelock
Obadiah Ward
Thomas Axtel.
Moses Newton, Jr. James Kady.
SAMUEL GOODENOW'S GARISON. Nathaniel Oakes
* This undoubtedly was the Rev. Robert Breck, the second Minister of Marlborough.
Jonathan How Samuel Stow, Senior Thomas Stow Jonathan Morse.
Mr. BRECK's* GARISON.
Capt. KERLY'S GARISON. Nathaniel Joslin
Joseph Maynard
Deacon Woods Nathaniel Johnson Thomas Amsden Simon Gates Joseph Johnson.
Capt. BRIGHAM'S GARISON. Peter Plimpton Benjamin Mixer
Is. How's GARISON.
Abraham Eager
Daniel Johnson
29
HISTORY OF NORTHBOROUGH.
For several of the preceding years, the inhabitants, especially such as lived in the borders of the town, had been kept in a state of constant anxiety and alarm, in consequence of the hostile atti- tude of the Indians.
August 8th, 1704, a party of Indians, eight or ten in num- ber, rushed suddenly from the woods, and fell upon a number
Jonathan Farbush Gershom Fay.
John Wheeler Josiah How
B- Curly (Kerly) Senior
James Curly.
Lieut. How's GARISON. Thomas Ward Edward Rice
SIMON MAINARD'S GARISON. Adam Holloway
Benjamin Whitney Joseph Newton
John Keyes Abrell Bush.
SAMUEL WARD Senior's GARISON. William Ward Widdow Hannah Ward Jonathan Johnson, Senior Caleb Rice.
MILL GARISON. Thomas Barret John Banister.
JOHN MATHEW'S GARISON. William Johnson Samuel Ward.
DANIEL RICE'S GARISON. Widdow Sarah Tayler Suply Weeks Elyazer Taylyer.
Benjamin Newton Ephraim Newton
John Woods Abraham Newton.
SAMUEL FORBUSH'S GARISON. James Bradish Thomas Forbush James Glesson.
JONATHAN NEWTON'S GARISON. Is. Woods Thomas Witherby Is. Amsden Moses Lenard
Roger Bruce.
EDMOND RICE'S GARISON. David Brigham Isaac Tomblin David Maynard.
THOMAS RICE'S GARISON. John Pratt Charles Rice.
John Biglo
John Sherman
Daniel Harington.
THOMAS HAPGOOD'S GARISON. John Forbush
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