USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wilmington > Town of Wilmington Annual Report 1860-1887 > Part 24
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In June, 1630, came the large emigration, under John Win- throp, 1500 strong, and permanently occupied Charlestown and Boston. They brought with them a charter conferring powers of essential self-government. In their arrival the "new" England was founded.
In 1640 an additional grant of land was made by the General Court to Charlestown, and for two years was known as Charles- town Village. By October, 1642, this land had received so many settlers that a church was organized, and it was set apart as a distinct township, under the name of Woburn, the twentieth in the Massachusetts Colony and twenty-ninth in the two colonies.
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The towns then nearest to Woburn were Rowley and Ipswich on the north-east, Charlestown and Boston on the south-east, Cambridge on the south, and Concord on the west. Reading was then known as Lynn Village. To the north-west all was wilderness. The new town came to include all that is now Burlington, with a large part of what is now Wilmington. It is well for us to remember that its first minister was Thomas Carter, whose descendants are numerous with us to-day. May their shadows never grow few.
In the year 1700, the number of tax-payers in Woburn was only 187. But in 1725, it was 305. In 1708, its valuation stood fourth in the county. Judge Sewall notes in his diary, under the date of August 12, 1702, that he traveled on that day from Andover to Woburn, "through the Land of Nod," in which he owned some 300 acres. "This," says he, " is the first time that I have seen it. Got late to Fowl's," at Woburn. August 13, "Visit Mr. Fox"-the minister ; "view the hop- yards." So early had this staple, afterwards of so much conse- quence to these towns, begun to form a characteristic of their farming.
Woburn covered a great deal of ground. Its second meeting- house, built in 1672, was probably at that time sufficiently central. But by 1730, Sergeant Abraham Jaquith, who lived in Goshen,* - probably in the garrison-house which stood over the cellar, a few rods beyond the house now owned by Mr. Aldrich, - was fully seven miles away; and Deacon James Thompson (at Mr. Rich Carter's) was quite as far ; while many other families in various parts of the town found themselves. especially in winter, at very inconvenient distances; few of them nearer, I suppose, than four miles, and most over five.
It must not be supposed, however, that this kept them from attending or made them late. Tradition has it that "the inhabitants of the remotest corner of Goshen would often travel to meeting in winter on snow-shoes ; and Deacon James Thomp- son was wont to be there on summer mornings by eight o'clock, which must have been at least an hour before the services com- menced." (Hist. Woburn, p. 243.) A saying of Deacon Ben-
* A name then given to the region now constituting the central and western parts of Wilmington.
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jamin Jaquith (son of Abraham) is preserved, which shows plainly his opinion of the value of a spirit of promptitude in matters of religion. This vigorous old Christian greatly im- pressed the boys of that generation with his maxim, and the words of emphasis with which he drove it home : " Airly to meetin', airly to heaven, I vouger !"
We have not time to lay before you the long process by which the fathers of Wilmington freed themselves from this hardship of Sunday travel, which had not yet come to be viewed as a privilege. But they were five years and eight months in doing it. Woburn was unwilling to lose so many good citizens. The plan of allowing a sum of money for the support of preaching in school-houses during the winter was tried, but proved un- satisfactory. There was endless talk through all these years, and at last some of the Reading neighbors became interested in it. So, on the 5th of September, 1729, a petition, headed by Samuel Eames, of Goshen, and John Harnden, of Reading, was presented to the General Court, praying that the north part of Woburn and the west part of Reading be made a distinct pre- cinct. This failed, but was speedily followed by another for a new town, which met with more favor. Woburn and Reading were summoned to show cause why it should not be granted ; a committee of both houses spent some days in carefully looking over the ground, noting the distances and estimating the ability of these regions for the support of preaching, and finally re- ported it "highly reasonable that the petition be granted." This report settled the long controversy. A bill incorporating the new town under the name of Wilmington was passed to be engrossed, Sept. 25, 1730. Wherefore we are here this 25th of September, 1880.
The act is passed, engrossed, signed. There is a new town, Wilmington. What sort of a region does it occupy ? How numerous are its people, and what their occupations and gen- eral condition ? It was a district some seven miles long, lying north-east and south-west, about four miles wide near the middle, narrowing toward each extremity, but especially toward the north, having for a sort of core, and its peculiar character- istic, the extensive, irregular, wet meadow-land of two large,
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sluggish brooks, which unite in the eastern part of the town to form the Ipswich River. On either side of these branching meadows lie sandy uplands of diversified surface, covered with pines of both kinds, and occasionally with a growth of oak. Some of the lowland is densely clothed with larch and maple and cedar. The slopes of the uplands are often very gentle, and the lower parts a soft loam. The south-eastern border of the town is diversified ; the south-western and western rise into wooded heights ; and the northern part is almost entirely occu- pied with hills. The general character of the center and the north-west is either a level or gently rolling pine-land, or else low meadow-land. Much of the soil is rather sandy, much is wet ; but a good deal of it responds handsomely to a faithful cultivation, and many patches are fertile. It is, in the main, a wholesome and pleasant region to live in, with no high hills to hinder travel; with extensive woods, in which deer are found ; a great abundance of partridges and rabbits ; quite as many foxes as most of the inhabitants want ; legions of musk-rats and minks; a few otter, with, possibly, a very few beaver, an occasional wild-cat, and once in a while a bear.
The following story, of somewhat later date, has come down to us : -
In August, 1760, two young men - Ephraim Buck, twenty- nine years old, and Nathan, who was only sixteen - had been spending the forenoon in mowing in the meadow a short distance above where the bridge now stands, this side of " the city." They were sons of Ephraim, the grandfather of Mr. Benjamin Buck, who is with us to-day. At twelve o'clock they went home to dinner. When they came back they saw that their windrows had been disturbed. They thought this was queer; for there were no cattle about. But looking narrowly, they were startled to find the tracks and the leavings of a bear! He must be still near. Instantly they ran home to get their dogs and guns and rouse the neighbors. They were soon ready and off for the woods and the bushes. Old Mr. Ephraim himself was out with his ancient queen's arm loaded with two bullets. A neighbor went with him. The old man seated himself at the roots of the tree since known as the "Bear Oak," and the neighbor sta- tioned himself farther this way (north-west), not very far from
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Mr. Pierce's place. Meanwhile the boys and the dogs were. ranging the thickets, and not in vain ; for it was not very long before the old man saw something stirring, twenty-five rods away, among the bushes. He cocks his gun and sees that the priming is right, and eagerly watches. Directly the bear shows himself, evidently somewhat disturbed at the noises in his rear. He comes forward towards the brook, and puts his fore-paws up on a hassoek, which was so high that it exposed him, a very fair mark. He had doubtless just spied enemies on that side also, when the boys in the bushes behind heard their father's gun, and the old man, standing up, saw that the bear had dis- appeared. Who got to him first I do not know, but whoever did found him stone dead. The distance must have been some twenty rods ; but one bullet had gone to his heart and one was lodged in the "heart-skirts." He weighed, when dressed, sixty pounds a quarter, and his live weight must have been over two hundred and fifty pounds. Tradition has it very clearly that that gun was loaded with two balls. But every true-born son of Wilmington will forever believe, and against all odds will testify, any records to the contrary notwithstand- ing, that that bear was killed by one Buck's shot, and his name was Ephraim.
Only one other instance of the appearance of a bear has been mentioned to me. Mr. William Boutwell tells me that his grandfather, when crossing the brook near his house, was sur- prised to see one getting over the wall on the east of the road, with her cub, and then crossing the road and disappearing in the bushes on the west. In 1730, this animal must have been more frequently seen. A small hill, about a quarter of a mile this side of Mr. Boutwell's, near Mr. Dowd's, used to be known as Bear's Hill.
The early records contain many accounts of the laying out and also of the discontinuance of roads. Those first traveled went round the swamps when possible, and were very crooked. The changes, which have been many and often great, were mostly straightening and shortening by means of causeways. Many of them must have furnished fragrant and delightful summer drives, all embosomed as they were in pine-woods ; but were dark when the nights were cloudy, somewhat late in
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getting rid of their snow in the spring, and sandy and soft afterwards. On the whole, they must be regarded as pleasanter for young people than now, longer and harder for horses.
Wilmington took forty-three tax-payers from Woburn ; how many from Reading I have not been able to learn. If twenty, then the population probably amounted to three or four hundred.
We still have houses in the town which give a good idea of many that were standing then.
In the extreme north, the place now occupied by Mr. E. C. Stockwell, close upon the Andover line, was once the property of a family named Jones. It seems to be of considerable age.
The eastern part, at least, of the house now occupied by Mrs. James Pearson, dates back to the beginning of the town. The frame was covered with inch-and-a-half plank, and filled in with brick. The form of the house as a whole, however, has been greatly altered. Probably the original dwelling was very much smaller than the present. Many of the earlier houses were not plastered within, for lack of lime, and the planks and bricks were for protection against both the weather and the Indians.
Far up in this same Land of Nod, you all remember that other very hospitable-looking old place, also a large square house, with its open green and great elms. That belonged orig- inally to Stanleys - a name that has disappeared.
The Upton place, near by, marks the spot where another name, Rich, surviving here only as a Christian name, once had its home.
A smaller house, the original form of which can be distin- guished in spite of the change from a gambrel to a sloping roof, now occupied by Mr. Holt, was raised July 4, 1776, and. though forty-six years younger than the town, is an example of houses of the olden time. Similar to this is the one now oceu- pied by Deacon Levi Manning, which also is old.
The farm now owned by Mr. Silas Brown embraces part of the land belonging, a hundred and fifty years ago, to Samuel Dummer, Esq. Mr. Dummer's house stood at the foot of the hill, in the rear, north of the barn, and near the road to North Reading, which then curved round the hill on its western and
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northern sides so as to cross the brook where the present road crosses it, near the saw-mill. The old apple-trees, still to be seen, are said to have stood just behind or at the end of the house, which probably fronted the south.
Mr. Brown's house was built, eighty-five years ago, by Col. Joshua Harnden.
A Harnden lived on the top of the hill, west of Mr. Samuel Gowing's. Still earlier, in 1796, John Harnden occupied a house " about sixty rods from this spot," with his wife and eight children. Some Indians had been attacking Dunstable. Five of them came down to this house one night, when Mr. Harnden was away, entered through the roof, and killed Mrs. Harnden and three of the children. The others hid behind a large rock, but were discovered and carried off, though after- wards rescued by a party of pursuers.
This murderous act is said to have been prompted by a de- sire of revenge for the death of a drunken squaw accidentally run over by a team, near a small pond on the road to Woburn, since known as Squaw's Pond. The cellar and well of John Harnden's house, with the big rock, known as Indian rock, are still to be seen. They are about sixty rods in the rear of the houses of Mr. Morris and Rev. Mr. Buffum.
The Blanchard farm-house, with its twelve elms and thicket of young pines, marks the home of Cadwallader Ford, one of the most prominent and prosperous of the citizens, at the time of the town's incorporation. Mr. Ford was born in Ireland, fled to this country when a mere boy, and after many vicissi- tudes, achieved an honorable success. The house was built by him, and is now occupied by his great grandchildren. It is the handsomest remaining specimen of the homes of that generation, and ought certainly to survive for another hundred and fifty years, when it will be too precious to be allowed to perish.
Go in summer to the Otis Carter crossing, on the way to Sandy Pond, look north-east, and you will see, I venture to say, the prettiest arch, made by a single tree over a railroad, that can be found in Middlesex County. A graceful elm stands stretching its arms above it, as though in benediction. That tree commemorates another family, whose name is heard no
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more in the places that once knew them, and who built and in- habited the ancient house across the road. One day, long ago, a certain Mr. Scales, -it was either James or Nathan, - had started for Salem. Possibly his horse was old; more likely, whatever his age, he was stiffened with hard work; it is certain, at any rate, that he did not go to his master's satisfaction. So Mr. Scales descended from his wagon to get a stick. He soon found one, and felt in his pocket for a knife ; it was not there : whereupon, a vigorous pull brings up a shoot ; one strip from his hard fingers takes off the leaves, and the exhortation for his horse is ready. When he got back again the stick was still in the wagon ; and his young boy, interested to examine it, ex- claimed : " Why, father, this is a little tree ; I am going to put it in the ground, and see what it will become." So he planted the elm that overarches the road.
The house dates back to at least 1741; for in that year it is named in the town records, in the description of the laying out of the road which passes between it and the barn. A little additional interest attaches to it from the fact that a pane of glass over the front door in the north-west end, and which is now in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society, bears this inscription : "Aug. 2d, 1769. The infamas Governor left our town," - referring, it is supposed, to Gov. Bernard, and his attempt to arrest persons for constructive treason.
The house is worth looking over, as it is a specimen of a very ordinary style of building. It is, you remember, of the usual shape, the rear roof sloping to within a few feet of the ground. with one great chimney, its bricks laid in clay. The front, however, is now coarsely stuccoed. The upper story certainly gave me a sensation of coolness, as I looked at the thin board walls, now full of cracks, in spite of clapboards, the only pro- tection against cold storms, and imagined what sort of bed chambers they would be on a winter's night, with the wind strong from the north-west. And one of the two has no fire- place, and the other only an unfinished one, which a glance shows, were never once used. The house speaks plainly of hard times and rough living. But these chamber walls may have been once filled in with brick. Unless this was so, I should be very slow to believe that these chambers were used in winter
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for sleeping : more likely, they were store-rooms for corn, beans, pumpkins and hops. A round trap-door, opening into the attic, speaks plainly still of the bags of hops that used to go up and down there. Do yon ask where the sleeping was done ? I venture to answer: in the little rooms at each side of the kitchen ; and perhaps, sometimes, in the kitchen itself. For I hear a tradition respecting an ancient member of a very well- known family of this town, that when the son brought his young wife home, there was but one room that could furnish them accommodations for the night ; and that, the one in which the boiling and the baking and the roasting and the eating and the washing 'and the ironing were done, in the day-time. So in the kitchen this couple lived, for a number of years ; until the death of the old folks opened another room to their use. And, in my opinion, the kitchen was, during the winter, by far the most comfortable sleeping room, with its great, warm chimney, and its huge bed of covered coals, giving out heat all night long. The young folks were, of course, the first to be up in the morning. Foremost of all, the young husband would uncover the coals, put on a back-log, lay a strong fore-stick, and then pile high the pine wood and the oak, making a roar- ing fire, by which his wife might dress, while he went out to feed the cattle ; and then the old folks, when they came forth from the snug bedroom, near by, would find all things put in order, the hearth swept, the fire blazing, the kettle steaming, and the table set, with grateful promise of breakfast. - Could you not have enjoyed it ?
It would not be safe,-let me say, in passing,-for any to imagine, because some of these ancient houses were roughly built, and parts left unfinished, and the large families neces- sarily crowded, that those households lived in discomfort. They had a plenty of the most wholesome food,- beans and brown bread, and pumpkins, and cabbages, and turnips, with cider apple-sauce, pies, doughnuts and gingerbread : what more can man want! They worked, and they eat, heartily ; they breathed pure air; those great chimneys did the work of ventilation well; and their pulse beat so strong, that when they were sick, it was not an illness of the low, slow, doubtful kind,-nobody able to tell what was the matter; it was a
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vigorous sickness, that spoke plainly. There were men among them who would go without overcoat, and some without mit- tens, all winter long. As they sat in front of those noble fire- places, the genial warmth crept and flashed all through them, and cheered them with its indescribable deliciousness. Why, the young people of to-day do not know an open fire -how different its darting heat from that which comes through a hole in the floor, or from a close stove, and soaks into you, like a fog,- how much more stimulating the fire is, more positively refreshing after cold and wet, more provocative of sleep, when one is tired, and of talk and laughter, when one is still feel- ing fresh after the day's toil. There was, very likely, no coffee or tea, but there was an abundance of milk for all kinds of porridge, there was cider and home-brewed beer, and there was occasionally a little toddy ; which had the virtue, now rare, of being what it was called .- But to return to the houses.
The house now in the hands of Samuel Gowing was built by Joseph Harnden, less than a hundred years ago. That belong- ing to the brothers Gowing, a hundred and fifty years ago, was in the same name. That occupied by N. Bradley Eames was the home of Hathornes ; and Mr. Pickering, of an Evans. The house of Mr. Lemuel C. Eames was standing a hundred and fifty years ago ; and perhaps, also, that of Mr. Benjamin Buck, or a part of it; both in the hands of the same families, though both have undergone alterations. Deacon Morrill tells me that he used to hear about an old Capt. Slocum, who once lived in the little house upon the main road, north-west of the Boston & Maine Railroad crossing, at the station, against whom some Indians had a grudge, which they vented in a less bloody man- ner than usual. In the absence of the family they broke into the house, took out the feather beds, ripped them up, and scat- tered their contents to the winds. One would think they had lived near a college. The gambrel roofed house opposite the tannery, seventy years ago belonged to Squire Samuel Eames, and is supposed to have been in the same name in 1730. An ancient Blanchard house is still standing at the top of the hill, on the corner of the North Reading road ; but this house, if on the ground in 1730, must have belonged to Daniel Killam. It
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seems probable that there was then no house on this site, and that Mr. Killam's stood over the little cellar, on the north of the North Reading road, near the foot of the hill.
On the main street there was then no house between the spot first mentioned and the present line of the Lowell Railroad, except the one now occupied by Mr. William Eames. Seventy years ago the only other houses were those now belonging to Mrs. Timothy Carter, and to Deacon Cadwallader Morrill. On the spot where Mr. Joseph Ames lives stood a dwelling of the Jaques family ; and farther down on the same side another, which still remains, was occupied by Carters. The father of Mr. Rich Carter was born there, though he afterward lived where Mr. William H. Carter, 2d., now lives, and it was in that house that Mr. Rich Carter was born.
Further along on the road toward Woburn, on the right, this side of the low ground, is a place that belonged to the Flaggs. The farm house now occupied by Mrs. Benjamin Perry and her son, belonged to JJohn Gowing, a younger brother of the pres- ent Mr. Joseph Gowing's grandfather. But the road now connecting that corner with Reading and Lowell was not then in existence. Mr. Lorenzo Butters lives where his fathers did. A little further on was another Butters place, just beyond that, a third, the "garrison house " for that part of the town, now owned by Mrs. Avery and Mrs. Spalding. The second story of this house originally projected a foot or more over the first ; and Deacon Morrill remembers how the chains, the hoes, the shovels and harnesses used to look, hanging underneath ; and how a traveler once remarked to his com- panion as he passed, " Well, we have got to the sign of the horse collar." Part of a fourth house is now the dwelling of George Taylor; a fifth site is found at Mr. Johnson's place ; a sixth at the Addison place ; and the whole was known as Butters' Row. The Bell farm, then as now, lay below; the house standing over the cellar opposite the barn on the right.
In the west district. Mr. Edward Carter and Mrs. Roxanna Carter occupy the old Walker place ; Widow Jonathan Jaquith, the house built by Peter Corneille ; in the " garrison house " of that part of the town, (standing a few years ago opposite the road turning southward beyond Mr. Aldrich's),
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Abraham Jaquith* lived,- 1730, 57 years old ; near by, to the south-east, is the Joshua JJaquith house, not quite so ancient ; this side, one owned by Mr. Aldrich, and built by Captain James Jaquith, grandson of Abraham ; and half a mile this side is the cellar of still another house, in the same name. Up the Billerica road, near the old canal locks, once stood a dwelling built by Jonathan Beard, sold by him to Col. Samuel Hopkins, and by him to Mr. Timothy Carter. This, together with the neighboring houses of William Nichols and Joseph Burnap, was burned by fires kindled by sparks from a locomotive.
If we think over the ancient houses which still remain, and try, in imagination, to restore their former owners to the places which once knew them, we shall find them to have been comfortable and respectable farmers. That they respected themselves and their neighbors, is proved by the reason which moved them to organize a new town,- that the people might be able to unite in the public worship of God. To them, the obligation of such worship was as plain as that of earning their living. With very few exceptions, all felt themselves to be sinful children of Adam; all to be judged at God's bar; all in need of God's forgiveness ; all looked toward one Saviour; all were expecting the endless life ; and all were agreed that instruction in the way of so living here as to make sure of a blessed immortality, is a matter of importance. This it was, above all things else, which led to the organization of the town. And these sentiments lay at the basis of the self-respect and of the mutual respect, that characterized the people. It is a more dignified reason for the movement than any other; more hon- orable to them, than though it had originated in dissatisfaction with the way the rest of the town had voted money ; much more to their credit, than if the leading motive had been, the rule of some party, or some clique of Goshen farmers or esquires. I think that, to whatever Christian denomination any of their descendants now belong, they all are thankful that the town of Wilmington had its origin in sentiments running so
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