USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Waltham > Waltham as a precinct of Watertown and as a town, 1630-1884 > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15
Samuel frarington Jonathan Sandorfon
Thomas Livermore
William Brown
Jamel Canfiets
Thomas Hammond Thomas bylo
Workam Williama
John Cutting
Samuel Livermore
Isaac Stearns Jolaph prance John Child Jojoph Bomil
John Lawrance
John Viels George Dame Allon Plage Daniel Benjamin . Zachariah Smith David Fiske Bezalel Flagg Isaac-mixer Jonas Priest nather Bridge John Sanderson
47
THE WEST PRECINCT
Street a little north of the junction with Worcester Lane. It was within a few rods of the two places previously selected by the precinct. Sixty pounds were appropriated to build the new schoolhouse and to repair the old one for the use of the East Precinct. William Williams, Anthony Caverly and Samuel Peirce were the building committee. As Mr. Williams was a builder he undoubtedly was the builder of this the first school- house in Waltham territory. It was erected promptly as shown by a vote passed on Dec. 3, 1733, to the effect that it "Should Stand where it is now Erected." Joseph Wellington was the first school- master, chosen in January of the following year. One pound was expended for two great chairs for the two schoolhouses. Thus after six years of almost continuous effort success was finally achieved.
THE MAKING OF A TOWN
Many years of strife with the eastern part of the town were necessary before a convenient place of meeting was provided for the inhabitants of the middle, later the western, part. Many more were needed to obtain a schoolhouse. During these efforts the idea of separation into two towns was suggested with in- creasing frequency. The first proposal for separation was made by the eastern part. (1715, see page 33.) After that all such petitions came from the inhabitants of the western part. Previous to 1734 nearly all were made for the purpose of obtaining a schoolhouse, that of March 1733 being practically an ultimatum to the effect that either a schoolhouse be furnished or a separation made. (Page 46.) As this resulted in obtaining the schoolhouse no more efforts for separation were made for several years. The West Precinct records for this period contain little but routine matters: the election of officers, the authorization of payments for the upkeep of the meeting-house (mainly to replace broken glass) and the salary of the sexton, votes to provide fire wood for the minister and additions to his salary, actions on requests for additional pews, etc. One exception was a proposal made to grant Mr. Williams a sum of money to purchase him a Negro Boy. The vote (Mar. 6, 1733-4) "Passt in the Negative." The reason for this refusal was not given.
The town records show that the next clash between the pre- cincts was in regard to the highways. It seems that when the highways were laid out some of them, the Great Country Road in particular, were wider than necessary to accommodate the traffic. Some of the abuttors made use of this excess and even fenced it and added it to their farms. To correct this abuse the town on Sept. 2, 1734, chose a committee to sell the land to the abuttors with instructions that the Country Road be not less than four rods wide and the other highways not less than two. At the next March meeting it was decided to use the interest on the money so obtained for the support of the schools. Then the contest was on again. The eastern inhabitants by petition asked that the money received for such land in its precinct be for its own use and disposal and that the proceeds of land sold in the West Precinct be likewise held for that part of the town. Those of
49
THE MAKING OF A TOWN
the western part petitioned that either the proceeds be divided to each precinct "according to their proportion of pay" or that every person who had "Given in Obligation under hand and Seal" to the committee should have their "Bond resigned Up again and hold their Lands in Fee they paying the Committee the full of their Demands." Both petitions were refused by the town. At a meeting held Nov. 29, 1736, the committee was con- tinued by a vote of 74 to 22 and was instructed to pay the in- terest on the money received to the town treasurer for the use of the schools. Even this decisive vote did not settle the dispute. Dr. Bond in his "History" wrote regarding the controversy pre- ceding the division of the town into precincts that although the western part had the larger number of voters the eastern part had more wealth and as it paid the larger part of the taxes ob- jected to paying for improvements in the western part that were of no benefit to them. This feeling would account for its oppo- sition to an additional schoolhouse and to the controversy over the highways. It is not unknown today.
As in the earlier disputes it was finally decided to seek outside assistance. At the annual meeting held Mar. 4, 1736-7, it was voted that "Whereas Sundery unhapy Differances have of Late risen in the Town of Watertown respecting the highways and private ways in Sd. town which if Not Speedily remedied, may be of Very Ill Consequence to our Selves and posterity; we Do there fore for an Amicable Issue of Sd. Differances Agree and Accordingly Vote, that all Disputs and Controversies that have arisen or may arise touching the Lands in this town Lying as ways or reputed as Such, and touching the Disposition of the proceeds of the Sale of any Such be Referred to the final Deter- mination of the Honourable Thomas Graves, Frances Foxcroft, and Samll. Danfourth Esqr. or the Major part of them. Also that the Court of the General Sessions of the peace be requested to appoint the Gentm. so Named a Comtee., to take a View of the Sd. Lands and ways and make reporte whether the Sd. ways Should remaine as Origenally Left or Contracted in their wedth, the reporte of the Committee being Excepted by Sd. Court to be an Isue of all Controversies whatso ever touching the Same." Nathaniel Harris Esq., Dea. William Brown and Joseph Mason Esq. were appointed a committee to request the Court to appoint these men and named the selectmen consisting of Nathaniel
50
HISTORY OF WALTHAM
Harris Esq., Samuel Peirce, Dea. William Brown, Joseph Peirce, Lt. Thomas Biglow, Daniel Benjamin and John Sawin with the town clerk, Samuel Livermore, to appear in the "Name and Behalf of the town" before Messrs. Graves Foxcroft and Dan- fourth.
No record of the recommendations of this committee has been found but on Dec. 8, 1737, the freeholders and inhabitants of the West Precinct in Watertown met and voted that Dea. William Brown, Mr. Daniel Benjamin and Mr. Samuel Livermore be a committee to petition the Great and General Court that they "would Confirm them a distinct and Sepperate township by them Selves." These were the conditions: that the present precinct line be the dividing line, that the expense of maintaining the great bridge over Charles River and the support of the poor be pro- portioned from time to time according to the amount of Province tax paid by each town, that the debts of the present town be paid by each town according to the public tax and that the surplus in the treasury, if any, be divided in a similar manner, that the yearly interest on Watertown's part of £60,000 loan be divided from time to time according to the Province tax, that Water- town's part in the two thousand acres granted it by the General Court and the arms and ammunition in stock be shared in equal halves, that the town records be given to persons designated by the easterly town. It was also proposed that the public ways between Masters Brook and the Cambridge line be settled as to their course and width according to the report that may be made by the committee already appointed, that land already sold to the abuttors be confirmed to them, that the proceeds of the sales go to the town in which the land is located and that owners of land taken for ways not now included be recompensed for it. Previous to this the East Precinct had voted (Dec. 5, 1737) to agree to a separation under similar conditions.
The great bridge referred to was the one over Charles River at Watertown Square. The first bridge there was for foot travelers only and was built before 1641. It was replaced by a horse bridge in 1648, built by order of the General Court, but erected and maintained by Watertown despite many attempts made to have the country assume the expense. It is said to have been the first of the kind over that river. When Weston was incorporated twenty-five years before, it assumed its share of the maintenance
51
THE MAKING OF A TOWN
and so Waltham should do likewise. The three towns continued this practice until early in the nineteenth century. It seems to have been very flimsily built and it was necessary to have annual repairs and to frequently rebuild it.
On Dec. 20, 1637, a bill to set off the West Precinct of Water- town as the Town of . .. was submitted to the House of Repre- sentatives. Second and third readings were had there on the two following days. It was agreed to with a slight amendment by the Council on Dec. 30 and the House concurred on the 31st. It was passed to be enacted on Jan. 2, 1737-8. In all of these proceedings the new town was un-named. On Jan. 4, 1737-8 (Jan. 15, 1738, new style) the act of incorporation of the Town of Waltham was passed. The choice of a name would then seem to have been made between Jan. 2 and Jan. 4 but nothing has been discovered to show by whom the name was suggested or how the choice was made. Many have considered that it was named for Waltham Abbey in England but there is no evidence that any of the families of the West Precinct came from there and there seems to be nothing to connect our town with Waltham Abbey more than with any other town of the same name in England. (Waltham Cross, Walthamstow and the Walthams in Lincoln, Leicester and Kent Counties.)
It should be remembered that the town was incorporated over one hundred years after the settlement of Massachusetts Bay Colony and that the emigrant ancestors of nearly all Waltham families came from England before 1640 or 1650. The name Waltham means "forest home" or "home in the forest" and it seems to the writer that the name was selected for its meaning more than to commemorate any particular town. The Great Dividends and the lands in Lieu of Township that included nearly seven-eights of the West Precinct area were heavily wooded. At least one of its inhabitants (John Stratton) was des- cribed, to distinguish him from another of the same name as living "in the woods." Perhaps this was the colloquial name for his part of the town. Even today the view from Prospect Hill shows an abundance of trees dotted with numerous "homes in the forest."
Dea. William Brown had been prominent in the later efforts of the West Precinct to be made a separate town and to him the General Court gave the honor of calling the first town meeting.
52
HISTORY OF WALTHAM
Middlesex s.s. Waltham, Janry 3, 1737. These are to Notifie the Qualified Voters in the sd Town of Waltham to appear at the publick meeting house in sd Town On Wednes Day the Eighteenth of Jany Currant at One of the Clock in the after Noon for the Ends following vizt To Elect and Ap- point a Town Clerk and Other Town officers those to stand till the Anniversary meeting of said Town in the month of March next.
By Order of the Great and General Court pr William Brown.
The meeting was duly held and Samuel Livermore, who had held the same office in the old town, was chosen clerk and Dea. William Brown, Dea. Thomas Livermore, Daniel Benjamin, Joseph Peirce and Lieut. Thomas Biglow selectmen. At the March meeting Mr. Livermore was re-elected but Thomas Hammond, John Smith, John Bemis, Ensign Thomas Harrington and Dea. Jonathan Sanderson were elected selectmen. Thus ten men had the honor of serving as selectmen during the first year. And so finally the West Precinct became a Town.
THE TOWN OF WALTHAM
EARLY EVENTS
Included in its territory were several communities each deter- mined to have its share of the town offices and easily accessible privileges of church and school. In the early meetings there were many discussions about the schools and the location of the school- house. To satisfy the residents of the different parts the school master taught in the schoolhouse only a part of the year and held school in private houses of the remoter parts the balance of the time. These "moving schools" did not prove very satis- factory so in 1756 it was voted to keep school in the schoolhouse in the future.
The meeting-house also had its place in the deliberations of the voters. Mr. Williams continued as minister until his death in 1751. His funeral expenses of over £30 were paid for by the town and £1-1s-4d was voted to purchase a ring "in token of love for him and for his preaching." He was succeeded by his son- in-law, Rev. Jacob Cushing.
The singers of the congregation who had been accustomed to sit together in the front seats of the gallery lost their seats when the meeting-house was "seated" by a town committee in 1765. They petitioned for and received seats although not in the desired location.
The meeting-house was too small for the growing congregation although additional pews were erected by a number of indi- viduals at their own expense. In 1767 after much debate it was decided to build a new one across the highway from the old location. The arrangement of the interior was like the Roxbury house but the interior finish was like that of Watertown. The forty square pews on the floor were assigned to the minister and the thirty-nine highest tax payers, the minister having first choice. Seats were provided for the less prominent members of the congregation. The singers in 1769 obtained the desired right to use the front seats of the gallery.
During this period the French and Indian Wars took place. The conflicts were far from Waltham but more than fifty of its
54
HISTORY OF WALTHAM
townsmen were in service as soldiers. The two thousand un- fortunate exiles from Acadia landed in Boston were distributed throughout the state. August Hebert, his wife, sons, daughters and grandchildren, making thirteen in all, and Sam White (LeBlanc) whose father was unknown were sent to Waltham early in 1756. Two grandchildren were born while they were here. Only four of the number were "fit for business." Age, youth, maternity and disease made the others unfit. They were under the care of the selectmen and one of the number, Dea. Isaac Stearns, was paid for the use of a house and garden where they lived. The Town was re-imbursed by the Province for all the expense incurred. This expense varied but averaged about £5 a month. In January 1760 there were only ten here but the next spring there were fifteen. Orders were received in April 1761 to send August and his wife to Lexington, his son Peter, wife and seven children to Newton and his grandson John and Samuel White to Bedford. This left two women or girls, probably daughters of August in Waltham. In the State Archives are several petitions from the French Neutrals, as they were officially called, complaining of severe mistreatment but none have been found from the family living in Waltham.
There were no bridges across the river in Waltham when the town was incorporated. About 1755 Newton Street was laid out to run in a straight line to the river but in 1759 its course was changed as it went down the hill somewhat westerly "for the advantage of the pound." It was planned to have a bridge across Beaver Brook but to avoid this the course of the brook was changed. The land over which the road was to run was probably purchased for that purpose by Capt. Joshua Fuller, a member of a family that owned large tracts of land across the river. Stephen White, then a resident of Newton but owner of a farm in Waltham, in 1755 headed the petition for the new way and it is said that he built a bridge to connect with this highway at his own expense, but Sept. 14, 1761, the Waltham Selectmen were authorized to receive subscriptions from several persons for this purpose. It was evidently standing there in 1762 for at that time the highway was referred to as the "new way to the new bridge."
The schoolhouse problem again occupied the thoughts of the voters. Only a short time after the first one was built in 1733
55
THE TOWN OF WALTHAM
attempts were made to have an additional building. Various locations were proposed, all parts of the town being represented in the many petitions made between 1740 and 1775. The first additional one obtained was on Trapelo Road near Forest Street erected by private subscription in 1772. In 1774 a new school- house was built near the meeting-house and in 1775 another for the accommodation of the northwest part of the town was built at the "Foot-of-the-hills" near the site of the present Pond End Schoolhouse. The vote was to "take down the old schoolhouse and use the materials as far as fit" for the new one. These three buildings served the needs of the town for many years but in 1792 the one near the meeting-house was moved to lower Main Street east of Beaver Brook.
THE REVOLUTION
The Revolution and the events leading up to it, although of great interest to the inhabitants of Waltham, take but little space in the town records. They do show that on May 27, 1776, the Town voted "that if the Honorable Congress should for the safety of the United Colonies, declare them free and independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, they, the said inhabitants, will solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support them in the measure." That this pledge was amply fulfilled is shown by the tablet erected near the City Hall in 1931 bearing the names of two hundred and ninety-two men who represented Waltham in military service during that period .*
These men all represented and were paid for their service by the Town but not all were residents. There were at least two hundred actual residents or members of their families who bore arms in the Revolution.
*The names were secured from the published State records and from the miscellaneous papers on file in the Waltham City Hall. There should be at least ten names added, some that were accidentally omitted and others found in a communication published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society too late to be included. These names were: Felix Cuff, Samuel Dale, Jonathan Fisk, John Fletcher, Jonathan Gray, Azael Hooker, Thomas Law- rence, Reuben Peirce, Jonathan Sanderson, Jr., Jonathan Sprague. One name on the tablet, Michael Minnehan, is given twice, the name being reversed and differently spelled.
56
HISTORY OF WALTHAM
Probably the largest number under arms at one time was on the day of the Lexington Alarm when one hundred and twenty- three men had a three-day service, beginning April 19, 1775, marched twenty-eight miles and bore their own expenses. Un- doubtedly many of them set off independantly across the fields to the route of the British troops but there is a tradition that most of the company met at the meeting-house where their arms and ammunition were secreted and then marched to Piety Corner where they were held until it was ascertained whether the British were returning by the Great Road or by the way they had come in the morning. When the latter route was reported they marched off towards Lexington. A tablet placed at the cor- ner of Lexington and Lincoln Streets in 1930 commemorates this event. Abraham Peirce was Captain of this company but Capt. Abijah Child was in command of thirty-five or more men who were in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
During the investment of Boston many of the soldiers were temporarily quartered in Waltham. David Townsend who had a bakery on the Great Road a short distance east of Newton Street told his son William that his "Bakehouse seemed little different from an appendage to the American Army, the soldiers continually pouring in from all parts of the country and stopping for refreshments and declaring they were determined to persevere to the end of the contest." Many of the wounded during 1775 and 1776 were brought to Waltham. The First Parish Church records show that in those years eleven soldiers from out of town died here. Many soldiers from Waltham took part in the Canada Expedition and in the Ticonderoga Campaign, some went to Rhode Island and undoubtedly others served in more distant places. In October 1778, £3308-6s-4d was paid for men and sup- plies up to that time. Other appropriations were made from time to time afterwards and men were supplied up to the end of the war.
The population of Waltham in 1776 was 870 but it dropped to 689 in 1780. This loss may have been due in part to absentees and casualties in the army but several families under the leadership of Dea. Elijah Livermore founded the town of Livermore, Maine, about 1779 and doubtless other families with pioneer instincts helped to settle other remote parts of New England. The first
Danke Child Olhos Harrington
Phillip Shattuck Hop Still mead
John Smith Vam parkhurst
George Laurance john Hafting Antho. Caverley Jonas & mith
Jacob Putting John Dix Josiah mixter
Richard Cutting Isaac Peirce John Clark Ebeneser Brown John Ball William Otisk Samuell Stearns Abraham peine Jamul Tif Abych Chito John Sanderfon Jacob Biglow Jonathan Polidge Abner Sanderfor William Wellington
57
THE TOWN OF WALTHAM
United States Census of 1790 showed a population of 882, a slightly larger increase than the loss of the previous decade.
The population was scattered and there was no real village. The meeting-house was near the geographical center but south of the population center and there was only one dwelling near it. It was still an agricultural community and the homes were in the most fertile parts.
THE COMING OF INDUSTRY
The early settlers of Waltham in common with those of other New England towns included in their numbers millers, weavers, cordwainers, tanners, blacksmiths, housewrights, coopers, lock- smiths, potters, maltsters, etc. With possibly few exceptions these artisans had their farms from which they obtained their food and some of their supplies. Even the minister tilled his land to augment his modest salary. Winter, the leisure season for most farmers, was a busy time for those with trades and as a rule they were more prosperous.
In 1662 a fulling mill was built on Beaver Brook in the part formerly Waltham but now the Waverley district of Belmont. Later there was a saw and grist mill there owned by Phinehas Stearns and his son John. A grist mill was erected on Stony Brook at the other extreme bound in 1679. The mill itself was in Weston after that town was incorporated but the larger part of the mill-lot of 30 acres became a part of Waltham. Dea. Thomas Livermore had a grist mill on Chester Brook near Beaver Street that was probably built in 1731. He also had a malt mill a short distance up stream. A still earlier grist mill was that of Thomas Rider also on Chester Brook a little south of Trapelo Road. This was built previous to 1690. These mills served the local needs only and could hardly be classed as industries. The Rider mill, however, after it passed through the ownership of Joseph Smith to David Mead and his descendants, was turned during the latter part of the eighteenth century into a woodenware factory. Here Moses Mead made hay rakes, handles for hoes, hammers, axes, etc., mortars, pestles and rolling pins. These had an excellent repu- tation and a considerable sale. Some of them can still be found in a
58
HISTORY OF WALTHAM
few old homesteads. This modest shop may well be termed the pioneer of industrial Waltham. In 1788 John Boies, a son of one of the pioneer paper manufacturers of Milton, built the first dam across the river in Waltham and erected a paper mill on the north bank a little east of the present Moody Street. About 1794 Christopher Gore started a rival mill at the eastern extremity of the town and in 1801 Nathan Upham, an apprentice of Boies, bought land at the mouth of Stony Brook and the next year built another mill on the Waltham side. The paper business was not very prosperous and only the Upham mill, later after many changes of ownership the property of the Roberts family, sur- vived. The Gore mill was acquired and used for a fulling mill in connection with a newly erected cotton mill near by in 1810 and in 1812 the owners, Wiswall, Holland and Coverley, incorporated as the Waltham Cotton and Wool Factory Company. The busi- ness grew rapidly and in 1815 there were 2000 spindles in the cotton factory and 380 in the woolen department. Over 200 were employed. Rev. Samuel Ripley in his description of Waltham of that time states that great care was taken by the proprietors to see that their establishment was "free from the disorder and im- morality which, in general, are found to exist, and by many are supposed to be almost their necessary evils."
Francis C. Lowell and Patrick T. Jackson in 1813 bought the Boies paper mill and a large amount of land near it. Associated with Nathan Appleton they incorporated as the Boston Manu- facturing Company in the same year and began the erection of a cotton mill. It is claimed that in this mill, for the first time, all of the operations for making cotton cloth were carried on under one roof. Mr. Lowell had previously studied the methods and machines used in England and, ably assisted by Paul Moody, designed and built machinery of a new and improved design. It operated successfully and the business grew rapidly. In 1819 the entire property of the Waltham Cotton and Wool Factory Co. was bought, all the land on the north bank of the river between the two factories was acquired and River Street was laid out to connect them by a direct route. In 1823 the same proprietors started another mill on the Merrimac and the town that was built around it was named Lowell. The machinery for this mill, the Massachusetts, was made in Waltham. The success of the Boston Manufacturing Co. made a great change in the character
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.