USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Amherst > History of the town of Amherst, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire (first known as Narraganset township number three, and subsequently as Souhegan West) > Part 35
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Stephen R. Holmes, 1822. Instructor, at sea, 11 January, 1830. 28
*Name changed to James by Legislature of Massachusetts.
465
XXIII.]
COLLEGE GRADUATES.
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE.
Name. Date. Profession. Died. Age
Joshua Heywood,
1795. Cler'man, Dunstable, M's., 11 Nov. 1814. 51 Reuben D. Mussey, 1803. Physician, Boston, 21 June, 1866. 86 James McK. Wilkins, 1812. Lawyer, Manchester, 18 June, 1855. 70 Levi IIartshorn.
1813. Clergyman, Amherst, 27 Sept., 1819.
33
Allen Fisk, 1814. Instructor, 18 September, 1875. 86
Ambrose Seaton,*
Charles F. Elliott.
1825. Physician, Maysville, Ky., 9 April, 1866. 61 1829. Physician, Somersworth, 23 June, 1876. 72 1833. Physician.
Charles E. Parker,
William Read,
1834. Phy'cian, Beardstown, Ill., 23 Aug. 1882. 69 1839. Physician.
Edward II. Pratt,
Alfred Spalding,*
1841. Physician, Somersworth, 15 Nov., 1857. 51 1843. Physician, Greenup, Ky., 20 Dec., 1878. 63
Edward Aiken,
1851. Physician.
John H. Clark,
1857. Physician.
Charles H. Wallace.
1857. Studied law, Amherst, 21 June, 1861. 25 1860. Clergyman.
Warren Upham,
1871. Civil Engineer.
DARTMOUTH UNIVERSITY.
Name.
Date. Profession.
Samuel Whiting,
1818. Lawyer, Mason, N. H.
Name.
Date. Profession. Died. Age.
Robert Means, Jr.,
1807. Lawyer, Lowell, Mass., 26 Sept., 1842. 56
William Appleton,
1826. Lawyer, Cincinnati. O., 19 Oct., 1830. 21 1833. Clergyman, Newbern, N. C., Apr., 1863. 50
AMHERST COLLEGE.
Name.
Date. Profession.
William O. Baldwin, 1851. Clergyman.
John E. Wheeler, 1857. Clergyman.
William B. Clark,
1865. Banker.
WILLIAMS COLLEGE.
Name.
Profession. Died. Age.
Edward C. David,
Lawyer.
William G. David,
Physician, Lyons, N. Y., 17 Aug., 1877. 46
* Graduate of Medical College.
30
Edward Spalding,
Vaola J. Hartshorn,
James Means,
BOWDOIN COLLEGE.
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HISTORY OF AMHERST.
[Chap.
LAWYERS IN AMHERST.
MOSES PARSONS, a native of Newbury, Mass., graduated at Harvard College 1765; read law with Gen. John Sullivan; practiced at New- market until 1773; came thence to Amherst. where he remained until 1775; died, 1801.
JOSHUA ATHERTON, from Harvard, Mass., graduated at Harvard Col- lege in 1762; read law with Abel Willard, of Lancaster, and James Put- nam, of Worcester; commenced practice at Petersham, Mass., in 1765; removed to Litchfield the same year, thence to Merrimack, in 1767; came to Amherst in the summer of 1773, where he remained until his death, April. 1809.
SAMUEL DANA, born in Cambridge, Mass .. graduated at Harvard Col- lege in 1755; was minister of Groton, Mass., 1761-75. Being suspected of toryism, by his people, he resigned his office; came to Amherst in 1781; studied law with Joshua Atherton; commenced practice in 1783; Reg- ister and Judge of Probate for Hillsborough County; died 2 April. 1798.
WILLIAM GORDON, from Boston, Mass .. graduated at Harvard Col- lege in 1779; read law with Joshua Atherton; commenced practice in 1787; representative in Congress 1797-1800: Register of Probate and Attorney-General of New Hampshire; died in Boston 8 May, 1802.
CHARLES HUMPHREY ATHERTON, son of Joshua Atherton, born in Amherst, graduated at Harvard College in 1794; read law with Joshua Atherton and William Gordon; commenced practice in 1797; repre- sentative in Congress 1815-17; Register of Probate 1798-1837; died 8 January, 1853.
DAVID EVERETT, born in Princeton, Mass., graduated at Dartmouth College in 1795; read law with John M. Forbes; practiced in Boston a short time; came to Amherst in 1802: returned to Boston in 1807, where, in 1809, he engaged in establishing the Boston Patriot. Ile was afterward engaged in other newspaper establishments. Died at Marietta, Ohio, 6 Dec., 1813.
JEDEDIAH KILBURN SMITHI, born in Amherst; son of Jonathan Smith; not a college graduate: read law with Samuel Dana; com- menced practice about 1800; representative in Congress 1807-9; lacked but one vote of being chosen Senator in Congress in 1810; was coun- cilor and post-master many years; died. a victim of intemperance, in December, 1828.
EDMUND PARKER, born in Jaffrey, N. H., graduated at Dartmouth College in 1803, in the class with Henry Hubbard, Reuben D. Mussey, and Judge Nathan Weston, of Maine; commenced practice in 1807, succeeded to the business of David Everett; was Solicitor of Hillsbo-
.
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LAWYERS.
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rough county, Judge of Probate, and representative; removed to Nashua in 1835. where he was agent for the Jackson Manufacturing Company several years; died in Claremont September, 1856.
SAMUEL BELL, son of John Bell. Esq., of Londonderry, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1793; read law with Judge Samuel Dana; com- menced practice in Francestown; removed to Amherst in 1808; re- mained here until 1811, when he removed to Chester. While here he built the house now owned by Hon. Harrison Eaton. He was governor of the state three years, and United States senator twelve years; died in Chester December, 1850.
NATHANIEL SHATTUCK, born in Temple, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1801, in the class with Daniel Webster; read law with Benj. J. Gilbert, of Hanover, and Timothy Biglow, of Groton, Mass .; admitted to the Middlesex County Bar in 1804; commenced practice in Milford in 1806: removed to Amherst prior to 1812, where he remained until 1830; removed to Brookline, afterward to Mason: died in the Asylum for the Insane, at Concord, September, 1864, aged ninety years. He was the last survivor of his class in college.
CLIFTON CLAGGETT, son of Hon. Wyseman Claggett, was born in Portsmouth; not a college graduate ; read law with his father; commenc- ed practice in Litchfield in 1787 ; removed to Amherst in 1811 ; was rep- resentative in Congress six years; Justice of the Superior Court of New Hampshire, and Judge of Probate for Hillsborough county; died in January, 1829.
ROBERT MEANS, JR., son of Col. Robert Means, graduated at Bow- doin College in 1807; read law with Charles H. Atherton and Jeremiah Mason; commenced practice in Amherst, and remained there until 1831 ; he removed to Lowell, where he died in September, 1842.
ELISHA FULLER WALLACE, born in Amherst, now Milford; grad- nated at Dartmouth College in 1811; read law with Solomon K. Liver- more : practiced his profession in Marblehead, Mass; removed to Am- herst in 1820, where he was clerk of the courts of Hillsborough county; removed to Syracuse, New York, in 1825; died in 1870, aged seventy- eight.
ANDREW WALLACE, a native of Amherst, now Milford; not a college graduate; read law with Nathaniel Shattuck and Daniel Abbott; prac- ticed in Mont Vernon and Hancock; came to Amherst in 1824; was clerk of the courts in Hillsborough county fifteen years; resumed prac- tice in 1839; died in September, 1856.
EZRA PRESCOTT commenced practice in Francestown, whence, in 1824, he removed to Greenfield; was elected Register of Deeds for Hillsborough county in the spring of 1828; removed to Amherst in the
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HISTORY OF AMHERST.
[Chap.
autumn of that year, where he resumed the practice of his profession in 1840. He died in September, 1845, aged sixty-four.
HUBBARD NEWTON graduated at Dartmouth College in 1804; prac- ticed his profession at Newport; came to Amherst in 1835, succeeding to the business of Edmund Parker. After about five years he returned to Newport, where he died in 1847.
PERLEY DODGE, born in New Boston; graduated at Union College in 1824; read law with Titus Brown and Nehemiah Eastman; com- menced practice in Francestown in 1828; removed thence to New Bos- ton in 1832; came to Amherst shortly after, where he is still living (1882).
BERNARD BEMUS WHITTEMORE, born in Boston, Mass., graduated at Harvard College in 1839; read law with Atherton & Sawyer, of Nashua, and attended Dane Law School, at Cambridge, Mass .; com- menced practice in Nashua in 1843: came to Amherst the same year. where he remained until 1845, when he returned to Nashua. He is now engaged in the publication of the Nashua Gazette.
WILLIAM SAXTON MORTON, born in Roxbury, Mass., graduated at Harvard College in 1831; read law with Sidney Bartlett. Esq .; com- menced practice in the office of Perley Dodge in 1840; remained here but a short time ; died in Quincy, Mass., in September, 1871.
PRESBURY WEST, JR., born in St. Johnsbury, Vt., and George W. Morrison opened an office in the Farmers' Bank building in 1845. Mr. West read law with Isaac Fletcher, Esq., and commenced practice in Fairlee, Vt. He remained in Amherst but a short time, and the bui- ness of the firm was transferred to Manchester.
STEPHEN PEABODY, son of William Peabody, Esq., of Amherst, now Milford, graduated at Harvard College in 1803; read law with Solomon K. Livermore, John Phillips, and David Everett ; practiced his profes- sion in Exeter and Portsmouth, but relinquished it and engaged in farming in Milford. He was appointed Register of Probate for Hills - borough county in 1839, and removed to Amherst. After leaving this office he resumed the practice of law; died in January, 1847.
PHYSICIANS.
MOSES NICHOLS, from Reading, Mass., settled here as early as 1761, and remained in practice until his death in May, 1790. He was an ac- tive and influential citizen, and filled many important civil and military offices. At the head of his regiment he commenced the attack upon the Hessians at Bennington in 1777. He also commanded a regiment at West Point, at the time of Arnold's treason, in 1780.
469
PHYSICIANS.
XXIII.]
SETH AMES, from Dedham, Mass .. brother of the celebrated orator and statesman, Fisher Ames, graduated at Harvard College in 1764 in the class with John Wilkins; practiced here from about 1770 to 1777, when his health failing from the excessive use of snuff, he relinquished practice and returned to Dedham, where he died 1 January. 1778.
HENRY CODMAN, son of Henry Codman, an Irish immigrant, was born in Middleton, Mass. His mother was a near relative of Rev. Mr. Wilkins. He practiced here nearly forty years, and died in March. 1812. His son, Henry Codman, practiced in Mont Vernon a short time, but died young.
EBENEZER WESTON, JR .. was in practice here some years. " Wes- ton's Itch Ointment," of which tons were manufactured by Read & Spalding, originated with him.
SAMUEL CURTIS, from Sharon, Mass., graduated at Harvard College in 1766; was a surgeon in the army of the Revolution: settled in Am- herst in 1789, and was in practice here a few years. Ile finally gave up his professional business for that of an inn-keeper. He also kept an apothecary's store in his tavern; compiled and published a pocket almanac and register several years, beside other publications of various kinds, and served as post-master several years. In his old age he loved to hear and tell the news and relate rare instances which had come under his personal observation or of which he had heard. Being rather credulous, some of the stories he reported would have done credit to the "Pickwick Club." He died in 1822.
MOSES NICHOLS, JR., son of Gen. Moses Nichols, studied his profession under the direction of his father and commenced practice here in 1784 ; removed to Thornton in 1787, thence to Canada in 1802; returned to Amherst in 1805; remained here until 1811 when he again removed to Canada. He died at Sherbrooke, Canada, in November, 1849.
NATHANIEL HENCHMAN, from Lynn, Mass., settled here in 1783, and remained in practice until his death in May, 1800.
JOHN MUSSEY, a native of Kingston, studied his profession with Gen. Nichols: settled in Pelham in 1766; in Amherst in 1791, where he remained until 1800, when he removed to Peterborough, where he died in January. 1831. He was father of Prof. Reuben Dimond Mus_ sey, the celebrated surgeon and instructor in surgery.
ROGERS SMITH. born in Middleton. Mass .. came, in infancy, with his father's family, to Amherst; commenced practice prior to 1804; re- moved to Mont Vernon in 1808, thence to Greenbush, N. Y., finally to Weston, Vt., where he died in 1846. He was father of Rev. Asa Dodge Smith, the president of Dartmouth College from 1863 to 1871.
470
HISTORY OF AMHERST.
[Chap.
MATTHIAS SPALDING, son of Col. Simeon Spalding, of Chelmsford, Mass., graduated at Harvard College in 1708; studied medicine with Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, of Cambridge, and Dr. E. A. Holyoke, of Salem, Mass .; visited England in 1800, where he attended the medical lectures of Sir Astley Cooper and other noted physicians and surgeons ; on his return he commenced practice in Chelmsford, whence, in 1836, he removed to Amherst, where he continued in practice until disabled by the infirmities of age. He died 25 May. 1865, aged nearly ninety-six years.
CHARLES F. HILDRETHI graduated at Harvard College in 1823: prac- ticed here a short time; in 1824 removed to Boston.
AMBROSE SEATON, SON of Deacon JJohn Seaton. jr., graduated at Dartmouth Medical School in 1825; commenced practice in 1826. About 1830 he removed to Boston, thence at a later date to Greenup, Kentucky, where he died.
AMORY GALE, a native of Warwick, Mass., graduated at Bowdoin College in 1824; practiced in Lancaster, Mass., some years; settled in Amherst in November, 1834, where he remained until 1839. He died in 1873.
FRANCIS PERRY FITCHI, a native of Greenfield, who graduated at Dartmouth Medical College in 1831, commenced practice in New Bos- ton, whence he removed to Amherst in 1839; succeeded to Dr. Gale's business in Amherst, and remained in successful practice until 1865 when he removed to Milford. After a few years he relinquished prac- tice, and removed to Vineland, N. J., where he died in December, 1874.
EDWARD AIKEN, son of Rev. Silas Aiken, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1851; succeeded to the practice of Dr. Fitch in Amherst in 1865.
GEORGE W. MOOR, a native of Princeton, Mass., graduated at Dart- mouth College in 1841; settled here in July, 1843, and remained in practice until his death, in September, 1866.
P. D. BAKER commenced practice here in 1835, but remained only a short time. He removed to Maine where he died.
BRADLEY H. BARTLETT practiced in Manchester and Pittsfield, and was a surgeon in the civil war; settled in Amherst in 1872. In Octo- ber, 1876, he was disabled by paralysis, and died in December follow- ing.
C. M. DODGE practiced here a few months, commencing in April, 1878, and was succeeded by A. C. Buswell, who remained but a short time.
W. H. DINSMORE settled here in 1880, and is now in practice.
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WITCH STORIES.
XXIII.]
WITCH STORIES.
It is a little remarkable that no more witch stories have been handed down to us from the first settlers of the town. Coming as they did from the vicinity of Salem, the trans- actions of 1692, in which their immediate ancestors bore a part, must have been in vivid remembrance, and they would be likely to attribute their mishaps to the interference of the "Father of lies," or his imps in human form.
Two stories of such supposed interference have come down in the family of Dr. John Mussey, which we give :
Dr. Mussey practiced medicine in Pelham for some years, thence he removed to Amherst, where he remained a short time, and finally settled in Peterborough, where he died. After his removal to Peterborough. the doctor and his wife started on a journey to Pelham to visit her relatives, the Butlers, in that place. While stopping in Amherst, on the way there. he exchanged horses with his son-in-law, Solomon Prince. and went on his way feeling perfectly safe with Mr. Prince's "steady old nag." While in Pelham he attempted to collect a small bill which an old woman, who was reputed to be a witch, owed him. She was in_ dignant and refused to pay it. On the way home the old horse acted strangely, so that it was almost perilous to ride after him. After his arrival home the doctor attempted to use the horse to grind some apples in the cider-mill. but although he appeared to try and go, he somehow made but little progress. On another occasion, when they attempted to adjust the crupper upon him, the horse threw up his heels so that it was dangerous to attempt doing it. Dr. Mussey's son John, who was present, told the hired man to lead the horse to the side of the hog-pen and he would reach out of a window there and do it, but this being done, the horse squatted every time it was attempted. John then called for an axe, declaring he would beat the perverse animal's brains ont ; but the blow aimed at the horse's head was dodged, and only a slight wound over one of the eyes was inflicted. This was sufficient ; the horse at once became tractable ; but the old woman in Pelham was observed to wear a patch over one of her eyes for a long time after.
Another old woman in Pelham was reputed to be a witch. When it was laid to her charge she said it was not an unpardonable sin if she was one. One day she was at Dea. Butler's house when he and his son brought a log into the door-yard. She asked them what they were going to do with that hollow log. The deacon told her the log was a sound one; but she insisted it was hollow, and said she could crawl
472
HISTORY OF AMHERST.
[Chap.
through it. Upon being told to do it if she could, she actually appeared to do so. the deacon pounding the log smartly with his goad-stick meantime. of which pounding she was supposed to have the full benefit. She was terribly angry at him when she came out of the log.
" CABINET" CLIPPINGS.
All parties, from the town minister to the printer's devil, have had a hearing in the columns of the " Farmers' Cabinet." Some of these are given.
The worthy Publican of the village had his troubles, which induced him to do a cash business. This purpose was announced in the " Cabinet," 10 March, 1803, as follows :
ONCE FOR ALL.
All persons indebted to the subscriber above four cents will remem- ber that the time of service for March Court expires in a few days. SAMUEL CURTIS. N. B. Grog sold for cash only.
Capt. Dickenson, evidently a man of some consequence in his day, made proclamation in the "Cabinet," of 26 March, 1803, as follows :
Capt. Dickenson, formerly servant to Generals Washington, Putnam, &c., &c., is no coward, but a man of honor, repaired to meet his antag_ onist at time and place, armed cap-a-pie ; like a gentleman he waited for his rival; but he did not come, and this advertisement will show to the world that he is honorable even to the end.
" Paid for."
Stage-driver Wheat had his share of trouble. After an- nouneing the times and seasons of the goings and coming's of his stage, he says :
"Notwithstanding an opposition has arisen on said line, the subscriber has faith as a grain of mustard-seed, and hopes his customers and old friends will help him to remove the mountain and cast it back to the New York line, that the owner may enjoy his dear-bought line in peace. He has now new sets of horses, good carriages, and faithful drivers with him on the line.
Now come on my friends and give me your money and you shall have complete satisfaction.
April 29, 1803.
JOSEPH WHEAT."
473
" CABINET" CLIPPINGS.
XXIII.]
The Bible was stolen from the pulpit in the meeting-house, which called out the following notice from the deacons :
" VILLAINY! !
The BIBLE was taken from the Pulpit of the meeting-house in this town, the first week in November, during the sitting of the Supreme Court. It was the Philadelphia edition of the pulpit BIBLE; a very large folio, elegantly printed on the best of paper without plates, and without marginal notes. The Apocraphy was printed in Italic. The BIBLE was almost new, and had the name of the donor on one of the blank leaves. It cost twenty-six dollars.
Whoever will give information of the person or persons who com- mitted the sacriligious deed, so that they may be brought to justice, shall be very handsomely rewarded.
SAMUEL WILKINS, In behalf
AMOS ELLIOTT, of the Church
JOHN SEATON. of Amherst.
Amherst, Dec. 3, 1805."
But all efforts to discover the thief, or the " pulpit Bible," were unavailing.
The Cabinet has been guilty of telling some rather in- credible stories. One of these made its appearance in the issue of 3 March, 1807.
" MAMMOTH BOY.
On the 23d ultimo Mr. Joshua Jones, of Milford, was delivered of a fine son weighing fifteen pounds ! ! "
In the next issue the story was corrected thus :
" MAMMOTH MISTAKE.
In the paragraph in our last respecting the . Mammoth Boy,' read the wife of."
How many drinks the mistake cost the editor we are not informed.
Seventy years ago it was customary for the town's people to assemble on a given day and assist their pastor in getting his stock of wood for the season. The following notice of one of these gatherings at Mr. Barnard's is found in the Cabinet of 20 January, 1816 :
474
HISTORY OF AMHERST.
[Chap.
" The subscriber takes this opportunity to inform his Neighbors and Friends in this town, that he shall be happy to wait upon them on Monday next, if the weather should be good ; if not, the first fair day after. And as his door-yard is empty, and the weather cold, it will af- ford him an additional pleasure to see them accompanied with good axes, teams, and sleds.' While he hopes for future favors, he grate- fully acknowledges the reception of such as are past.
JER. BARNARD."
Tanner Chickering, too, had a hearing. His wants were made known in a few words.
"I call upon all whom it may concern for a settlement by the first of February next.
Those who are under the law must suffer the consequence of the law, and those that are under the gospel will do as the gospel directs- that is, do as they would be done by.
Amherst, Jan. 1, 1817."
Being a decided Jacksonian, he made known his desires for court boarders of like faith.
" I should like twenty Jackson men and others to board at court time.
February 9, 1831. ISAAC CHICKERING."
A voice from behind the anvil.
" Strike while the iron is hot."
William Crosby, blacksmith, acquaints those for whom he has so long blown at the bellows, without their helping him "to raise the wind," till his fire is out, that unless they face the unvil by the 15th inst., and help him blow up the coals, they must expect he will work up their old iron for them, haul them over the coals, and expose them to the fire and the hammer of justice.
Merrimack, Sept. 4, 1823.
Crosby afterward carried on the blacksmithing business in an old shop near the Chickering bridge in Amherst.
Mr. Boylston was frequently very happy in dunning his delinquent customers. One of these duns, in his best style, appeared 6 February, 1823.
" An old author has unfortunately recorded the fact that a man, ap- parently in the best of health, fell dead as he was paying an old debt.
475
LOCAL NAMES.
XXIII.]
This serious affair has filled thousands and thousands with fear of the like accident, and forever deters them from paying their old debts. But we would assure our good friends, the delinquents, that they need not be deterred from this cause, as no man ever yet died of paying the Printer."
Finally, the attendant imp, the " printer's devil," had his say. One of this class, somewhat poetically inclined, an- nounced the marriage of an ancient couple as follows :
" Married, in this town, on Sunday evening last. Dea. David Stanley, aged 69, to Miss Patience Melendy, aged 58.
"Thus good old Patience long did wait In her ummarried state, Till by appointment David came, And led her up to Hymen's gate."
LOCAL NAMES.
Babasuck, the name of the great pond. as written in the proprietors' book of records, 1753.
Bearer Meadow, in the east part of the town. Proprietors' records, 1753.
Chestnut Hills. Town records, vol. I., p. 43.
Dunjon Brook. Town records, vol. I., is now called Stiles's Brook.
Folly Bridge crosses Beaver Brook near Mr. Willoby's, on the old bridle path from the Hollis to the Nashua road.
Half-way Brook crossed the road from Shepard's mills to Lynde- borough, near Dea. Hobbs's place.
Lyon's Bridge has since been known as the Kendrick, and now as the Pauper Farm bridge, across the Souhegan.
North Hill, in Mont Vernon, is mentioned in vol. I., p. 43, town records.
Prince's Brook runs from Joe English to Babboosuck pond ; so named from Lt. Joseph Prince. Town records, vol. I., p. 65.
Quohquinapassakessanahnoy : this jaw-breaker is given in the Massa- chusetts court records as the name of a place " at and on" the Souhe- gan river, where several farms, granted by the court in 1660, were located by that pioneer surveyor, Jonathan Danforth, Esq.
Straddlepole is the name given to a rough tract of land in the north- east part of the town, better adapted to growing wood and timber than for any other purpose. The name has been attributed to Dr. Cod- man, but probably originated from some other source, as it is found in vol. I., town records.
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HISTORY OF AMHERST.
[Chap.
Souhegan, the name of the river, is sometimes spelled, in the old rec- ords, Sowhegan ; more frequently Soughegan ; rarely, Souheganack. It is said to mean " worn-out lands." Sometimes it was called Nata- cook, meaning a clearing. Probably the Indian squaws raised their supplies of corn on the interval near by.
" The Vineyard" was in the northeast part of the town, between the place formerly owned by Mr. Isaac Upham and Damon's pond. The road from Prince's to Chestnut Hill crossed it. Its fruits were hardly equal to those of Eschol of old.
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