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WALTHAM.
“To raising Townes and Churches new, in wildernesse they wander,
First Plymouth, and then Salem next, were placed far asunder.
Charles river where they nextly land, a Towne like name they built,
Poore Cottages them populate, with winters wet soon split.
Brave Boston such beginning had, Dorchester so began,
Roxbury rose as mean as they, Cambridge forth from them ran.
A.in likewise built, when Watertowne first houses up did reare,
Then large-limb'd /øswich brought to eye 'mongst woods and waters cleer.
Good Mews from Mew England. Lond. I648.
23
！1！！1111 × 00：1 No.1, soſi 1，0，1） laevaellºlvae


WALTHAM,
P A S T : A N D PR E S E N T :
AND ITS
INDUSTRIES.
WITH AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF WATERTOWN FROM ITS SETTLEMENT IN
1630 TO THE INCORPORATION OF WALTHAM, JANUARY 15, 1738.
BY
p ...Acº
º
CHARLES AºNELSON, A. M.
*A painfull work it is, I’ll aſſure you, and more than difficult, wherein what toyle hath becz,
taken, as no man thinketh, ſo no man believeth, but he that hath made the trial/.
ANT. A. WooD.
55 PHOTOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONs.
CAMBRIDGE :
MOSES KING,
HARVARD SQUARE.
I882.

W.
e-º-º:
GTº
EDITION :
900 copies. 100 copies large paper.
7. " º
4
PRINTED BY
John FoRD & SON, HARVARD SQUARE, CAMBRIDGE.
\ ^_^_^_^_^_^
PHOTOGRAPHS BY
THOMAS LEWIS, CAMBRIDGEPORT.
PREFACE.
HIS sketch of WALTHAM has reached nearly double the
T number of pages originally intended, and yet many matters
of interest have not even been mentioned. So rich is the supply of
material that a volume four times as large could easily have
been filled with the valuable historical records that have been
preserved since its incorporation, while further diligent and careful
research would doubtless throw much light upon its settlement and
growth during the hundred years preceding.
The Puritan visitors, who made their simple exchange of a
bisket-cake for a bass with the native fishermen of the Mishaum
on that balmy summer's morning two and a half centuries ago,
little dreamed that before that period should elapse upon either
bank of the same river would arise industries that should revo-
lutionize the trade of the world, or they would have remained and
identified themselves with a spot destined to become so famous.
The chief aim in making this compilation has been to condense
within the limits of a popular sketch such facts as were thought
to be of the most importance in the history of the town from
this early date (1630), and to present them in such form as would
attract and interest the general reader,

6 Preface.
If this end has been attained; if by the perusal of these pages
readers are led to feel a deeper interest in the deeds and records
of “the fathers,” not only of the town but of the state and
nation as well ; if the “sun-pictures” of its manufactories, its
churches and school-houses, its private residences, and its natural
scenery attract the attention of those heretofore strangers to its
marvellous beauty and to the enterprise of its people, and if an
interest be aroused that shall call for a full and complete history
from competent hands, this book will not have been written in
vain.
It remains to return sincere thanks to all who have kindly
assisted the compiler, and rendered his task a pleasant one ;
especially to Mr. Jonathan Brown Bright, whose researches into
the early records of the town and its church history, published in
the files of the Waltham Sentinel and Waltham Free Press, have
been freely drawn upon, and who kindly listened to and revised
many pages of MSS. ; to Mr. George Phinney, editor and publisher
of the Waltham Free Press, for many courtesies and for free use of
the files of the papers named ; to Mr. J. H. Colby for the use of a
small volume of Mss. notes on the early history of the town ;
and to John Ward Dean, A. M., Librarian of the New England
Historic, Genealogical Society, for the use of the fac-simile auto-
graphs scattered through the book.
CHARLES ALEXANDER NELSON.
Irving Street, West Somerville,
22 February, 1879.
*：100 （131 haois|1×1 HO
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ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
AMERICAN WATCH CoMPANY, FROM NORTH SIDE OF CHARLES RIVER, .. 8o
AMERICAN WATCH COMPANY (Front). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
BANK AND PUBLIC LIBRARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
BAPTIST CHURCH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II2
BEAVER Brook, NEAR CHARLES RIVER, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
BEAVER BROOK PATH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Boston MANUFACTURING CoMPANY's BLEACHERY...................... 128
Boston MANUFACTURING CoMPANY's Cotton MILL................... 132
CENTRAL House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
CHESTER BROOK, LYMAN ESTATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
CHRIST CHURCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I2O
CHRISTOPHER GORE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
COMMON. (Two Views). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ioo
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II2
Corros Mills in 1820.............................. ................ 92
Deer Park on Gore Estate........................................ 48
DEVIL's DEN, STONY BROOK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Eois Vale in Wartham............................................ 92
FiskE HOUSE, MAIN STREET. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Fox ISLAND. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6o
THE GOVERNOR GORE MANSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
GRAMMAR SCHOOLS. (Two Views). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ioa.
HARRINGTON'S GROVE AND PULSIFER'S LANDING... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
8 I//ustrations.
HERMITAGE, PROSPECT HILL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
HIGH SCHOOL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IoS
THE LYMAN MANSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
MAIN STREET. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
METHODIST CHURCH. .........:... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Iro
NATHAN APPLETON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
NEW-CHURCH CHAPEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
NEW-CHURCH SCHOOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I24
NEWTON BRIDGE From RIVER STREET. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
OLD GATEWAY AND BRIDGE, WALTHAM, ENGLAND..................... 68
“THE OLD (PHILLIPs) PARSoNAGE,” 1641. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
OLD “WIDOW COOLIDGE TAVERN,” WATERTOWN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
PINION FINISHING ROOM, WATCH FACTORY... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I4O
PROSPECT HILL AND POOR FARM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6o
PROSPECT House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
RESIDENCE OF HON. N. P. BANKS... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
RIVER STREET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
RUMFORD Ham.… 72
SEAL OF WATERTOWN. (Wood-cut). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
SoLDIERS’ MONUMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IOS
ST. MARY'S CHURCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
STONY BROOK. (Two Views). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
UNITARIAN CHURCH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
UP CHARLES RIVER FROM MT. FEAKE... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
WALTHAM (ENGLAND) ABBEY CHURCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
WALTHAM FROM BOSTON ROCK HILL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece.
WALTHAM, FROM NEAR THE FOOT OF PROSPECT HILL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
WATCH FACTORY AND ROBBINS's PARK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
WHEEL AND PINION MAKING ROOM, WATCH FACTORY... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I4o
THE * WHITE SWAN ".... • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • * * * * * * * * * 16
March 19, 1627–8.
alS the shortest sketch of the life and labors of an individual
| is incomplete without some mention of his origin and an-
cestry; as the life of the child is intimately connected with
that of the parent until the former arrives at his majority; so our
account of the town of WALTHAM must be prefaced by some state-
ments concerning its parent town, Watertown, – which, in the
earliest days, embraced not only the territory included within the
limits of the present town of that name, but also Waltham, Weston,
and parts of Cambridge, Concord, and Lincoln, – with a reference
also to the earlier New England settlements.
The history of these settlements, for the first decade after the
landing of the Pilgrims on Cape Cod on the afternoon of the 11th
of November, 1620, is a history of struggles and privations unpar-
alleled in severity and extent, and “indured with a wonderfull
patience.” But notwithstanding the discouragements that beset
the seekers for religious liberty while laying the foundations of
their settlement at Plymouth, a more ambitious class were burning
with zeal to found a commonwealth where political as well as
religious liberty would be secured.
The fishing stations previously established by the merely specu-
lative Adventurers for money-making purposes had proved failures ;
numbers of persons throughout the English realm were “disaffected
to the rulers in church and state ; ” and the time had come to take
steps to secure a domain for a colony. On March 19, 1627–8,
John Endicott and five associates, the new Dorchester Company,
obtained from the Council for New England “a grant of lands
extending from the Atlantic to the Western Ocean, and in width
from a line running three miles north of the river Merrimac to a

IO Andicott at Maumkeag. [1629
line three miles south of the Charles.” The former grant of the
New England coast to the Earl of Warwick and others, six years
before, was by them resigned to this company. Mr. Matthew
Cradock, “a prudent and wealthy citizen of London,” was the first
governor chosen by the company, and “sworn in chancery”
March 23, 1628–9, Mr. Thomas Goffe being chosen and sworn
deputy governor at the same time.
June 20th Endicott, commissioned as agent of the patentees,
sailed with a small party to take charge for the new company of
the old station at Naumkeag." Those on the spot disputed their
claim at first, but the matter was amicably adjusted “by the
prudent moderation of Mr. Conant, agent before for the Dorcheſter
merchants,” and the place took the name of “Salem,” the Hebrew
name for peaceful.” All told their numbers were “not much above
fifty or sixty persons.” From the Charlestown records it appears
that an exploring party from this small colony began a settlement
at Mishawum, now Charlestown, before the winter of this year
set in.
The new Dorchester Company had been successful in procuring
the grant of lands, but it had no corporate powers, therefore the
Company was much enlarged, solicited and obtained a royal char-
ter, March 4, 1628–9, creating the corporation known as the
“Governor and Company of the Maſſachuſetts Bay in New Eng-
land.” “But foraſmuch as the publick affairs of the intended
colony were like to be but ill managed at ſo great a diſtance, as
was between the Maſſachuſetts and London,” this company imme-
diately organized a government for its colony, - placing their
agent of the year before, Endicott, at the head as governor under
the company, with seven persons to act as a council to him in
connection with two additional to be chosen by the old planters, –
prepared six vessels, and obtained a license from the Lord Treas-
urer for the embarkation of “eighty women and maids, twenty-ſix
1. “Called by the natives Waemkecke, by our Royal King Charles, Baſtable ; but now by the
planters, Salem.”— Capt. ºohn Smith, 1631. - -
2. Hubbard, 1680. 3. Palfrey. 4. Hubbard.
1629] Plantation at Charlestown.e. I I
children, and three hundred men," with victuals, arms, and tools,
and neceſſary apparel,” and “one hundred and forty head of cattle
and forty goats.”
Francis Higginson and Samuel Skelton were the two most prom-
inent and influential of the “godly miniſters” provided by a com-
mittee of the company for this band of colonists.
Three of the vessels set sail in the early part of May, and
arrived at Salem in June, the rest of the fleet soon following. Of
their arrival Higginson wrote: “When we came firſt to Meihum-
Áek,” we found about halfe a ſcore Houſes, and a faire Houſe
newly built for the Gouernour, we found alſo abundance of Corne
planted by them, verie good and well likeing. And we brought
with us about two hundred Paſſengers and Planters more, which by
common conſent of the old Planters were all combined together
into one Body politicke, under the ſame Gouernour. There are in
all of us both old and new Planters about three hundred, whereof
two hundred of them are ſettled at Meihum-kek, now called Salem;
and the reſt have Planted themſelves at Maſathulets* Bay, begin-
ning to build a Towne there which we doe call Cherton, or Charles
Towne.” We that are ſettled at Salem make what haſt we can to
build Houſes, ſo that within a ſhort time we ſhall have a faire
Towne.” --
On July 20th, a day set apart for fasting and prayer, Higginson
and Skelton were respectively chosen teacher and pastor, and both
were ordained with “ſimple ſolemnity,” and on August 6th thirty
persons assented to “a Confeſſion of Faith and Church Covenant
according to Scripture,” drawn up by Mr. Higginson, of which each
of the thirty received a copy. Governor Bradford of Plymouth had
been invited to witness the organization of the church, and he,
“and ſome others with him, coming by Sea, hindred by croſs winds
1. “People profeſſing themſelves of good ranke, zeale, meanes and quality.” 2. Naumkeag.
3. The name Massachusetts Bay was at first only applied to the waters of Boston Bay or Harbor,
lying between Nahant and Point Allerton, and Massachusetts included only the country lying
around this inner bay. 4. “On the neck of land called Miſhawum, between Miſtick and Charles
Rivers, full of Indians, named Aberginians.” – Prince's Annals, Sept. 13, 1628.
I 2 Airst Church in Massachusetts. [1629
that they could not be there at the beginning of the day, came into
the Aſſembly afterward, and gave them the right hand of fellowſhip,
wiſhing all proſperity and a bleſſed ſucceſs unto ſuch good begin-
nings.” Thus was organized the first church in the colony of
Massachusetts Bay.
The next important action taken by the Massachusetts Company
was to provide for transferring the charter and government of the
company to New England, and this was determined upon August
29, 1629. The old officers resigned ; and, on October 20th, John
Winthrop was chosen Governor, with John Humphrey for Deputy-
Governor, and eighteen others for Assistants. Humphrey’s depart-
ure was delayed, and, March 23, 1629–30, at a Court kept aboard
the Arbella, at South-Hampton, on the eve of embarkation, his
place was supplied by Thomas Dudley, and several Assistants were
chosen, in place of those who were not yet ready to sail to the new
colony.
Active measures were taken at once to transport to the colony
large accessions of men, women, children and supplies. Seventeen
vessels in all, bearing about a thousand passengers, some from the
West of England, but the larger part from the vicinity of London,
came over before the winter of 1630. The expense of this equip-
ment and transportation was £21,200.”
John Winthrop, writing to his wife “From aboard the Arbella,”
riding at the Cowes, March 28, 1630,” says: “We have only four
ſhips ready, and ſome two or three Hollanders go along with us.
1. Morton’s Memorial. 2. So stated in Şosselyn's Chronological Observations. But in his
Two Voyages [1663] he has the following: “The Twelfth of jºuły, Anno Dome. 1630, 9'ohn Wen-
thorº, Eſq.; and the aſſiſtants, arrived with the Patent for the Maſſachuſets. The paſſage of the
people that came along with him in ten Veſſels came to 95000 pound; the Swine, Goats, Sheep,
Neat and Horſes coſt to tranſport 12ooo pound beſides the price they coſt them; getting food for the
people till they could clear the ground of wood amounted to 450oo pound; Nails, Glaſs, and other
Iron work for their meeting and dwelling houſes 13000 pound; Arms, Powder, Bullet, and Match
together with their Artillery 220oo pound, the whole ſum amounts unto one hundred ninety-two
thouſand pounds. They ſet down firſt upon Noddles Iſland, afterwards they began to build upon
the main.” As he gives the date of arrival wrong, and as his “whole ſum ” is greater than the
sum of his items, perhaps the accurateness of his figures may be questioned. Even as estimates
they are curious and worth noticing. 3. A ship of 350 tons, manned with 52 seamen, and fur-
nished with 28 pieces of ordnance; the admiral of the little fleet.
[1630 Winthrop's Fleet Arrives. I 3
The reſt of the fleet (being ſeven ſhips) will not be ready this
ſennight. . . . We are, in all our eleven ſhips, about ſeven hundred
perſons, paſſengers, and two hundred and forty cows, and about
ſixty horſes. The ſhip which went from Plimouth' carried about
one hundred and forty perſons.”
On the 12th of June the Arbella arrived at Salem, the 9ewell on
the 13th, and several other vessels during the first week in July.
On the 8th of July Winthrop records in his journal: “We kept a
day of thankſgiving in all the plantations,” “all the whole fleet
being ſafely come to their port.”
The Mary & 9ohn, of 400 tons, Capt. Squeb, master, sailed
from Plymouth March 20, 1629–30, bearing the assistants Edward
Rossiter and Roger Ludlow, and about 14o others, “godly families
and people from Devonſhire, Dorſetſhire, and Somerſetſhire,” ac-
companied by two ministers, Revs. John Warham and John Maver-
ick. On the 30th of May, “when we came to Manta/ket,” says
Capt. Roger Clap,” one of her passengers, in his memoirs, “Capt.
Squeb would not bring us into Charles River,” as he was bound to
do, but put us aſhore and our goods on Manta/ket AEoint, and left us
to ſhift for ourſelves in a forlorn place in this wilderneſs,” “like a
mercileſs man.” Nine or ten of these unfortunates were the men
who first visited the place afterwards called Watertown, which visit
Mr. Clap proceeds to relate as follows:
“But as it pleaſed God, we got a boat of ſome old planters, and
loaded her with goods ; and ſome able men, well armed, went in
1. Ludlow's the Mary and john. 2. Now Hull. 3. A young man of twenty-one years,
who came out of Plymouth, in Devon. 4. Wood’s N. E. Prospect, 1634, gives “Miſhaum,
Miſhaumut — Charlestowne,” and the names of “Rivers of note ” in the following order: “Saugus,
Miſtick, Miſhaum, Naponſet, &c.” where the Mishaum is the only one corresponding in position
to the Charles. Capt. John Smith, in his Description of New England, 1616, says he gave the
name Massachusetts River to the stretch of water making up through the islands from the Bay,
which name was “changed by the Prince his Highneſſe to Charles River.” The name Quino-
beguin first appears in Morse’s Gazetteer, 1797. The original Indian name of the Charles River
would, therefore, appear to be Mishaum. See note 4, page 11, John Endicott, in a letter dated
27th 8: 1651, mentions “one Pummakummin, Sachem of Qunnubbágge, dwelling amongſt or
neer to the Narraganſets,” who desired that some English be sent “to plant his River.”—Adams’
I, iſe of Eliot, p. 87. The river may, therefore, have had another name, in the middle or upper
part of its course. 5. He “was afterwards obliged to pay damages for this conduct.”—Trumbull.
I4. First Landing at Watertown. [1630
her unto Charleſtown, where we found ſome wigwarms and one houſe,
and in the houſe there was a man which had a boiled baſs, but no
bread that we ſee: but we did eat of his baſs, and then went up
Charles A'iver, until the river grew narrow and ſhallow, and there
we landed our goods with much labour and toil, the bank being
ſteep. And night coming on, we were informed that there were
hard by us three hundred Indians. One Engliſhman' that could
ſpeak the Indian language (an old Planter) went to them and
adviſed them not to come near us in the night; and they hearkened
to his counſel, and came not. I myſelf was one of the centinels
that firſt night. Our captain was a low country ſoldier, one Mr.
Southcot, a brave ſoldier. In the morning ſome of the Indians
came and ſtood at a diſtance off, looking at us, but came not near
us; but when they had been a while in view, ſome of them came
and held out a great baſs towards us ; ſo we ſent a man with a
biſket, and changed the cake for the baſs. Afterwards they ſup-
plied us with baſs, exchanging a baſs for a biſket-cake, and were
very friendly unto us.” . . . “I think we were not above ten in
number.” “We had not been there many days, (although by our
diligence we had got up a kind of ſhelter to ſave our goods in), but
we had orders to come away from that place, (which was about
Watertown), unto a place called Mattapan (now Dorcheſter”), be-
cauſe there was a neck of land fit to keep our cattle on.”
Tradition says that the steep bank where they landed was near
the place where the U. S. arsenal now stands. The name of
Dorchester was transferred to the land which they occupied during
their brief stay, and a writer as late as 1827 says a pasture in the
vicinity was called Dorchester fields.
A fortnight later, less than a week after his arrival, Winthrop,
with a small party, “went to Mattachuſetts to find out a place for
our ſitting down,” “for Salem, where wee landed, pleaſed vs not.
And to that purpoſe ſome were ſent to the Bay to ſearch vpp the
1. Probably Thomas Walford, blacksmith, who was the first settler at Miſhaum, at whose house
they “did eat of his baſs.” 2. So named “because several of the settlers came from a town of
that name in England, and also in honour of the minister of that place, the Rev. Mr. White.”
3. Claš's Memoirs, p. 21.
1630] Dispersion of the Settlers. I5
riuers for a conuenient place, who vppon their returne reported to
haue found a good place vppon Miſłick; but ſome other of vs ſec-
onding theis to approue or diſlike of their judgement; wee found a
place liked vs better' three leagues vpp Charles riuer.”
“And there vppon unſhipped our goods into other veſſels and with
much coſt and labour brought them in July to Charles Zowne; but
there receiving advertiſements by ſome of the late arrived ſhipps
from London and Amſterdam of ſome French preparations againſt
vs (many of our people brought with vs beeing ſick of feaver and
the ſcurvy and wee thereby unable to carry vpp our ordnance and
baggage foe farr) wee were forced to change our counſaile and for
our preſent ſhelter to plant diſperſedly, ſome at Charles Towne which
ſtandeth on the North Side of mouth of Charles Aciuer; ſome on
the South Side, which place wee named Boſton (as wee intended to
have done the place wee firſt reſolved on) ſome of vs vppon Miſſick,
which place wee named Meadford; ſome of vs weſtwards on Charles
A’iuer, four miles from Charles Zowne, which place wee named
Waterioune, others of vs two miles from Boſton in a place wee
named Æock/bury, others vppon the riuer of Sawgus between Salem
and Charleſłowne. And the weſterne men four miles South from
Boſton at a place wee named Dorcheſter. This diſperſion troubled
ſome of vs, but helpe it wee could not, wanting abillity to remoue
to any place fit to build a Towne vppon, and the time was too ſhort
to deliberate any longer leaſt the winter ſhould ſurpriſe vs before
wee had builded our houſes. The beſt counſel wee could find out
was to build a fort to retire to, in ſome convenient place, if any
enemy preſſed thereunto, after we ſhould have fortifyed ourſelves
againſt the injuries of wett and cold. So ceaſing to conſult further
for that time they which had health to labour fell to building,
wherein many were interrupted with ſickness and many dyed weeke-
ly, yea almost dayley.”
1. “The people that arrived at the Massachusetts in the fleet, Anno Domini 1630, were not
much unlike the family of Noah, at their first issuing out of the ark; and had, as it were, a new
world to people ; being uncertain where to make their beginning.” – Hubbard’s M. E., p. 134.
2. “This,” says Palfrey, “would correspond to what is now Waltham or Weston, and I think it
very likely to have been near the mouth of Stony Brook, which divides those two towns.”
I6 Plantation at Watertown. [1630
The ſhips being about to return to England and Ireland, upwards
of Ioo returned in them, “and glad were wee ſo to be ridd of
them.” Others joined a settlement at Piscataway, “whereby
though our numbers were leſſened yet wee accounted ourſelves
nothing weakened by their removeall.” Rev. Mr. Higginson of
Salem, “a zealous and profitable preacher,” Mr. Johnson and “the
lady Arbella " his wife, and Mr. Rossiter, one of the assistants,
were among those who died. “So that there were now left of the
5 vndertakers,” says Dudley, “but the Gouernour, Sir Richard
Saltonſtall and myſelfe and ſeven other of the Aſſistants — And of
the people who came over with vs from the time of their ſetting
ſail from England in Aprill, 1630, untill December followinge there
dyed by eſtimacon about 200 at leaſt.” Lt. Governor Dudley thus
sums up what transpired in the colony during the first eight and a
half months after their arrival, in his “Letter to the Countess of
Lincoln,” written March 28, 1631.
At the time of the dispersion of which Dudley speaks, when
they were unable by reason of sickness to carry their “ordnance
and baggage foe farr” as “three leagues vpp Charles riuer,” Sir
Richard Saltonstall," Rev. George Phillips, and a goodly number of
the planters, went up Charles River about four miles “to a place
zye// watered” and settled a plantation, just below where Mt.
Auburn is now located, “at first sometimes called Sir Richard
Saltonstall's plantation,” but named Waterton” by the Court of

1. Sir Richard Saltonstall was son of Samuel, the son of Gilbert Saltonstall, Esq., of Halifax,
Yorkshire. He was the first Associate
ey” Y_ * to the six original patentees mentioned
~Yn-os cº-3 4}=-4-3- in King Charles’s charter to the Mas-
sachusetts, of March 4, 1628–9. A
% cy.& worthy Puritan, one of the five under-
takers, the first founder of the town
and first member of the Congregational
Church of Watertown. His uncle
Richard was Lord Mayor of London
in 1597. 2. “It is ordered that
Trimpountaine shall be called Boſton ; Mattapan, Dorchester; and the towne upon Charles Ryuer,
Waterton. [Margin] Water Toume.”— Mass. Rec., 1.75. The Indian name of Watertown was
Pequusset, retained for a long time in the names Pequusset Common and Pequusset Meadow. It
was sometimes corruptly written Pigsgresset and even Pigs go suck.
HE --white SWAN.”
HARRINGTON'S GROve AND PULSIFER'S LANDING.


1630] A'esolve to Build at Mew Towne. 17
Assistants, on the 7th of September, the second meeting held after
their arrival in the colony, which is considered the date of the in-
corporation of the Town. The name was doubtless given from the
fact, stated by many of the early writers, that it was “well watered.”
Johnson" calls it “a fruitful plot of large extent, watered with many
pleaſant ſprings, and rivulets, running like rivers throughout her
body.” Josselyn in his Zwo Voyages, 1663, and Dunton in his
Jetters from AVew England, 1686, use identical words, and describe
Water-Town as “built upon one of the branches of Charles River,
very fruitful and of large extent; watered with many pleaſant
Springs, and ſmall Rivulets.”
“We beganne againe in December,” says Dudley, “to conſult
about a fitt place to build a Toune vppon, leaveinge all thoughts of
a fort, becauſe vppon any invaſion wee were neceſſarily to looſe our
howſes when we ſhould retire thereinto ; ſoe after diverſe meetings
at Boſton, Rockſbury, and Waterton,” on the 28th of December wee
grew to this reſolucon to bind all the Affistants (Mr. Endicott &
Mr. Sharpe excepted, which laſt purpoſeth to returne by the next
ſhipps into England) to build howſes at a place, a mile eaſt from
Waterton neere Charles river, the next Springe, and to winter there
the next yeare, that ſoe by our examples and by removeinge the
ordinance and munition thether, all who were able, might be
drawne thether, and ſuch as ſhall come to vs hereafter to their ad-
vantage bee compelled foe to doe; and foe, if God would, a fortifyed
Toune might there grow vpp, the place fitting reasonably well
thereto.”
The “place a mile eaſt from Waterton ’’ was called Mew Zbwne,
the present Old Cambridge. During the fall and winter several
settlers at Watertown lost their wigwams and houses by fire, and
“Mr. Phillips, the miniſter of Watertown, and others, had their
hay burnt.” Dudley closes his letter to the Countess of Lincoln
1. Wond. Work. Prov., 1653, chap. 28. 2. Nov. 21, 1630. We met again at Watertown, and
there, upon view of a place a mile beneath the town [the central point, or residence of the chief
persons], all agreed it a fit place for a fortified town, and we took time to consider further about it.
—Winthrop's journal.
I8 The Lost Calf Alarm. [1631
with the following account of the first general night alarm : “Vppon
the 25 of this March, one” of Waterton haueing loſt a calfe, and
about 1o of the clock at night heareinge the howlinge of ſome
wolues not farr off, raiſed many of his neighbours out of their
bedds, that by diſcharginge their muſkeets neere about the place,
where hee heard the wolues, hee might ſoe putt the wolues to flight,
and ſaue his calfe : the wind ſerveing fitt to cary the report of the
muſkeets to Æockſbury, 3 miles of at ſuch a time, the inhabitants
there tooke an alarme beate vpp their drume, armed themſelves and
ſent in poſt to vs to Boſton to raiſe vs allſoe. Soe in the morninge
the calfe beenge found ſafe, the wolues affrighted, and our danger
paſt, wee went merrily to breakefaſt.” Though this proved to be a
false alarm, at the meeting of the Court held April 12th following,
“patrols of four men were appointed to be kept every night at Dor-
chester and at Watertown, the southern and western outposts; and
military companies were to be trained every Saturday. The
amount of ammunition to be kept by each soldier was prescribed ;
and the firing of a gun after the night watches were set was made
punishable by whipping, and a second offence by measures more
severe.”” - -
“1630. A very ſharp winter in New England.” This brief
record in Josselyn's Chronological Observations might be expanded
into a long account of the privations and sufferings that came upon
the settlers so illy provided with shelter and provisions. Roger
Clap writes in his Memoirs : —“Now coming into this country, I
found it a vacant wilderneſs, in reſpect of Engliſh. There were
indeed ſome Engli/% at Plymouth and Salem, and ſome few at
Charleſtown, who were very deſtitute when we came aſhore ; and
planting-time being paſt, ſhortly after proviſion was not to be had
for money. . . . And when I could have meal and water and ſalt
boiled together, it was ſo good, who could wiſh better?” Again:
“In our beginning many were in great ſtraits, for want of proviſion
for themſelves and their little ones. Oh, the hunger that many ſuf-
1. “Sir Richard Saltonstall,” Winthrop says. 2. Palfrey.
1635] Zimits of Watertown. I9
fered, and ſaw no hope in an eye of reaſon to be ſupplied, only by
clams, and muſcles, and fiſh We did quickly build boats, and
ſome went a fiſhing. But bread was with many a very ſcarce thing;
and fleſh of all kinds as ſcarce. . . . Yet this can I ſay to the praiſe
of God’s glory, that he ſent not only poor ravenous Indians, who
came with their baſkets of corn on their backs, to trade with us,
which was a good ſupply unto many; but alſo ſent ſhips from
Aolland and from Zreland with proviſions, and Indian Corn from
Virginia, to ſupply the wants of his dear ſervants in this wilderneſs,
both for food and raiment. And when people's wants were great,
not only in one town but in divers towns; ſuch was the godly
wiſdom, care and prudence (not ſelfiſhness but ſelf-denial) of our
Governor Winthrop and his aſſiſtants, that when a ſhip came laden
with proviſions, they did order that the whole cargo ſhould be
bought for a general ſtock: And ſo accordingly it was, and diſtri-
bution was made to every town, and to every perſon in each town,
as every man had need.”
The limits of Watertown were for a long time quite undefined,
and remained indefinite between it and Boston, on the one side,
and Charlestown, on the other. The settlement of New Town and
its rapid growth, however, soon raised questions as to the bounds
of these two Towns, and on March 4, 1634–5, the Court appointed
a Committee to determine “the difference concerning all bounds of
land between them.” Bond makes the New Town [Cambridge]
line run very near the homestall of Sir Richard Saltonstall, only
one small lot intervening. The Committee agreed “that the
bounds between Watertown and Newtown shall stand as they are
already from Charles River to the great Fresh Pond; and from the
tree marked by Watertown and Newtown on the southeast side of
the pond, over the pond to a white poplar tree on the northwest
side of the pond, and from that tree up into the country north-west-
by-west, upon a straight line by a meridian compass; and further,
that Watertown shall have one hundred rods in length above the
weare, and one hundred rods beneath the weare in length, and
threescore rods in breadth from the river on the south side thereof,
2O Curtailment of Territory. [16 38
and all the rest of the ground on that side the river to lye to
Newtown ; ” westerly the Town extended “eight miles into the
country from their meeting-house.” Later, after the settlement of
Concord and Dedham, September 3, 1635, upon the north-west and
south-west of Watertown, another conflict of bounds ensued, and
the Court, on the 8th of June, 1638, ordered “for the final end of
all difference” between the three towns “that Watertown eight
miles shall be extended upon the line between them [W.] and Cam-
bridge, so far as Concord bounds give leave,” and by the river eight
miles into the country, “and so to take in all the land of that
[north] side of the river, which will not fall into the square five
miles granted to Dedham; ” a neck of land on the north side of
the river was given to Dedham to make up her five square miles
“accounted by quantity and not by situation.” On the northeast
“six myles of land square" were granted to Concord, and so located
in the survey as to overlap the land already granted to Watertown ;
and thus the curtailment of the original territory of Watertown
began, which has been continued until it is now one of the smallest
towns in the Commonwealth. In November, 1637, a grant of
fifteen hundred acres of meadow was made to Watertown “if it
be there convenient, at the new plantation [Sudbury], upon the
river Concord is upon,” and again in May, 1651, the Court ordered
“that Watertown shall have two thousand acres, of land laid out
near Assabet River . . . provided it be not prejudicial to any for-
mer grants.” But neither of these grants was located at the time,
and, though the town several times appointed committees to secure
from the General Court the location and survey of the latter grant,
which seems to have been made in lieu of, instead of in addition
to, the former one, it was not until after a delay of over a century
that the grant of two thousand acres of land was located “at
Wachusett Hill,” in compensation for that taken by Concord, and
this was divided between Watertown, Weston, and Waltham. In
1756 Waltham and Weston sold their shares, each for £267 6s. 8d.
= £2005, O. T.
The “weare” spoken of above was about three miles above the
1632] Watertown Fishery. 2 I
“town,” just below the fall; it was constructed' in the spring” of
1632 by permission of Governor Winthrop, granted, the Court not
being in session, because if they had waited for a meeting of the
Court before constructing it, the fishing season would have passed
by. The Court sanctioned the grant at its next meeting, May 9,
1632. Josselyn” says: “A mile and a half from the Town is a fall*
of freſh waters which conveigh themſelves into the Ocean through
Charles River; a little below the fall of which they have a weir to
catch fiſh, wherein they take ſtore of Baſſe, Shades, Alwives, Froſt
fish and Smelts; in two tides they have gotten one hundred thou-
ſand of theſe fiſh.” -
At a town meeting held January 3, 1634–5, it was agreed [by the
freemen] “that there ſhall be foure rods in breadth on each ſide of
the River, and in length as far as need ſhall require laied to the uſe
of the Ware, ſo that it may not be preiudicial to the water-mill.
Alſo one Hundred and fifty Acres of Ground granted to the Ware
upon the other ſide of the River, to be laied out in a convenient
place.” - -
This wear was at first public property, but seems to have become
private property in a few years, held in shares. In town meeting,
June 2, 1641, it was “agreed, that Mr. Mahew ſhall enjoy the 150
acres of land on the ſouth ſide of Charles River, by Watertown
wear.” Thirty years later, as the wears were in danger of being
purchased by Indians, the Town voted to purchase them, and they
were then annually rented at the highest price that could be ob-
tained. They were the subject of many altercations and law suits.
1. Winthrop states the reason for building the wear to have been, because the people of Water-
town, having fallen very short of corn the year before, for want of fish for manure, (which use of
them they had learned from the Indians), wished to build a wear to take fish for that purpose.
Granting permission to build this wear was one of the charges brought against Winthrop by Lt.
Gov. Dudley, a little later. 2. April 16th. 3. Whose distances are not to be depended upon.
4. “Which disadvantage attends most of the great rivers of New England, throughout the whole
country: on the banks of whose streames are many veynes of very rich and fertile land, that would
receive abundance more inhabitants, who might live as well as in most places of the world, were itt
not for the intolerable burden of transportation of theire goods by land, for want of navigable chan-
nells, in those rivers. Charles River . . . runnes up twenty or thirty miles into the country, yet
not navigable above foure or five, which makes it less serviceable to the inhabitants seated up
higher on the bankes thereof.”— Hubbard, p. 17.
22. A Church Organized. [1630.
Of late, says Bond (in 1860), the profits of the Fishery have been
divided between the towns of Watertown and Brighton, seven-tenths
to the former and three-tenths to the latter. Owing to the impuri-
ties discharged into the river from the gas works, dye houses, and
other factories, the fish finally stopped coming up the river, and
the last three amounts reported by the Town Treasurer of Water-
town as income received from the Fishery are:—for 1856, $161 ;
for 1858, $74.25, and for 1860, $35. Since which time the wears.
do not appear to have been used.
On account of the “much fickneſs” and mortality that prevailed
at Charlestown upon the arrival of Winthrop and his people, owing
to the bad water there, and their “being deſtitute of houſing and
ſhelter, and lying up and down in Booths,” the 30th of July, 1630, by
recommendation of Governor Winthrop, “was ſet apart for ſolemn
faſting and prayer,” by the people of Charlestown and Watertown.
The first settlers of the latter town had “reſolved,” says Mather,
“that they would combine into church fellowſhip as their firſt
work;” accordingly after the religious exercises of the day were
over, under the guidance of the Rev. George Phillips, “who was a
worthy ſervant of Christ and Diſpenſer of his Word,” “about forty
men, whereof the firſt was that excellent knight, Sir Richard Sal-
tonſtall, then ſubſcribed , this inſtrument," in order unto their
coaleſcence into a church eſtate.”
There has been much argument over the point, whether this
signing of a covenant constituted the organization of a church ;
the weight of authority is in the affirmative, and Mr. Bond suc-
cinctly states the correct conclusion “that Watertown was the first
church in New England that distinctly adopted the Congrega-
tional order; that it may justly claim priority over the first church
of Boston, and, since the migration from Dorchester to Windsor,
is entitled to rank as the second church of Massachusetts Bay.”
At the first Court of Assistants, held August 23, 1630, at Charles-
town,” it was “ordered that houſes be built for ” the ministers, Mr.
1. A covenant. 2. On board the Arbella. – 9 ohnson,
1630] Assessment for the Ministers. 23
Phillips of Watertown and Mr. Wilson of Boston, “with conven-
ient ſpeed at the public charge ;” Sir Richard Saltonstall under-
took to provide for Mr. Phillips at his plantation, and Governor
Winthrop at Boston for Mr. Wilson." On Nov. 30th, an order was
passed to collect £60 for the support of these two ministers, £30
being allotted to each; the amount was assessed: Boston 420,
Watertown £20, Charlestown 4, Io, Aeoxbury 46, Medford 43,
Winnese met 4 I.
At this Court Sir Richard Saltonstall was “fyned V4 for whip-
ping 2 ſeverall perſons without the preſence of another Aſſiſtant,
contrary to an Act of Court formerly made :” but this fine he
appears never to have paid ; he returned to England March 29,
1631,” and this fine was remitted by order of the Court Sept. 6,
1638. At the second Court, Sept. 7, 1630, it was enacted to be
A to fine for any that should permit an Indian the use of a gun,
the first offence; the second offence they were to be imprisoned
and fined at discretion. - -
The spirit of liberty and independence in thought and action, —
the natural outgrowth or development of the fundamental idea of
Puritanism, “to see God’s own Law made good in this world; . . .
that God’s Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven; ””— this spirit,
that “was properly the beginning of America,” that led the Pil-
grims to determine on settling in the black, untamed forests and
amid the wild savage creatures of the New World, that founded the
early churches in the Colonies, manifesting itself in individuals,
early began to give trouble. One Richard Browne, “a man of
good underſtanding, and well verſed in the diſcipline of ſeparation,
having been a ruler in one of their churches in Zondon,” “ had
1. Previous to the organization of these churches, - ..º ſº ºr º
both ministers had preached in Charlestown and Bos- 9ſŽty Le #0/*Ás.
ton, “their meeting-place,” says Roger Clap, “being J % 4.
abroad under a tree, where I have heard Mr. Wilſon
and Mr. Phillips preach many a good ſermon.” Mr. Phillips had been minister of Bocksted near
Groton in Suffolk Co., England, and Mr. Wilson had formerly been a minister of one of the par-
ishes of Sudbury, in the same county. 2. Taking with him Grace, Rosamond, and one of his
youngest sons, probably Samuel. His sons Richard, Robert, and Henry remained.
3. Carlyle. 4. Winthrop, I. 58.
24. Independence of Elder Browne. [1631
been chosen elder by the congregation at Watertown, but he had
the boldness to express and maintain the opinion that “the
churches of Rome were true churches.” This caused a division in
the church, and attracted so much attention that Governor Win-
throp, Deputy-Governor Dudley, and Mr. Nowell (elder at Boston),
and others went to Watertown, July 21st, 1631, to confer with Mr.
Phillips and Mr. Browne on this matter. The opinion “was debated
before many of both congregations, and by the approbation of all
the aſſembly except three, was concluded an errour.” But this
overwhelming vote changed not the elder's views; and being, accord-
ing to Winthrop, “a man of violent ſpirit, impetuous in his feelings,
and impatient of rebuke,” he was not silenced. Nov. 23d, 1631,
the Court took up the matter and sent a letter to the church advis-
ing them “to take into conſideration, whether Mr. Browne were fit
to be continued their elder or not,” to which an unsatisfactory
reply was given. Dec. 8th, on complaint of members of the con-
gregation, the Governor and others again met in assembly with
them at Watertown; the complaints were heard, and, after much
debate, a reconciliation was effected, “each party promiſing to
reform what hath been amiſs.” But the excitement continued, and
in Nov. 1632, Winthrop records “The congregation of Watertown
diſcharged their elder, Richard Browne, of his office, for his unfit-
neſs in regard of his paſſion and diſtemper in ſpeech, having been
oft admoniſhed and declared his repentance for it.” ". He was a
person of consequence” in the town, and was in later years fre-
quently chosen one of the selectmen and representative to the
Court of Deputies. It is doubtful if we are to believe him so
violent and passionate a man as his opponents would have him
appear to be. He had the confidence of his very worthy pastor,
Rev. George Phillips, and gave to him his zealous support and
cooperation in establishing and maintaining the church discipline,
1. Winthrop, I. 67, 95. 2. He was a grantee of 13 lots in the town, and of 200 acres
“next the village granted to Dedham.” He received 9 acres in Waltham Plain, next to the river,
150 acres in the “Farm Lands” (Weston), and 50 acres in “the second Great Dividend,” in
Waltham.
BEAVER BROOK PATH.
BEAVER BROOK, NEAR charlºs River.


1634] Mr. Browne a Representative. 25
since owned by the Congregational churches. Being older than
Mr. Phillips he was more outspoken, and brought upon himself the
displeasure of the magistrates by his “unflinching confronting” of
them in their “much opposition to Mr. Phillips.” In causing his
removal from his office as elder, they but opened the way for him
to accept positions of even more importance, which the people of
Watertown were not slow to confer upon him, for they held him in
the highest esteem as a Christian and a citizen, and from the Col-
onial Records he appears not less respected and confided in by
the Court, to which he was Representative most of the time from
the first (1634) till 1657. After the return of Sir Richard Salton-
stall to England, there was no magistrate in Watertown, and in
Sept. 1638, Mr. Browne was appointed by the Court one of the
commissioners of that town, “to end ſmall cauſes.” Nov. 4, 1646,
he was empowered to officiate at marriages in the town ; previous
to this date, after the departure of Sir Richard Saltonstall, when
couples wished to be married they had to leave the town and have
the ceremony performed by a magistrate of some other town.
Nov. 5, 1633, he was allowed by the Court “to keep a ferry over
Charles River againſt his houſe” [near Mt. Auburn], and to have
2d for one person, and Id each for two or more. May 22, 1639,
he was fined £5 for going to Connecticut without leave of the
Court, he then being a deputy; but in Sept. 44 I.5s of the fine was
remitted and the freemen of Watertown were fined £3, “for ſend-
ing Mr. Browne away.” In 1657 he removed to Charlestown where
he died at the age of 84 or 85 years.
Nov. 5, 1634, Mr. Browne took a leading part in bringing before
the Court of Assistants complaint against John Endicott of Salem,
for mutilating the ensign, by cutting out with his sword the red
cross. It was feared that this would “be taken as an act of rebell-
ion, or of like high nature, in defacing the King's colors.” But
Endicott's motive was one of “conſcience,” “thinking that the red
croſs was given to the King of England by the Pope, as an enſign
of victory, and ſo a ſuperſtitious thing, and a relique of Antichrist.”
The settlement of this matter caused a deal of trouble and anx-
4.
26 Governor Winthrop's Visit. [1631
iety. They were doubtful of the lawful use of the cross in an
ensign, but satisfied that his act was very unlawful, so that finally
Mr. Endicott was censured, and disabled for one year from hold-
ing any public office.
On the 27th Jan., 1631–2, “the Governour and ſome company
with him went” up by Charles A'izer about eight miles above Water-
town,” and left an indelible record of their visit in the names which
they gave to prominent features of the landscape, and which are
still retained. Winthrop's Journal says they “named the firſt
brook, on the north ſide of the river, (being a fair ſtream and com-
ing from a pond a mile from the river), Beaver Brook, becauſe the
beavers had ſhorn down divers great trees there, and made divers
dams acroſs the brook. Thence they went to a great rock, upon
which ſtood a high ſtone, cleft in ſunder, that four men might go
through, which they called Adam's Chair, becauſe the youngeſt of
their company was Adam Winthrop. Thence they came to another
brook, greater than the former, which they called Masters' Brook,
becauſe the eldeſt of their company was one John Maſters.”
Thence they came to another high pointed rock, having a fair
aſpect on the weſt ſide, which they called Mount Feake, from one
Robert Feake, who had married the Governour’s daughter-in-law.
On the weſt ſide of Mount Feake, they went up a very high rock,
from whence they might ſee all over Meipnett,” and a very high hill
due weſt, about forty miles off, and to the N.W. the high hills by
Merrimack, above ſixty miles off.” Some explanations are needed
to make this pleasant description clear at the present time.
Aeaver Brook is a large and valuable stream, and empties into
Charles River at the lower end of Waltham Plain, crossing the
“Great road' in its course. It has two branches, eastern and
western, which unite about half a mile from the river. The former
and larger branch, always called Beaver Brook in the early deeds
1. “No doubt a-foot,” says Prince. “For the purpose of laying out a public road.” Hist. Coll.
W. 3, 2d Serp. 265. 2. John Masters was one of the earliest settlers of Watertown ; he was
admitted freeman May 18, 1631 ; moved to Cambridge before July, 1635, and died there 21st
December, 1639; his wife died five days after, 3. Whiffcutt, the margin reads.
1633] A'eazer Brook and its Aramches. 27
and surveys, rises in East Lexington, passes through a corner of
Aelmont, and divides it from Waltham nearly to the Watertown
line, then flows south-west until it is joined by the western
branch. The latter coming out of Sherman's' Pond, more than two
miles from the river, is the ancient Chester Brook; at Pond End,
near the present New Church School, it provides power for a small
machine-shop;” about half a mile west of the site of the old Wal-
tham Meeting house, it flows through a pond* and extensive bog,
called Beaver Meadow, probably the locality of the pond observed
by Winthrop, caused by the beaver dams long since destroyed; it
afterwards passes through and adds greatly to the beauty of the
Lyman place, formerly known as the Zivermore Farm, where, by a
Small dam, it is expanded in front of the mansion into a beautiful
stream. A little south of Beaver Meadoze, is Zily Pond, a small
sheet of water having its outlet through the meadow into Chester
Brook. The name Chester was probably given very soon after
Governor Winthrop's visit, as Mr. Leonard Chester arrived in 1633
and left Watertown in 1636. “Some modern improvers,” says Bond,
“have given the name Clematis” to the middle portion of the
ancient Beazer Brook,” and a Railroad station has now that name. '
Masters' Brook, which Winthrop states was “greater than the for-
mer,” is described by a writer in 1815, as known by that name to
the oldest inhabitants then consulted by him. “It is one mile and
a half west of Beaver Brook, and nearly a mile this side of Stony
Arook.” “At present,” he says, “this brook can hardly be recog-
nized by this description, on account of its smallness. . . . If the
summer be dry there is scarcely any water in the usual course of
the brook, which, as it approaches the river, has every appear-
ance of having once been quite deep and broad.” It forms
the western boundary of Waltham Plain. The knowledge of
1. In early records known as the “Great Pond in the Woods,” afterwards as Sherman's,
Fiske's, and Mead's Pond. Its area is supposed to be about 1oo acres. Bond. 2. For-
merly a grist mill. 3. Described in 1815 as nearly one mile in circumference, and abounding
in fish. 4. Doubtless with the same desire for improvement, and with about as much authority
as attended the change of the name of the brook, this word is mispronounced; the accent is
put upon the second syllable, instead of on the first.
28 Levy for Palisade at Mewtown. [1631
the location of Adam's Chair has been completely lost. Mount
Areake was marked upon a plan of the town made in 1640, only
eight years after the name was given, which plan was unfortunately
destroyed by fire in Boston in 1825; it has retained its name, and
a beautiful cemetery has been laid out upon its western slope.
The “very high rock” west of Mount Feake is now called Boston
Rock Hill, and from its eastern side a fine view of Waltham
is had.
John Eliot, the apostle to the Indians, describes in a letter a
singular event that occurred at Sherman's Pond in June, 1676.
Some of the Indians, who still had wigwams on the western shore,
observed the fish to come up on the shore. When some of the
farmers drove their cows thither to water they not only noticed
that the sand was strewn with all kinds of fish from the pond, but
that the cows refused to drink the water. This continued three
days. A large eel, which was wriggling about on the shore, was
thrown back into the water, but immediately returned out of the
water and remained until dead. Both Indians and whites ate
freely of the fish without hurt. During these three days many
cartloads of fish came ashore ; but after that time the water be-
came harmless again.” “It was conceived,” says Hubbard, “to be
the effect of ſome mineral vapour that at that time had made an
irruption into the water.”
In February 1631–2, a political altercation took its rise at Water-
town, which has been so far-reaching and important in its results,
as to merit full notice. On the 3d of that month the Court of
Assistants ordered that £60 be levied out of the several planta-
tions “towards the making of a paliſade” about the Newtown,” to
carry out the “reſolucon' to which they “grew’’ December 28,
1630, that “a fortifyed Toune might there grow vpp.” The pro-
portion of the levy allotted to Watertown was £8; upon receipt of
the warrant for which “the paſtor [Mr. Phillips] and elder [Mr.
Richard Browne], &c., aſſembled the people and delivered their
1. J. W. Colby's Wotes. 2. Palisades were constructed of cleft wood stakes eight feet long
driven into the ground.
NEWTON BRIDGE, FROM RIVER STREET.

1631] Watertown Resists the Levy; Result. 29
opinions, that it was not ſafe to pay moneys after that ſort, for fear
of bringing themſelves and poſterity into bondage.” This resist-
ance to the order of the Court resulted in their being summoned,
“the paſtor and elder by letter, and the others by warrant,” before
the Governor and Assistants on the 17th of the same month.
“After much debate,” says Winthrop, “they acknowledged their
fault, confeſſing freely, that they were in an errour, and made a
retraction and ſubmiſſion under their hands, and were enjoined to
read it in the aſſembly the next Lord's day.” Whether they fully
retracted from their publicly expressed opinions may be questioned,
as Bond well says, from their “much debate,” the well-known char-
acter of the men, and the proceedings at the next Court held less
than three months later.
These men, thus independent, may well be considered good
specimens of what Thomas Carlyle has said the Seventeenth-Cen-
tury Puritans were: – Men “who had thought about this world
very seriously indeed, and with very considerable thinking faculty
indeed,” and who were “not quite so far behindhand in their con-
clusions respecting it.” With them “Cant was not fashionable at
all ;” for them “that stupendous invention of “Speech for the pur-
pose of concealing Thought' was not yet made.” No one of them
could have been deemed “a man wagging the tongue of him, as if
it were the clapper of a bell to be rung for economic purposes, and
not so much as attempting to convey any inner thought, if thought
he had, of the matter talked of.” “These Puritans do mean what
they say,” and with the same spirit mentioned above they aimed
their opposition at the principle involved, which was thought to be
full of danger, and not at the petty tax" imposed in this instance.
To the agitation of this subject [by Watertown people], says Sav-
age in his note [Winthrop, I. p. 71], we may refer the origin of that
committee of two from each town to advise with the Court about
raising public moneys, “ſo as what they ſhould agree upon ſhould
bind all.” At the next Court, held May 9th, these Committees” were
1. Watertown had already paid her proportion of two taxes, one for the two military captains,
the other for the two ministers, one of whom she had. 2. “Two of every plantation appointed to
conferre with the Court about raiſeing of a publique ſtocke.” Mass. Rec. 1, 95.
3O Only Church-members Admitted Freemen. [1631
appointed for the several Towns, John Oldham and John Masters,
for Watertown, heading the list. This led to the establishment,
two years later, of the representative body, having the full powers of
all the freemen, except that of elections." To the first General
Court of Delegates, May 14, 1634, Watertown sent Robert Feake,
Richard Browne, and John Oldham.
As early as May 18, 1631, the Court had ordered and agreed, that
“for the time to come, no man ſhall be admitted to the freedom of
this body politic, but ſuch as are members of ſome of the churches
within the limits of the ſame,” “to the end the body of the com-
mons may be preſerved of honeſt and good men.” They thus laid
as the foundation of their new Commonwealth an aristocracy of
personal character, of personal “goodness.of that purity and force
which only the faith of Jesus Christ is competent to create.” At this
meeting 1 18 persons took the freemen’s oath, and were admitted
to the franchise, having given notice of their desire for admission,
October 19th, previous. “None are ſo fit to be truſted with the lib-
erties of the Commonwealth,” says John Cotton, “as church-mem-
bers ; for the liberties of the freemen of this Commonwealth are
ſuch as to require men of faithful integrity to God and the State,
to preſerve the ſame. Their liberties, among others, are chiefly
theſe : — 1. To chooſe all magiſtrates, and to call them to account at
the General Court; 2. To chooſe ſuch burgeſſes, every General Court,
as, with the magiſtrates ſhall make or repeal all laws. Now both
theſe liberties are ſuch as carry along much power with them, either
to eſtabliſh or ſubvert the Commonwealth.” “ Words that are as
true to-day as when written, and as applicable to affairs of state
now as then. Are not “men of faithful integrity to God and the
State,” just now especially needed in high places to preserve the
liberties these early Colonists were so zealous in establishing, which
we are enjoying, and which it is our highest duty to hand down
intact to posterity ?
During the year 1631, but few ships arrived. These were well laden
1. Savage's Note. Winthrop, 1. 72. 2. Mass. Rec. 1. 87. 3. Hutchinson, 1. 436.
I633] Attempt to Regulate Prices. 3I.
with all sorts of cattle, which in a few years so increased that the
inhabitants were not only provided with enough for themselves, but
were able also to supply others. One of the earliest causes of dis-
pute concerning boundaries of Towns arose from the people being
cramped for room” for the pasturage of their cattle. In 1634 Wood
says of the people of Mew-towne:– “The inhabitants moſt of them
are very rich, and well ſtored with Cattell of all ſorts; having many
hundred Acres of ground paled in with one generall fence, which is
about a mile and a half long, which ſecures all their weaker Cat-
tell from the wilde beaſts ; ” what was true of AVew-flowne was doubt-
less equally true of Watertowne, “a place nothing inferior for land,
wood, medow, and water” to the former, and the wealthier of the
two at this time. &
From 1632 to 1635 “near twenty confiderable ſhips” came each
year, and with the increase in numbers of settlers there arose a
scarcity of laborers and consequent demand for excessive wages,
To check this, the General Court ordered in November, 1633, that
carpenters and masons should not receive above 2s. per diem, and .
laborers not above 18a,” and that merchants should not advance
above 4d. in the shilling on what their goods cost in England.
But this first attempt to regulate prices met with no better success
than later ones, and Hubbard [168o] complains that these “good
orders did expire with the first and golden age in this new world;
things being raised since to treble the value well nigh of what at
first they were.”
On the 6th of July, 1631, a small ship of sixty tons, called the
A lough, came into AWantasket with ten passengers from Zondon,
having a patent to Sagadahock; afterwards called the Ligonia or
Plough Patent. Not liking the place, they came to Boston and went
up to Watertown, “a plantation for husbandmen principally,” but
as their vessel drew ten feet, she ran aground twice by the way and
“they laid her bones there.” This company was called the Hus-
1. The government having at first permitted no man to live more than half a mile from the
meeting-house in his town. Watertown people, being farmers chiefly, were soon widely scattered.
2. At the court held September 28, 1630, the wages of common laborers were fixed at 6d. a day,
and those of mechanics who were employed in building, at 16d., in addition to “meat and drink.”
The following March this order was rescinded.
32 Accident and Curious Zncident. [1632
bandmen; they were Familists," who believed that the essence of
religion consisted in Divine love, and were popularly considered a
sort of free-love sect of that day; these soon after “vaniſhed away,
and came to nothing.” The next year the court ordered their goods
to be inventoried by the beadle, and to be preserved for the use
and benefit of the company in London which sent them out.
July 2, 1632, at the regular training at Watertown, the first re-
corded accident in the town from the careless use of firearms
happened. A man having an I-did’nt-think-it-was-loaded musket,
“which had long been charged with piſtol bullets, not knowing of
it, gave fire, and ſhot three men, two into their bodies, and one into
his hands; but it was ſo far off, as the ſhot entered the ſkin and
ſtayed there, and they all recovered.” The first order passed at
the Court held on the next day enjoined upon all officers to “take
a ſpecial care to ſearch all pieces brought into the field, for being
charged with ſhot or bullets.”
Watertown people seem to have been ever on the alert to main-
tain and preserve their rights, for on May 1, 1632, one John Clark,
the constable of the town, complained to the Governor, that Capt.
Patrick, one of the two military men supported at public expense,
“being removed out of their town to Newtown, did compel them to
watch near Newtown, and deſired the Governor that they might
have the ordering within their own town.”
In July Winthrop records this curious incident: –“At Watertown
there was (in view of divers witneſſes) a great combat between a
mouſe and a ſnake; and after a long fight the mouſe prevailed and
killed the ſnake. The paſtor of Boſton, Mr. Wilſon, a very ſincere,
holy man, hearing of it, gave this interpretation: That the ſnake
was the devil; the mouſe was a poor, contemptible people, which
God had brought hither, which ſhould overcome Satan here and
diſpoſſeſs him of his kingdom.”
The first reported case of insanity in the town is that of “one
John Edye, a godly man of the congregation,” who in March, 1633,
1. This sect was established in Holland, in 1555 by Henry Nichols, a Westphalian,
1633] Scandy Harvests; Pºrst Ziguor Law. 33
fell diſtrašted, and, getting out one evening, could not be found, but
eight days after he came again of himſelf. He had kept his
ſtrength and colour, yet had eaten nothing.” He recovered, lived
orderly, but was now and then “a little diſtempered.”
The harvest in 1632 was scanty on account of the cold and wet
weather which prevailed during the summer; and again, in 1633,
“there was great ſcarcity of corn, by reaſon of the ſpoil our hogs
had made at harveſt, and the great quantity they had eaten in the
winter, there being no acorns.” Owing to this scarcity of corn two
remarkable resolutions were adopted by the Court, November 5,
1633 : — 1. “That no man ſhall give his ſwine any corn, but ſuch
as, being viewed by two or three neighbours, ſhall be judged unfit
for man’s meat.” 2. “Alſo, that every plantation ſhall agree how
many ſwine every perſon may keep, winter and ſummer, about the
plantation.” The common food of the settlers was beans, corn,
Squashes, and smoked fish; potatoes not being generally introduced
till 1718. A quart of milk sold for a penny, four eggs for a penny,
butter was sixpence a pound, and cheese fivepence, although money
was worth, it has been stated, five times as much as now."
As early as October, 1630, Governor Winthrop, perceiving the
“inconveniences” which had arisen from the use of liquors at
table “by drinking one to another, reſtrained it at his own table”
and persuaded others to do the same. A loose paper was found in
his MSS. containing reasons for a law against this custom, and in
December, 1639, the Court made an order abolishing “that vain
cuſtom.” The “General Courts” and Governors of our later days
might profit by the example set them by their illustrious prede-
CéSSOTS.
Palfrey notes that the name of that peculiarly New England
institution, the town, “first occurs in the record of the second
colonial meeting of the Court of Assistants, in connection with the
naming of Boston, Charlestown, and Watertown. The first entry in
the original records of Watertown, made as early as 1634, stands
1. Colby's AVotes.
34 Town ; Selectmen; Ba/loſs. [1635
as follows:– “Agreed, by the conſent of the Freemen, that there
ſhall be three perſons choſen for the ordering of the civill affaires;
one of them to ſerve as Town Clerk, and shall keep the records
and acts of the Town ; the three choſen are William Jenniſon, Brian
Pembleton, John Eddie,” the latter the same already named as
having been temporarily insane the year previous. February Io,
1635, the inhabitants at Charlestown made order at a full meeting
“for the government of the town by Selectmen,” which name was
speedily applied throughout New England to “municipal gov-
ernors.”
The first elections held by ballots were at the General Court as-
sembled at Newtown, May 6, 1635. The Governor, John Haynes,
and deputy, Richard Bellingham, were elected by papers, wherein
their names were written ; for the choice of Assistants, the names
were announced (placed in nomination) by the Governor, and those
of the freemen in favor deposited inscribed ballots, those opposed,
blank ones. In order that the freemen should have the fullest
freedom in the selection of their deputies, it was ordered that.
thenceforth they should “be elected by papers.”
The people of Newtown, scarcely three years after their settle-
ment, with Watertown a mile and a half distant on the one side,
and Charlestown two miles on the other, were so straitened “for
want of land, eſpecially medow,” that they desired leave of the
Court to look out for enlargement or removal, which being granted,
they sent men “to ſee Agawam and Merrimack, and gave out they
would remove.” A little later six men sailed in Governor Win-
throp's bark, the Blessing of the Bay, the first vessel built in the
colony, launched at Mistick, July 4, 1631, “to diſcover Connecticut
A’iver, intending to remove the town thither.” At the Court held,
in September, 1634, after a long discussion during a week’s session,
the Newtown people finally accepted the offer of “the ground
about Muddy River” from Boston, and “the meadow on this side
Watertown wear,” from Watertown, and gave up the plan of re-
1. See page 41, note 3. 2. Now Brookline.
I633] John O/a/kam l’ºszás Connecticut. 35
moval at that time. The next year the Court confirmed these
grants on condition that if Mr. Hooker and his congregation
should remove, they should revert to the towns that gave them.
In 1636, Mr. Hooker and his congregation moved to Hartford;"
Boston recovered her Muddy River ground, but Watertown did not
get back her meadow.
In April, 1631, “Wahginnacut, a Sagamore upon the AEiver Quo-
neh facuſ,” had visited Governor Winthrop, with some companions,
“deſirous to have ſome Engliſhmen to come plant in his country,”
offering to find them corn and give them eighty beaver skins yearly
and praising the great fruitfulness of his country.” The people of
Plymouth had, from time to time, received information from the
natives and from Dutch visitors of “a fine place, both for planta-
tion and trade,” at the Fresh or Connecticut River, and in June,
1633, Governor Edward Winslow and Mr. Bradford came to Boston
“partly to confer about joining in a trade to Connecticut, for beaver
and hemp,” and to “prevent” the Dutch in establishing a trading
house there. The council, quite disingenuously Savage thinks,”
found sufficient obstacles to deter them from making any such
arrangement. The Plymouth people in October sent out a small
party and built a house on the Connecticut River where now is
Windsor, passing up the river above an already established Dutch
fort at the point where Hartford stands.
A month or two earlier John Oldham, the trader (of whom more
anon), and three companions went overland to the Connecticut,
lodging at Zndian towns on their way, and brought back some
beaver and “hemp, which grows there in great abundance, and is
much better than the Engliſh,” and “ſome black lead, whereof the
Andians told him there was a whole rock.” The “Blessing of the
Bay ” had been sent southward to trade, visited Zong Zsland, the
mouth of the Connecticut River, and the ZXutch plantation on Hud.
son's A'iver, called Mew Metherlands, where they had “ſhowed the
1. At first called Mezwtown. 2. Again in November 1634, the Pequots “offered us all their
Fight at Connecticut, and to further us what they could, if we would ſettle a plantation there.”
Winthrop, i. 148. 3. Note, Winthroß, i. 104.
36 A Western Fever Rages. [1635
Governour (called Gwalter Van Twilly) their comiffion, which was
to ſignify to them, that the King of England had granted the river
and country of Connecticut to his own ſubjects; and therefore deſired
them to forbear to build there.””
From the reports of these visits, and the intelligence that came
from time to time of the great fertility of the since famed “Con-
necticut Valley,” arose the desire of many of the Colonists to
remove thither. We have already noted the effect this Western
fever had upon the people of Newtown. The infection spread and
soon many in Dorchester, Roxbury, and Watertown were burning
with the desire to “go West.” Among them were Ludlow at Dor-
chester, and Pynchon, one of the Assistants at Roxbury. The
grant of lands to Newtown, above referred to, allayed the fever
there for a time, but at the annual Court held May 6, 1635, “there
is liberty granted to the inhabitants of Watertown,” and Roxbury
also, “to remove themſelves to any place they ſhall think meet to
make choice of, provided they continue ſtill under this govern-
ment.” In August Governor Bradford wrote to Winthrop, com-
plaining that men from Dorchester had set down at Connecticut
near the Plymouth trading-house there, interfering with their rights
purchased from the Indians; and Winthrop says “the Dutch ſent
home to Holland for commiſſion to deal with our people at Con-
necticut.” Tradition also says that some explorers from Watertown
had established themselves where Weathersfield afterward grew up.
As John Oldham was a resident of Watertown, doubtless some of
his neighbors had been moved, by his accounts of the advantages
offered at Connecticut, to try their fortunes there — and they “took
the opportunity of seizing a broad piece of meadow upon which
their neighbors of Newtown had already fixed their eyes with the
intention of occupying — “and there was a precious broil both
there and here over the possession of the place.””
As early as 1624, we find John Oldham figuring prominently,
though not very creditably, at Plymouth. He arrived in the Ann
1. Probably to give this warning was the main object of the Blessing's voyage. 2. Colby's
MSS. Notes.
STONY BROOK.
stony BROOK.


1624] Oldham and Zyford at PAVmouth. 37
Vº
in August, 1623, and was well received ; a few months later John
Lyford, “the minister,” arrived and was welcomed with special
favor and a more liberal support than had been allowed any one
else. “In ſome ſhort time,” says Nathaniel Morton,” “he fell into
acquaintance with Mr. John Oldham, who was a co-partner with
him in his after courſes; not long after both Oldham and he grew
very perverſe, and ſhowed a ſpirit of great malignity, drawing as
many into a faction as they could ; were they never ſo vile or pro-
phane, they did nouriſh and abet them in all their doings, ſo they
would but cleave to them, and ſpeak againſt the church.” “Old-
Aam being called to watch (according to order) and refuseth to
come, fell out with the captain, called him Raſcall and beggarly
Raſcall, and reſiſted him, and drew his knife at him, though he
offered him no wrong, nor gave him any ill terms, but with all fair-
neſs required him to do his duty; the Governour hearing the tumult,
ſent to quiet it; but he ranted with great fury and called them all
Traitors; but being committed to priſon, after a while he came to
himſelf, and with ſome ſlight puniſhment was let go upon his behav-
iour for further cenſure.” Upon the sailing of the Charity for
England in July, 1624, Governor Bradford followed her a few miles
to sea and procured copies of letters which both Lyford and Old-
ham had written, full of complaints and disaffection. After a more
open act of insubordination in setting up a separate public meeting
on the Lord's day, a General Court was summoned and they were
tried, their letters being produced in evidence against them, where-
upon “Oldham began to be furious, and to rage becauſe they had
intercepted their letters,” and provoked the people to mutiny on
the spot. They were both convicted and sentenced to banishment
from the colony. Lyford played the penitent so well that his sen-
tence was remitted, and he was restored to the ministry. Oldham
went to Mantasket, whence he returned the next Spring and again
abused the authorities, whereupon a second sentence of banishment
“was performed after a ſolemn invention in this manner: A lane of
1. New England’s Memorial, p. 73, 74.
38 Oldham a Freeman of Watertown. [1631
muſketiers was made, and hee compelled in ſcorne to paſſe along be-
tweene, and to receave" a blow “be every muſketier,” with the advice
to go and “mend his manners,” “and then aboard a ſhallop, and
ſo convayed to We/agu/cus ſhoare, and ſtaid at Maſſachuſetts,” trad-
ing at Mantasket. -
Not long after, being upon a vessel that was wrecked on Cape
Cod in a violent storm, he was brought to honest penitence for his
sins and misdemeanors, and changed his manner of life in after
years. In June, 1628, he had become reconciled with the Plymouth
people, and was by them sent to England as custodian of Thomas
Morton, the riotous leader of Wollaston's Merry-Mount rabble. It
was in this visit to the mother country that he obtained of John
Gorges,' for himself and John Dorrell, a tract of land which em-
braced most of the territory of the present Cities of Charlestown,
Cambridge, Somerville, and probably a small part of Watertown.”
We find him again at Nantasket on the arrival of Winthrop's colony,
in 1630, and it was for the purpose of anticipating him in taking
possession of Massachusetts Bay that the small company was sent
from Salem to Mishawum in the summer of 1629 by Endicott,
under orders from his company, which had been unsuccessful in
making negotiations with Oldham, who asserted his claim under the
patent of Robert Gorges.”
He was admitted freeman May, 18, 1631 ; he must have removed
to Watertown soon after its settlement, as May 8, 1632, he was one
of the two persons chosen to confer about a public stock; he had
a house near the Wear burnt in August of the same year ; and on
April 1, 1634, the Court granted him a farm of 5oo acres between
Stony Brook and Waltham Plain, in which Mount Feake was in-
cluded, which was long known as the “Oldham Farm.” After his
death the General Court ordered the land “to be laid out for Mat-
thew Cradock,” of London, to whom Oldham was indebted. This
farm then passed into the hands successively of Simon Bradstul, of
1. Younger brother and heir of Robert Gorges. 2. Extending from Charles River to Abou-
sett [Saugus] River, and from the border of the bay at the mouth of Charles River, 5 miles into
the country, and from the mouth of Abousett River, 3 miles into the country. 3. Palfrey.
1634] “Oldham Farm,” First Grant in Waltham. 39
Ipswich, Thomas Mayhew, of Watertown, and Richard Dummer, of
Newbury. The latter, and his wife Frances, sold the N. E. half
(250 A.) of the farm to Richard Gale. December 24, 1684, Jeremie
Dummer, goldsmith of Boston (son of Richard), and Anna his wife,
sold the other, West or S. W. half to Robert Harrington for £90."
It is described as bounded W. by Joseph Garfield ; N. by Richard
Cutting, Widow Sarah Fiske, and said Garfield; E. by Abraham
Gale and John Gale ; S. by Charles River.
This grant, by the General Court, was made to Oldham before
the western boundary of Watertown was determined, and before any
grants had been made by the Freemen of the town, except the
“Small lots '' at the Eastern end.
October 15, 1635, a party of about sixty men, women and children
set out for the Connecticut settlements, driving their cattle with
them. They had a long and difficult journey. November 26,
twelve of their number reached Boston after a ten days’ march,
and the Ioth of December the ship Rebecka brought back seventy
more men and women who had wandered down to the mouth of the
river in search of the vessels that were to bring them supplies.
October 6, young John Winthrop arrived, commissioned to settle,
hold, and govern for one year, the territory of Lords Say, Sele, and
Brooke, and others, patentees of Connecticut. He had men, ammu-
nition, and money at his command, and having a small fort at Say-
brook, drove off a Dutch vessel sent to defend the Dutch claim to
the river. The winter's severity bore heavily upon the emigrants
to the new settlements. Many returned, and the Dorchester men
alone lost some 4, 2000 worth of cattle.
The Colonists were increased by 3000 immigrants,” including
eleven ministers, in 1635. In June 1636, the Newtown congregation,
having sold their immovable property to some of the new comers,
emigrated to the number of one hundred, under the leadership of
Revs. Hooker and Stone, driving a herd of one hundred and sixty
cattle, which supplied them with milk by the way. They were a
Bond. 2. “So as like an hive of bees overſtocked, there was a neceſſity that ſome ſhould
t.” — Hubbara.
4O “Towne in Danger to be ruinated.” [1636
fortnight on their journey, and settled on the right bank of the Con-
necticut, just north of the Dutch stockade, naming their settlement
at first Mewtown, afterwards Hartford. During the summer the
smaller settlements above and below were increased by the emi-
gration of the church of Dorchester and some from Watertown.
Pynchon, and seven others from Roxbury selected a site higher up
the river afterwards called Springfield. August 30th the Freemen
of Watertown agreed, “ (in conſideration there be too many inhab-
itants in the Zowne, and the Zowne thereby in danger to be ruin-
ated)," that no forrainer comming into the Zozºne, or any family
arifing among ourſelves, ſhall have any benefit either of Common-
age or Land undivided, but what they ſhall purchaſe, except they
buy a man's right wholly in the Towne.”
The Pequot Indians, the most formidable and treacherous tribe in
New England, had three years before murdered two traders, Stone
and Norton, and their crew, in the Connecticut River, and had made
false excuses and promises when called to account for it. July 20,
1636, one John Gallup, a Massachusetts fisherman, sailing in his
bark of twenty tons, with a crew of one man and two little boys,
from Connecticut to Long Island, was blown out of his course into
the neighborhood of Block /sland, when he noticed the pinnace of our
Indian trader, John Oldham, filled with Indians, and saw a canoe put
off from it. Suspecting that they had killed Oldham, despite their
great superiority in numbers he prepared to attack them. “Hav-
ing but two pieces and two piſtols, and nothing but buck ſhot,” he
bore down upon them and kept up such a galling fire “as they all
gate under hatches.” Then standing off again, “and returning
with a good gale, he ſtemmed her upon the quarter and almoſt
overſet her, which ſo frightened the Indians, as ſix of them leaped
overboard and were drowned.” Again he repeated this manoeuvre
and four more leaped overboard; but four were now left, and
boarding the pinnace two of them surrendered, he bound them
both, put one in the hold and threw the other overboard. The
other two he could not get at. “Looking about, they found John
1. A fear they probably were not troubled with many years.
DEVIL'S DEN, STONY BROOK.
THE HERMITAGE PROSPECT HILL.


1636] Death of John Oldham. 4 I
Oldham under an old ſeine, ſtark naked, his head cleft to the brains,
and his hands and legs cut as if they had been cutting them off,
and yet warm. So they put him into the ſea.” Stripping the boat
of goods and sails they took it in tow, but night coming on, and
the wind rising, they had “to turn her off, and the wind carried her
to the Narraganſett ſhore.” Such was the sad fate of the enterpris-
ing trader who owned a large portion of the Town of WALTHAM,
the first and largest grant made within the limits of the town.
When the news reached Boston great uneasiness was felt lest the
Marragansetts would be induced to join the Pequois in general hos-
tilities. It was decided by the authorities to avenge the death of
Oldham with expedition, and August 25th, John Endicott, as Gen-
eral, with ninety volunteers, “ diſtributed to four Commanders, –
Captain John Underhill," Captain Nathaniel Turner,” Enſign Jeni-
ſon,” and Enſign Davenport* . . . embarked in three pinnaces, and
carried two ſhallops and two Indians with them.” They had
orders to kill the men of Block Island, and bring away the women

1. “A sort of Friar Tuck, - devotee, bravo, libertine, and buffoon in equal parts, – Underhill
takes a memorable place among the characters who from time to time break what is altogether
too easily assumed to have been the dead level of New England gravity in those days. He had
been a soldier in Irelazed, in Spain, and more recently in the Metherlands, where he “had spoken
freely to Count Nassau.” He was brought over by Winthrop to train the people in military exer-
cises, and was one of the Deputies from Boston in the first General Court.” Palfrey. In his
Mewes frozn America he has written an account of this expedition, and of the more important one
which followed. 2. Was Representative from Sagus or Lynne in the first six General Courts. In
January 1636–7, his “houſe in Sagus took fire by an oven about midnight, and was burnt down, with
all that was in it ſave the
tº {\ © A &
perſons. 3. Wm. Jenison
of Watertown. “An able 227) 2^ 7
man who had been there from
the beginning.” He had for-
merly lived in Bermuda. He
was member of the Artillery Company, 1637; Captain of the Train Band, 1638; Selectman, 1635
to '42, and '44, and was Representative, 1637 to '42, and '45. About 1645 he sold his homestead
of 50 acres on the North side of Mt. Auburn St., between Common and School Sts., to Rev. John
Knowles, returned to England and lived many years. - Bond. He received 60 acres in the third
“Great Dividend,” to acres in the “Hither Plain,” next to the River, and 160 acres in the
“Farms.” 4. Richard Davenport, of Salem, against whom an attachment was issued to appear
and answer for Endicott's mutilation of the King's colors. He named a daughter, born soon after,
Truecross. He was afterwards for several years Commander at Castle Island, in Boston Harbor,
where he was killed by lightning in July, 1665.
42 The Pequots Harass the Settlers. [1636
and children. Then to demand of the Pequots “the murderers of
Captain Stone and other Engliſh, and one thouſand fathoms of
wampum for damages,” and hostages. If refused, to take them by
force.
The Pequots parleyed awhile, then discharged their arrows and
fled. Endicott landed his force, killed thirteen and wounded forty,
burned some wigwams and canoes, collected a quantity of corn, and
returned to Boston without loss, September 14th. The next Court
granted to “George Munnings, in regard of the loſs of his eye
in the voyage to Block Island,” 48. The whole cost of the voyage
came to about £200.
The Pequots instead of being intimidated were enraged, and
strenuously solicited the Narragansetts to make an alliance to exter-
minate the English, which the hostility of the latter to their old
enemies, and the earnest endeavors of Roger Williams, who visited
their settlements at the risk of his life, fortunately prevented. The
Pequots now began to harass the Connecticut settlers, torturing
and killing those they could lay hands on. They burned the hay
near the fort and killed the cattle. Finally a band of one hundred
attacked Weathersfield, “killed seven men, a woman, and a child,
and carried away two girls. They had now put to death no less
than thirty of the English.” There were two hundred and fifty
men in the Connecticut towns and the Pequots had a thousand
men. The safety of all New England depended on prompt, vig-
orous and effective action. Victory or extermination was the only
alternative. With true English spirit, disregarding the fearful odds
of numbers against them, Massachusetts ordered a levy of one
hundred and sixty men, and six hundred pounds. Plymouth
ordered a levy of forty men. Connecticut raised ninety men at
once, — Hartford furnishing forty-two, Windsor thirty, and Weath-
ersfield eighteen, – who were placed under the command of Cap-
r. One of the earliest proprietors of Watertown; admitted Freeman March 14, 1634-5. No-
vember 27, 1639, he was allotted a farm of 73 acres; was grantee of 8 lots, and purchased 4 others
before 1644. In September 1641, he was appointed to “looke to the Meeting-houſe, and to be free
from Rates,” and in December “to ſearch and ſeal leather.”
1637] Capture of the Pequot Stronghold. 43
tain John Mason." May 10, 1637, Mason, with all his levy, and
seventy friendly Indians under the command of Uncas, a Mohegan
chief, taking the Rev. Mr. Stone as chaplain, left Hartford in three
small vessels. Reaching the fort at the river's mouth he was there
joined by Captain Underhill, who with twenty men had arrived
from Massachusetts. He sent back twenty of his own men to
protect the settlements.
Mason's military skill made him averse to attacking the enemy,
as he was expressly ordered to do, on their western frontier, where
he would be expected, and after prayerful consideration over night
the council of war was unanimous in favor of making the attack,
through the Narragansett country, in their rear. They arrived
near the entrance to Marragansett Bay, Saturday evening, May
2 oth. A storm following the Sabbath, they did not disembark till
Tuesday evening. Wednesday, with “seventy-seven brave English-
men (the rest being left in charge of the vessels), sixty frightened
Mohegans, and four hundred more terrified Myantics and AWarra-
gansetts,” supplied by a friendly sachem of the latter tribe, he
began his march towards the Pequot country. Thursday night
they reached the foot of the hill where stood the stronghold of the
Pequots ; their approach was unperceived and unsuspected; the
fort was a circular palisade with two entrances at opposite sides;
their allies terrified had fallen to the rear, or fled; two hours before
daybreak, having united in prayer before breaking camp, the attack
was made, Mason, with sixteen men, forcing an entrance on one
side, and Underhill upon the other; the wigwams were fired, and in
an hour the victory was complete. The Pequots reported their loss
at four hundred; other accounts put it at seven hundred. Those
who escaped the English perished at the hands of their Indian
allies outside the enclosure. The English had two men killed and
more than one-fourth of their number wounded. With his wounded
1. One of the Freemen at Dorchester. In December, 1632, he went on an expedition with John
Gallup after a pirate named Bull, for which service he received 4, Io. He was a member of the
Committee to establish fortifications at Boston, Charlestown, Dorchester, and Castle Island. Re-
moved with Ludlow's company from Dorchester to Windsor. He wrote a History of the Pequot
War.
44 Extinction of the Pequot Wation. [1637
to carry, food and ammunition exhausted," and three hundred fu-
rious Pequots from another fort harassing his progress, Mason
reached Pequof Harbor just as his vessels were coming to anchor
within it, with reinforcements from Massachusetts, under Captain
Patrick.” He dispatched most of his force at once to protect the
towns, sent the wounded back in the vessels, and marched with the
remainder to the fort at the river’s mouth, where all were disbanded.
The remnant of the Pequots decided to join the Mohawks on the
Hudson, but murdering some more English on the way, Mason,
with forty men, and one hundred and twenty from Massachusetts,
under Israel Stoughton,” pursued and overtook them near where
AVew Haven now stands, and completed the extinction of the
Pequot nation, “the survivors being merged, under English media-
tion, in the AWarragansett, Mohegan, and A'yantic tribes. And from
savage violence the land had rest forty years.”
There is nothing in the records to show the location of the first
Church built in Watertown, but it was doubtless East of Mount Au-
burn, in the principle settlement called “the town,” near the home-
stead of Sir Richard Saltonstall, in the part of the town now
belonging to Cambridge. The next house of worship was built
1. “Our commons were very ſhort, there being a general ſcarcity throughout the Colony of all
sorts of proviſions. . . . We had but one pint of ſtrong liquors among us in our whole march, but
what the wilderneſs afforded (the bottle of liquor being in my hand, and when it was empty, the
very ſmelling to the bottle would preſently recover ſuch as fainted away, which happened by the
extremity of the heat).”— Mason. z. “This captain was entertained by us out of Holland
(where he was a common ſoldier of the Prince’s guard) to exerciſe our men. We made him a
captain, and maintained him. After, he was admitted a member of the church at Watertown and
a freeman. But he grew very proud and vicious,” despised his wife and “followed after other
women.” Went to the Dutch and joined their church, “without being diſmiſſed from Watertown.”
Was shot dead, in 1643, by a Dutchman, in the house of Captain Underhill, at Stamford, on the
Lord's day. — Winthrop. He was allotted, February 28, 1636–7, fourteen acres in the Hither
Plain, which he sold to S. Eire. 3. One of the Deputies; in March, 1634, disabled from holding
office for three years for publishing a book “affirming that the Aſſiſtants were not magiſtrates,”
which he himself requested the Court to burn “as being weak and offenſive.” In December, 1636,
he was again a Deputy, and was chosen an Assistant the next Spring. He had liberty granted him
“to build a mill, a wear, and bridge over Neponſet River, and is to ſell the alewives he takes there
at five ſhillings the thousand.” He went to England, became a Lieutenant Colonel in the Parlia-
ment’s service, and died during the Civil War. He was father of William Stoughton, Chief Justice
in the trial of the witches, and a liberal benefactor of Harvard College. His name was given to
Stoughton Hall. 4. Palfrey.
OLD “WIDow COOLIDGE TAVERN.” WATERTOWN.
“THE OLD (PHILLIPS) PARSONAGE,” 1641.


1635] Location of Church and Parsonage. 45
in 1635, above Mt. Auburn, opposite the old graveyard, on the
Meeting-house Common, in the N. E. corner of Mt. Auburn and
Grove Sts., then doubtless the most central or convenient point.
August 7, 1635, the Freemen “Agreed, that the charges of the new
meeting-house being a Rate of 80 lbs. ſhalbe levied as other gen-
erall levies for the Country.” The old burying-ground, one of the
oldest in New England, was ordered to be fenced “with a five-foot
pale and 2 railes, well nailed ” on July 5, 1642. For more than
seventy years it was the only one in the whole town. It should be
most sacredly guarded and preserved, for within its enclosure rests
the dust of men whose descendants, like their principles, have
spread over the whole land.
It has been conjectured by Mr. Bond that the residence of Rev.
George Phillips and the first meeting-house were just east of Mt.
Auburn on the lot in the fork of Mt. Auburn and Brattle Sts.
“There is a tradition,” says Dr. Francis in 1830, “that he lived in
the house now occupied by Mr. Daniel Sawin, opposite the burying-
ground.” This house is still standing, now unoccupied, and its old
brass knocker awakens but empty echoes from walls that keep faith-
fully the secrets of two and one half centuries; we give a view of
it as it now appears. Mr. Bond also brings arguments to show
that Mr. Phillips lived upon his homestall, at the corner of Orchard
and Lexington Sts. As he was pastor of the Church for fourteen
years, and the town rapidly changed its center of population west-
ward during that period, there is nothing unreasonable in suppos-
ing that he may have resided at each of the three points at succes-
sive periods.
This Church was the only one in the town for sixty-six years,
and Mr. Phillips was its sole pastor till 1640. In 1634, the Rev.
John Sherman, who received “his first impressions of religion
under the ministry of the famous John Rogers,” came to New Eng-
land, and preached his first sermon in the open air on a day of
public thanksgiving, with such ability that several clergymen pres-
ent, “wondered exceedingly to hear a ſubject ſo accurately and
excellently handled by one, who had never before performed any
46 An Associate Pastor Ordained. [1640
ſuch public office.” He assisted Mr. Phillips for a few weeks, and
soon after, (May 29, 1635), was dismissed from the Watertown
Church, and removed to Weathersfield, where he resided about five
years, when he removed to Milford, Connecticut, to which Church
he was admitted, November 8, 1640. December 9, 1640, the Church,
with characteristic independence, ordained the Rev. John Knowles,"
“a godly man and a prime scholar,” as associate pastor with Mr.
Phillips, differing from the practice of the other Churches in not
having a teacher, and in not giving notice of their proceedings to
the neighboring Churches, nor to the magiſtrates, as the common
practice was then.
In 1642, there came an earnest appeal from Virginia for a supply
of ſaithful ministers, and Mr. Phillips and two others “who might
moſt likely be ſpared ” were designated by the elders in council
with the approval of the General Court. Mr. Phillips declined to
go and Mr. Knowles went in October; but being silenced by the
State as a non-comformist, he returned in June of the next year,
and resumed his labors.
In December, 1643, Mr. Thomas Mahew,” of Watertown, sent his
son Thomas, a young man twenty-two or twenty-three years of age,
and several other persons, to begin a plantation at Martin’s [Mar-
tha's] Vineyard, beyond Cape Cod, which, together with Nantucket
and the Elizabeth Isles, he had bought, in 1641, of James Forrett,
agent for Lord Stirling, who had received a grant for “Long Island
and the adjacent islands” from the Council for New England, in
1635. They settled at Edgarton, and invited Mr. Henry Green,”
1. “With courage bold and arguments of ſtrength,
Knowles doth apply God's word his flock unto,
Chriſt furniſht hath (to ſhow his bountye's length)
Thee with rich gifts, that thou his work mayſt do.” –
Wonder Working Prozidence, Chap. xv.
2. “The elder Mayhew came from Southampton, in England, and was admitted a Freeman.
May 14, 1634, being then 41 or 42 years old. He established himself in Martha’s Vineyard in 1644.”
Paſ/rey. During his residence in Watertown he purchased the “Old Mill” of Governor Cra-
dock, was granted the 150 acres belonging to the mill, [See p. 21), owned shares in the wear, and
was at one time proprietor of the “Oldham Farm.” He represented Watertown as a Deputy in
the General Court in 1636, and for some years after. 3. Mr. Henry Green, first minister of
Reading, died after a pastorate of only two and one-half years. Mather wrote of him: –
“On earth’s bed thou at noon haſt laid thy head.”
[1644 Death of Rev. George Phillips. 47
“a scholar,” to be their pastor, but “he went not,” and Thomas
Mahew, Jr., was ordained their pastor, and “found himself pres-
ently employed in missionary work” among the natives who sur-
rounded them, and whose deplorable condition attracted the
benevolent attention of these godly settlers. Their Christian
labors were not in vain, and in 1650 he writes: “There are now,
by the grace of God, thirty-nine Indian men of this meeting.”
Others of the town “began alſo a plantation at AVa/haway,” ſome
15 miles N.W. from Sudbury,” and many of other towns joined
them ; but they made such slow progress “as that in two years
they had not three houſes built there, and he whom “they had called
to be their miniſter left them for their delays.” Among the peti-
tioners for the plantation at Mashaway was Stephen Day, who first
introduced printing in New England, having established a printing
office at Cambridge, in March, 1638, where “the firſt thing which
was printed was the Freemen’s oath; the next an almanac made
for AVew England, by Mr. William Peirce, mariner, and the next
the Pſalms newly turned into metre.”
On July 1, 1644, the Church and Colony met with a great loss
in the death of Rev. George Phillips, “one of their best and most
venerable men.” Much has been written in his praise. His
Church showed their respect for his memory by providing for the
education of his eldest son Samuel. The records show that he had
liberal grants of land, among which was one of forty acres of the
Beaver Brook plowlands, lying east of the Driftway (now Gore
Street), sold about 1650 by his heirs to Edward Garfield; it is
1. The missionary labors of young Mayhew among the Indians at Martha's Vineyard antedate
those of the AAEostle John Eliot, whose first essay in preaching to the Indians was made in a
hut near the falls of Charles River, opposite Watertown or Waltham, October 28, 1646.
2. October 16, 1651, he writes: “Through the mercy of God, there are 199 men, women and
children, that have professed themselves to be worshippers of the great and ever-living God.” In
the next year, October 22, 1652, the number of his converts had increased to 283 Indians “not
counting young children.” The prospect which he had opened was clouded by his premature death.
A vessel in which he had embarked for England with some of his converts was never heard of after-
wards. “Old Mr. Mahew, his worthy father, struck in with his best strength and skill; (Gookin
Mass. Hist. Coll. i. 203) and the loss which seemed ‘almost irreparable’ was not permitted by the
aged mourner to be complete and fatal.” – Palfrey, ii. 340. 3. Lancaster. 4. One Mr. Nor-
cross, “an univerſity ſcholar.”
48 A'ev. John Sherman Pastor. I6 so
described in the Inventory of the latter, in 1672, as “on the Little
Plain, near Sudbury Road,” and was apprized at £60. In later
times the elegant mansion of Governor Christopher Gore was
erected upon it, which, with its extensive grounds, shaded by fine
old trees, and its spacious park, has been preserved, and remains
to-day as a monument of the wealth and taste of its builder. It is
now the residence of Theophilus W. Walker, Esq.
After the death of Mr. Phillips, Rev. John Knowles was the sole
pastor till near the close of 1647, when Rev. John Sherman
returned" from Milford, and became his colleague, though called at
the same time both to Boston and to London, About 1650 Mr.
Knowles returned to England, where he labored zealously though
much persecuted ; he remained in London during the plague, in
1665, doing great good ; he died April Io, 1685 “at a very ad-
vanced age.” -
Mr. Sherman held the position of pastor until his death; nearly
38 years. In November, 1680, the Freemen voted “in regard of the
bodily weakneſs that is upon paſtor Sherman, that he ſtands in
need of a helper to carry on the work of the miniſtry,” but no one
was procured. In November, 1684, it was agreed to employ one of
three persons named, and as money was afterwards appropriated
to meet expenses for assistance, probably he had a colleague for a
few months preceding his decease. He died August 8, 1685, aged
nearly seventy-two years,
His ability was of the highest order, and he was a profound
student. He was skilled in philology, and in mathematics and
astronomy had no superior in this country at that time. Pos-
sessed “of a rich and fervid imagination ” and “an unaffected and
impressive loftiness of style, he was commonly called the golden-
1. He was dismissed ſrom Milford Church, November 8, 1647. His residence is supposed to
have been on the north side of Belmont Street,
Á /. east of Grove Street, where land belonging to
171 S 1ſ ? /r? & him nearly surrounded a pond in that locality.
* Ž1, The town granted him the use of 20 acres of the
meeting-house common opposite to cut his fire-
wood from.
DEER PARK ON GORE ESTATE-
THE GOV. GORE MANSION.


1686] A'ev. John Bailey Installed. 49
mouthed preacher.’” He was chosen fellow of the Corporation
of Harvard College. For thirty years he gave fortnightly lectures,
which were attended by most of the students, who walked from
Cambridge to Watertown to hear him.
Rev. John Bailey was installed Mr. Sherman's successor, Octo-
ber 6, 1686, being “ſet apart for the paſtoral work at Watertown,
without the impoſition of hands.” He was a young man of some
energy, and had been imprisoned in England for preaching con-
trary to law. His accession proved a great attraction to the
people of his scattered parish, who flocked to the communion in
such numbers that the neighborhood could not supply elements
enough. At his installation there were no ministers present."
September 27, 1687, it was “voted to fetch up Rev. Thomas Bailey
[brother of the pastor], at the charge of the town,” and, Novem-
ber 7th, it was voted that “Rev. Thomas Bailey’s 4,60 ſhall begin
the ſame day he came to dwell among us, 2 Nov. 1687, with houſe-
room and firing.”
The labors of the Baileys were comparatively of short duration.
Thomas died January 21, 1688–9, aged 35 years; the wife of his
brother in April, 1690.” The health of John was feeble, and these
bereavements so wore upon him that he was unable to perform his
duties. “Then, being very melancholy and having the gout, he
moved to Boſton about the year 1693,” where he died December 12,
1697. The earliest book of Church records in the town was kept by
him, beginning in 1686, and ending in 1692, during which time he
records 39 marriages, 361 baptisms, and II.7 persons admitted to
the Church.
In connection with the installation of Rev. John Bailey an acci-
dent happened which resulted in the death of the oldest surviving
officer of the Church, Deacon Henry Bright, Junior, at the age of
84 years. Judge Sewall, in his Diary, records his death as fol-
lows:– “Oct. 6, 1686, Mr. Bailey is ordained at Watertown. Oct.
7, Thurſday, Deacon Bright, carrying home chairs, etc., uſed at
1. Colby's Wotes. 2. They were both buried in the “Old Burying Ground,” where two hori-
zontal slabs bear quaint epitaphs to their memory.
7
50 AEarliest Divisions of Territory. [1635
Mr. Bailey's, is hurt by his cart, none ſeeing, ſo that he dies Oct.
9, Saturday.” “It ſeems he was y” only officer left in that church.
Several of his ribs broken.”
Deacon Bright lived opposite the present “Alvin Adams place.”
His property descended to his son and grandson, and then passed
into other hands. The Hurd Cottage was afterwards built where
his place was. He was a grantee in the North range of lots
in the Hither Plain, and inherited from his father and father-in-law,
Henry Goldstone, a considerable amount of land in Waltham and
Weston.
In digging for the foundations of the new Post Office in Boston,
on Milk Street, there was found the grave-stone of Joshua Hewes.
Hewes and Deacon Bright married sisters; the former Mary, the
latter Anne Goldstone, daughters of Henry and Anne Goldstone
of Wickham Skeith, County Suffolk, England, who came to Water-
town in 1634, when the daughters were respectively 15 and 18 years
of age. Deacon Bright was married probably in the latter part of
the year 1634.
October 14, 1690, the town voted “to treat with Mr. Henry
Gibbs’ to assist in carrying on the work of the ministry amongst
them, and to give him £40, and November 3d, it was voted that
his salary “begin this day.” After the removal of Rev. John
Bailey to Boston Mr. Gibbs was “the only clergyman in the town,
and was engaged from time to time, but not ordained.” Whether
the preaching of Mr. Gibbs proved less attractive than that of Mr.
Bailey, or other causes were at work, certain it is that from this
time differences arose in the Church that gave rise to much bitter
feeling, and led finally to an unfortunate division, the effects of
which have been felt even to the present day.
The territory of the original town of Watertown was so extensive
that its several parts were very early known by distinct and pecul-
iar names. The Eastern portion was called the Small Zots, so
named because it included all the homestalls and home-lots scat-
tered over nearly the whole of the present territory of Watertown.
In this district were also included the Meeting-house Common, Pe-
quussef Common (afterwards called King's), and Peguusset Meadow.
I635] A'eservation for a 7 ownship. 5 I
Beginning at the Small Lots and lying next to the Cambridge line
on the North were The Great Dividends, four tracts of land run-
ning westward, each 160 rods in breadth ; these divisions were
sometimes called Squadrons and the dividing lines Squadron lines.
Between these Great Dividends and the Charles River was the
third portion, called the Beaver Brook Plozerlands, partly meadow
and partly upland. The Plowlands began “next the ſmall lots
beyond the wear,” and comprised the land east of Beaver Brook,
known as the “lots in the Hither Plain,” or Zittle Plain, and that
west of Beaver Brook, called “the lots in the Further Plain,” or
the Great Alain (and later Waltham Plain). Between the Hither
Alain and the Smal/ Zois ran the Driftway, the present Gore
Streef.
The Remote or West Pine Meadows were probably in the south-
ern or southeastern parts of Weston.
The Zieu of Zozenship Zois, or lots beyond the Further Plain
were west of Waltham Plain, south of the Great Dividends and
extended beyond Stony Brook.
The Farms or Farm Zands, now Weston, included what remained
as far as the Sudbury and Dedham bounds.
These names, applied in general terms to divisions of the ter-
ritory of the original town, are used in the early grants to the
Freemen; the names of the grantees and the number of acres
allotted to each, are given by Bond, in the first Appendix to his
Aſistory of Waterfozem.
The westward growth of the town, already alluded to, was so
early manifest to the Freemen that July 30, 1635, they agreed “that
Two Hundred Acres of upland nere to the Mill ſhall be reſerved
as moſt convenient to make a Towneship.” This reservation was
probably in the western part of Watertown, three miles from the
first settlement, and more than two miles from the new meeting-
house and the burying-ground. August 14th a committee was
named to “lay out all the Highwaies, & to ſee that they be ſuffi-
ciently repaired.” The spirit of this order has been so well
observed, even to the present day, that Waltham roads are held
52 Waltham Zazza's Graceted. [1638
to be the model roads of the Commonwealth." The same month
a fine of 20s. was voted a penalty for every tree cut down upon the
common without order. In 1637, it was also ordered “that who-
soever ſhall take any wood of the 40 Acres of ground granted to
the meeting-house without leave, ſhall pay for every cart load Ios.,
and for every man’s burthen Is.”* This vote of April 23, 1638,
explains itself: — “Ordered, that thoſe Freemen of the Congrega-
tion ſhall build and dwell upon their Lotts at y” Towne Plott, and
not to alienate them by ſelling or exchanging them to any forrainer,
but to Freemen of the Congregation, it being our real intent to
fitt down there cloſe togither, and therefore these Lotts were
granted to thoſe Freemen y' inhabited moſt remote from yº meet-
ing-house, and dwell moſt ſcattered;” but a later note states,
“For want of a Penalty ſet, this order of no force.” The same
date an order was passed relative to the “meaſuring out the remote
meddows” (probably in Weston). July 17, 1638, there was a grant
of Waltham lands in the order “y” all thoſe Freemen y' have no
Lotts at y” Towneſhip ſhall have 12 Acre Lotts beyond Bever
Plaine and all other townesmen shall have six Acre Lotts in y” said
Plaine.” December 10, 1638, three orders of general interest were
passed ; one confirming “the Highway to y” little Plaine beyond
the Mill,” another ordering “that y” Highway leading to Concord
ſhalbe 6 rods broad,” and a third “y” whoſoever ſhall kill a wolfe
in yº Towne ſhall have for y” ſame 5s.” Wolves were constantly
giving trouble, and frequent bounties were offered as in this last
order. In 1647, the town sold their right in the palisade that
enclosed the “wolfe pen.” Another evidence that the inhabitants
lived “scatteringly ’’ is furnished by the order of December 31,
1639, imposing a fine of 2s. 6d. upon each Freeman absenting him-
self from any public town meeting after being duly warned to
1. In 1637 an order was passed, “that there ſhalbe 8 days appointed for every year, for the re-
pairing of the Highwaies, and every man that is a Souldier or Watchman to come at his appointed
time with a wheelbarrow, mattock, ſpade, or ſhovel, & for default here of, to pay for every day 5s.
to the towne, and a cart for every day to pay 19s.” 2. At a later date a vote was passed to mark
the shade trees by the wood-side with a W, and fining any person who should fell one of the trees
thus marked the sum of 18s.
， !
| | |
AMERICAN WATCH FACTORY, (FRONT.)

1696] A Wew Meeting-House. 53
attend ; a month later the same amount of fine was made the pen-
alty for a member of the board coming later than 9 o'clock A.M. to
a meeting of the Select-men.
It is not surprising that with the amount of arable land at their
command the settlers scattered upon farms and gave up the idea
of all living upon the town plot. The land in the Great Dividends
was allotted “to the Freemen and to all the Townſmen then inhab-
iting, being 120 in number,” July 25, 1636. In September the
|Beaver Brook Plowlands were allotted to I of Townsmen. These
two grants appear to have covered the bulk of the land enclosed in
the present limits of Waltham. By the later grants of the Remote
Meadows, June 26, 1637, the Lieu of Township Lots (beyond the
Further Plain), July 17, 1638, and The Farms, October 14, 1638,
the territory, now Weston, was distributed.
The Westward growth of the town, particularly the taking up of
the farm lands (in Weston), removed the farmers so far from the
meeting-house that it was inconvenient for them to attend service
there, and a considerable number of them united with the Church
in Sudbury, which was much nearer to them. In 1692, a town
meeting was held to decide upon a site for a new meeting-house;
but the Freemen were too much divided in sentiment to come to
an agreement. The Select-men applied to the Governor and Coun-
cil to appoint a committee to decide the points in dispute. This
committee presented a report April 17, 1694, advising that a new
meeting-house be erected “on a knowl of ground lying between the
houſe of the Widow Sterns and Whitney's hill, to be the place of
meeting to worship God, for the whole town.” In spite of vehe-
ment opposition and an earnest protest signed by eighty-two resi-
dents of the Eastern and thirty-three residents of the Western
portions of the town, the report was accepted, and March 7, 1694–5,
a levy was made for building a new meeting-house, on the south-
east angle of the crossing of Orchard and Lexington Streets, near
“Commodore's Corner.” It was accepted by a vote of the town,
February 4, 1696, and also adopted as “the place for all publick
1. To take the place of the former Church, and to be the First Church of Watertown.
54 A'ev. Samuel Angier Pastor. [1697
town meetings for the future.” On the same day, Mr. Gibbs, who
had acted as pastor for nearly six years though not ordained, de-
clined to accept the proposals of the town to officiate in the new
meeting-house, preferring to remain with the disaffected element at
the old house. He was ordained October 6, 1697, as minister of a
Church “gathered at Watertown, East End.”"
August 28, 1696, “the [First] Church chose Mr. Angier to preach,”
and September 28th, “the town concurred with the Church in call-
ing Mr. Angier to preach in the new meeting-house.” The call
was accepted, and May 25, 1697, Rev. Samuel Angier” was settled
as pastor of the Church “without reordination by imposition of
hands,” the Rev. Mr. Easterbrook of Concord, being “the mouth
and moderator of the Church in the publick management of the
whole affair.”
This dissension exerted a baleful influence for a long time, and
difficulties arose concerning the building and repairing the meeting-
houses. The salaries of both ministers, however, were paid from the
public treasury. All the efforts to adjust the differences seemed
but to confirm both parties in their own views.
Meantime the town was divided into Precincts, the Eastern, Mid-
dle, and Western ; the first extending from the Cambridge line to
Common Street, in Watertown, the Middle from this line to Stony
Brook;" and the Western, or Farmers’ Precinct, embracing the rest
of the town. In January, 1693–4, the men of the Farmers’ Pre-
cinct agreed to build for themselves a meeting-house, in considera-
1. His ordination took place “in the afternoon in the open aer, tho' a cold day. The Western
party, having the Select-men on their side, got possession of the Meeting-house, and would not
suffer the assembly to enter there.” judge Sezvall's Mss.
2. Rev. Samuel Angier was born in Cambridge, March 17, 1654, and was graduated at Har-
g vard College in 1673. He was elected and settled by a
9– U0 †— majority of the votes of the Church, at meetings regularly
(UY called by the proper officers, with due notice given at both
houses of worship, and the action of the Church was con-
curred in by the vote of the majority in the town. His society became the Church of Waltham,
succeeding in regular order the Church in Watertown established by Rev. George Phillips, Sir
Richard Saltonstall, and others.
3. Beaver Brook was made the Eastern boundary of the Farmers’ Precinct at an irregular town
meeting held October 2, 1694, but the General Court, at their May session, 1699, fixed it at Stony
Brook.
1721] First Meeting-House in Waltham. 55
tion of which the town, in 1697, exempted them from ministerial
rates. January 1, 1712–13, the Western, or Farmers’ Precinct, was
incorporated as the town of Weston. After the incorporation of
Weston the old Middle Precinct (Waltham) became the Western
Precinct. May 13, 1715, twenty years after the erection of Mr. An-
gier's church, the town voted to “build a meeting-house for the
accommodation of the inhabitants of the most westerly part of the
town.” September 6th of the same year the Eastern Congregation
petitioned to be a separate town, but the petition was not granted,
nor was a church then built in the Western Precinct.
November 19, 1720, nearly two years after the death of Mr.
Angier, the General Court appointed a committee to divide the two
precincts, to consider the expediency of removing one or both
meeting houses, and to fix the proper places for them. The Court
adopted the report of the committee December 7th, that the new, or
west meeting-house, should be removed to a rising ground within
twenty rods of Nathaniel Livermore's dwelling-house [the present
Lyman Place], or a new one be erected there within two years; that
the old, or east meeting-house, should be removed to School-house
hill, or a new one be built there within ten years. The town voted
compliance with this report. The West Precinct, at their first
meeting, in 1720, adopted measures to support preaching, and ap-
plied for the new meeting-house, in order to remove it, but owing to
some difficulties in regard to moving the building, they decided to
purchase of Newton their old meeting-house for £80, removed and
erected it on the designated spot, north of the entrance gate on
Lyman Street, and some two rods east of the wall. This was the
first church edifice erected in Waltham, about seventeen years
before the incorporation of the town.
Rev. Samuel Angier officiated in his meeting house nearly twenty-
two years. He died January 21, 1718–19, and was buried in the
old Waltham burying ground, just below Beaver Brook, on Main
Street, which was established in 1703 for the use of his parish.
His meeting-house and residence were both east of the Waltham
line, and when Waltham was incorporated a portion of his parish
56 A'ev. Warham Williams Ordained. [1723
reverted to the old Eastern First parish, as no longer belonging to
his society. .
The Rev. Mr. Angier kept the records of his Church “in a little
16mo. MSS. volume with brass clasps, bearing date of 1697.”
His first entry is as follows:– “June 20, 1697. I first baptized in
the new meeting-house in Watertown, namely, Jonathan, the son of
Jonathan Philips, and Sarah, the daughter of Joseph Whitney,
whose wives are in full communion.” The last entry in Mr.
Angier’s record — but in a different hand writing—is dated Octo-
ber 3, 1718, a few months before his decease, and reads thus : —
“Brother Joseph Mixer" and Brother Thomas Livermore” were
chosen Deacons, at a Church meeting at my mansion house, by the
brethren then and there assembled.”
The third baptism by Mr. Angier, June 27, 1697, was Patience,
Cº- 216_ . daughter of Captain
- sº /3razvºt Abraham Brown, who
- conveyed a house to
seventy or eighty persons, himself included, January 8, 1718, for a
parsonage for this society, which Mr. Angier occupied at the time
of his decease. The residence of Captain Brown remained stand-
ing, occupied by the family descendants, until within a short period.
A picture, taken from a sketch, is given in Bond's Watertown.
Rev. Warham Williams,” a graduate of Harvard College, in 1719,
was ordained June I I, I 723, as successor of Mr. Angier, and pastor


of the first Church that had its meeting-house within the limits of
Waltham.
1. Joseph Mixer was Treasurer of the West Precinct for 1721–2. He died December 10, 1723.
2. Deacon Thomas Livermore held the office for nearly forty-three years, till his death, at the age
of 86 years, May 8, 1761. He was chosen &
moderator of the first town meeting, held aſ/ !— aft -
January 18, 1737–8, and was º of J O U2 9-j</vize, 9-
the Selectmen at the same meeting. For a long time he had an important share of the municipal
business of the town. Before its incorporation he had been a Selectman of Watertown for ten years
between 1719 and 1733. He was “justly esteemed,” says his epitaph, “for his uprightness and
piety.” 3. He was the son of the Rev. John Williams, of Deerfield, Mass, and in his child-
hood was, with the rest of his father’s family, in captivity among the Indians, in Canada, for two or
three years. They were carried away by the Indians at the time of the Deerfield Massacre in 1703.
He afterwards wrote the account of that affair called “Redeemed Captize Returning to Zion.”
1642.] Prosperity of the Settlers. 57
In 1641, after the Revolution in England, when it was no longer
necessary to seek here an asylum from oppression, immigration
ceased, and the affairs of this settlement wore a most gloomy
aspect. Many who had come over became discouraged and
returned, perhaps influenced by the fact that their leader, Sir
Richard Saltonstall, who had left them ten years before, had not
come back to join his fortunes with theirs as he expected to when
he returned to the mother country.
In the spring of 1642, “Cowes and Cattel of that kind (having
continued at an exceſſive price ſo long as any came over with eſtates
to purchaſe them) fell of a ſuddain in one week from £22 the Cow
to £6, 47 or 48 the Cow at moſt.” Notwithstanding this great
depreciation of their property, the same writer goes on to say:
“There are not many Towns in the Country, but the pooreſt per-
ſon in them hath a houſe and land of his own, and bread of his
own growing, if not ſome cattel: beſide, fleſh is now no rare food,
beef, pork, and mutton being frequent in many houſes, ſo that this
poor Wilderneſs hath not onely equalized England in food, but goes
beyond it in ſome places for the great plenty of wine and ſugar,
which is ordinarily ſpent, apples, pears, and quince tarts inſtead
of their former Pumpkin Pies;" Poultry they have plenty and great
rarity, and in their feaſts have not forgotten the Engliſh faſhion of
ſtirring up their appetites with variety of cooking their food. . . . .
“Secondly, For ray-ment, our cloth hath not been cut ſhort. . . .
“Further, the Lord hath been pleaſed to turn all the wigwams,
huts, and hovels the Engliſh dwelt in at their firſt coming into
orderly, fair, and well-built houſes, well furniſhed many of them,
together with Orchards filled with goodly fruit trees, and gardens
with variety of flowers.”
In 1643 was formed the Confederation of the four Colonies of
Plymouth, Connecticut, New Haven, and Massachusetts, the com-
missioners of the last three named signing the twelve articles May
1. The “pumpkin pies,” as well as the “meal and water and salt boiled together” (see p. 18),
which necessity compelled the fathers to use, have become the favorite and time-honored dishes of
their sons. 2. Johnson's Wonder Working Providence, Chap. xxi.
8
58. Customs of the People. [1663
19th, and the government of Plymouth ratifying the same August
29th. May 1oth, the thirty towns of Massachusetts were distributed
in the four Counties of Middlesex, Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk,
each containing a regiment, the chief commander over which had
the rank of a Lieutenant, and the second in command was a Ser-
geant-Major. The “Water-Town Band was led by Capt. Jen-
ings” whose Lieutenant was Hugh Mason.” -
In 1653, the inhabitants were said to number 160 families, but
there was no village, and these were so scattered over the territory
that their Sabbath assemblies were very thin if the weather was
unfavorable. Johnson says their Church-membership was now
increased to 250, their herd of kine about 450, and their land in
tillage 1800 acres.
Describing the people of the Colony and their customs Josselyn
says in his Two Voyages, 1663, “Scolds they gag and ſet them at
their doors for certain hours, for all comers and goers by to gaze
at. . . . The groſe Goddons, or great Maſters, as alſo ſome of the
merchants are damnable rich; generally all of their judgement,
inexplicably covetous and proud, they receive your gifts but as an
homage or tribute due to their tranſcendency, which is a fault their
Clergie are alſo guilty of, whoſe living is upon the bounty of their
hearers. On Sundays in the afternoon when Sermon is ended the
people in the Galleries” come down and march two a breaſt up

1. William Jenison, whose name was sometimes written Jenings (see p. 41 n. 3). He was chosen
Ensign to Captain Patrick, August 16, 1631, which office he held until March 9, 1636–7, when he
was chosen Captain for Watertown. He and Thomas Mayhew were appointed to bring Mr. Na-
thaniel Eaton (the first principal of Harvard College), to trial for his misconduct, chiefly in relation.
of his maltreatment of Nathaniel Biscoe, Jr.,
of Watertown. — Bond. 2. Hugh Mason
left England in April, 1634, at the age of
28; admitted Freeman the next March ; - 7723. 627
was made Captain May 5, 1652; was ten
times a Representative between 1644 and 1677; Selecti,..., -, years between 1639 and 1678 inclu-
sive. In May, 1653, after Elder Richard Browne removed to Charlestown (see p. 25), he at the re-
quest of his townsmen was “empowered to solemnize marriages in Watertown.” He was one of
the earliest settlers; grantee of 6 lots, including 30 acres in the 1st Great Dividend, 2 acres in the
Further Plain, next to the River, and 71 acres in the Farms. He purchased 3 5 acres in 20 Great
Dividend. He is supposed to have been a brother of Captain John Mason, the distinguished Pequot
exterminator. — Bond. 3. The Watertown meeting-house opposite the old burying-ground had
no galleries at this time. Two years later, in 1665, a committee was raised to see about enlarging
the house by the addition of galleries.
1663] . The Climate and its Effects. 59
one Ile and down the other, until they come before the deſk, for
Pulpit they have none: before the deſk is a long pue where the
Elders and Deacons ſit, one of them with a money-box in his hand,
into which the people as they paſs put their offering, ſome a ſhil-
ling, ſome two ſhillings, half a crown, five ſhillings, according to
their ability and good will, an account being kept of what every
one contributes. After this they conclude with a Pſalm.”
He continues: — “They have ſtore of children, and are well-
accommodated with ſervants: many hands make light work, many
hands make a full fraught, but many mouths eat up all, as ſome
old planters have experimented: of theſe ſome are Engliſh, others
AWegroes: of the Engliſh there are can eat till they ſweat, and work
till they freeze: and of the females that are like Mistreſs Winter's
paddocks,” very tender fingered in cold weather.”
Being a physician he notices the climate and its effects, and is
ready with his remedy: — “Men and Women keep their complex-
ions, but loſe their Teeth: the Women are pittifully Tooth-ſhaken ;
whether through the coldneſs of the climate, or by ſweetmeats of
which they have ſtore I am not able to affirm. For the Toothach
I have found the following medicine very available, Brimſtone and
Gunpowder compounded with Butter, rub the mandible with it, the
outfide being firſt warmed.”
He also states: — “It is publiſhed in print, that there are not
much leſs than Ten hundred thouſand ſouls Engliſh, Scotch, and
Jriſh in Meze, England.” -
“In 1632, an Indian sagamore, named Cutstomach, lived with
some of his tribe, on the western shore of Mead's Pond, in the
north part of this town. The firearms of our new comers, the
whites, greatly delighted him, and he bethought himself how he
could obtain the like for himself. But the new comers were very
careful to prevent the Indians from obtaining arms, and had made
rules to that effect.
“The wily sagamore, however, prevailed upon a farm servant,
1. Large toads or frogs; the allusion seems to be to the fact that frogs avoid the cold of Winter.
6O Eliot's Indian Church at AVatică. [1651
named Tim Hawkins, to supply his want. They met by appoint-
ment on Prospect Hill, where a bargain was made. The Indian
received an old fire-lock, a horn of powder, and some bullets, in
return for three beaver-skins.
“Within a week Cutstomach was seen in possession of a gun,
and some of his company acknowledged that he had obtained it
of Hawkins. Tim was accordingly taken before the magistrate.
The misdemeanor was proven, and he was publicly whipped at
the whipping-post beside the block-house, and branded on the
cheek with a hot iron. The skins were returned, and the fire-lock
was taken from the Indian.”
In less than two years after the extermination of the Pequots,
forty-four years before William Penn founded Philadelphia, and
one hundred years before the incorporation of Waltham, the Gen-
eral Court of Massachusetts, March 12, 1638–9 appointed a Com-
missioner “to agree with the Indians for the land within the
bounds of Watertown, Cambridge, and Boston.” In the fall of
1646 John Eliot began his missionary labors with the Indians
across the Charles River, and five years later the Indian village
and church of Matick were formed by him. After his death the
church ceased to flourish, grew weaker and weaker by reason of
the death of some of its members, and the treacherous persecution
of others, until in 1716, threescore and ten years after the com-
mencement of his labors, there was no church, and but few In-
dians were resident there.
From 1637 to 1675, the Indians gave little or no trouble to the
Massachusetts settlers; but on the 24th of June of the latter year
they opened the terrible King Philip's war by attacking the town
of Swanzey. August 22, 1675, the first attack was made upon
Lancaster, in which William Flagg, probably the son of Thomas
Flagg" of Watertown, was slain. Less than a month later, Septem-
1. Colby’s Motes. 2. Mass. Records, 1. 254. 3. Thomas Flagg was the proprietor in 1644
of two lots, one being 20 acres in the 1st Great Dividend, next to the Beaver Brook Plowlands.
He was eight times chosen one of the Selectmen of the town previous to and including 1687. He
lost his left eye by a gunshot accident. Probably the ancestor of all bearing that name in this
country. — Bond. -
Fox ISLAND.

1675] Ring Philip's War. 6 I
ber 10th, John Ball, who removed from Watertown to Lancaster in
1665, was killed at the same place by Indians. September 1st, the
Indians fell upon Deerfield, and the next day upon Northfield.
“While the Indians were slaying and burning” at the latter town,
Captain Richard Beers,” of Watertown, was making ready to come
to its relief. He and Captain Lothrop had been sent to Brookſield
with their companies, from Boston, August 7th. On the 4th of
September, as he drew near the town, still ignorant of the attack
that had been made upon it, he was ambushed and himself and
twenty of his band of thirty-six men were killed. He was one of
four men sent out in 1669 by the General Court to examine this
section of country, and was “one of the first white men—perhaps
the very first—to be buried in its soil. And it is not unlikely that
his grave is very near the spot whence he caught a first look of the
site of the town.” John Chinery,” a member of his company, also
from Watertown, was wounded in this fight, and died the next day.
At the capture of the Narragansett fort, December 19, 1675,
John Sherman, Jr.,” son of Captain John Sherman of this town, fell.
In February, 1675–6, George Harrington,” a member of the com-
pany of Captain Samuel Wadsworth, of Milton, who drove the
Indians from their second plundering of Lancaster, was the only
one of the company killed.
March 2, 1675–6 they began their attack upon Groton, following
it up with another on the 9th, and a third and final one on the
13th, when all the town was burned except four garrison houses.
“Major Willard, with seventy horse and forty foot, from Water-
1. His son and grandson, both named John, were among the town officers chosen at the first
town meeting in Waltham. 2. Captain Richard Beers was an original proprietor, admitted Free-
man March 16, 1636–7 ; Selectman most of the time from 1644 to 1675; Representative thirteen
years, 1663-75. He was a grantee of seven lots, including twenty-five acres in 1st Great Dividend.
His homestall was near Fresh Pond. He also purchased another on the south side of Mount
Auburn Street, west of the old burying ground. He was for many years a licensed innholder. —
Aona. 3. History of North/te/d, p. 50 n. 4. John Chinery, admitted Freeman in April,
1690, was probably a resident of Waltham at the time of his death, living upon a farm rented by his
father. 5. Gen. Reg. viii., 241. 6. George Harrington was the fourth son of Robert Har-
rington, who purchased half of the “Oldham Farm * (see page 39), part of which is still in the
possession of some of his descendants; the original deed of 250 acres is still preserved, beautifully
written upon parchment.
62 Captain Mason's Train Band at Sudbury. [1676
town,” went to the relief of the town but arrived too late, the
Indians having all fled.
It was in this attack upon Groton that John Monoco, or One-
eyed John, the Indian chief in command, whose tribe had their seat
at AVashaway, uttered his boast that “the next time he would burn
Chelmsford, Concord, Watertown, Cambridge, Charleſtown, Rox-
bury, Boſton, adding at laſt in their dialect, “What me will, me
do.” This boaster, and eight others of the leaders, were hanged
in Boston, September 26, 1676.
April 18th, “they ſet upon Sudbury with all their might, captured
and killed a small relief band from Concord, and afterwards am-
bushed Captain Wadsworth’s company, also on its way to protect
the town. Captain Hugh Mason and his band from Watertown,
“aided by citizens of Sudbury, were the first who engaged the
assailants, on the east side of the river; but after a severe contest
they were obliged to retreat.” At this time, “to carry out their
threat to burn Watertown as well as the other settlements, the In-
dians penetrated the western part of our town and burnt a barn.”
In December, 1675, a warrant was issued to the militia of Water-
town for impressing “twenty soldiers, with provisions, arms, am-
munition, and good clothing,” for the defence of the Colony.”
January 22, 1677, the Government made allowance to the people
distressed by the Indian war in Massachusetts; nineteen families,
seventy-six persons, in Watertown being allotted 4 II 8s. The tax
levied upon the town for the support of the war was £45.
In the first newspaper printed in America, dated at “Boſton,
I. Hubbard’s Izzdraże Wars. 2. Barry, 11. 438. 3. C. H. Fiske’s Oration at Weston,
July 4. 1876. 4. Mr. Fiske gives from the Massachusetts Archives the list of names returned by
Captain Hugh Mason. “ These Following are rationly most fitt to goe upon the servis: —
Danill Warren, Sr., John Parkhurst, Nathanall Sanger,
John Bigulah, Sr., Michal Flegg, Moyses Whettny.
Nathanell Hely, Jacob Bullard, John Windam,
Joseph Tayntor, . Isaack Learned, Math. Barsham,
John Whettny, Sr., Joseph Waight, Joseph Smith,
George Herrington, George Dill, John Barnard.”
William Hagar, Jr., Willyam Prior,
Many of whom owned land in Waltham limits.
1690] Aºrst Suzcide ºn Waterflown. 63
Thursday, September 25th, 1690,” the following account of perhaps
the first suicide in the town is to be found:— “A very Tragical
Accident happened at Watertown the beginning of this month, an
Old man, that was of somewhat a Silent and Morose Temper, but
one that had long enjoyed the reputation of a Sober and a Pious
Man, having newly buried his Wife, the Devil took advantage of
the melancholy which he thereupon fell into ; his wives discretion
and industry had long been the support of his Family, and he
seemed hurried with an impertinent fear that he should now come
to want before he dyed, though he had very careful friends to look
after him who kept a strict eye upon him, lest he should do himselſ
any harm. But one evening escaping from them into the Cow-
house, they there quickly followed him, found hanging by a Rope,
which they had used to tye their Calves withal, he was dead with
his feet near touching the ground.”
*
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Å) WNS.S
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SEN
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SEAL OF WATERTown.”
1. Historical Mag., x. 228. 2. See p. 14, and 16 n. 2.













January 15, 1738.
N December 14, 1737, “William Browne, Daniel Benjamin,”
Ú/, and Samuel Livermore, in the Behalf of themſelves, and
* other Inhabitants of the Weſt Precinót in Watertown,” pre-
sented to the House of Representatives a petition “praying the
ſaid Precinét may be erected into a ſeparate and disſtinét Town-
ſhip, which is alſo agreeable to the Eaſt Precinét in said Town, as
appears by their Vote accompanying the Petition.” The prayer of
the petition was granted and the petitioners “allowed and impowred
to prepare and bring in a Bill” of incorporation. The Bill passed
its first reading December 20th, its second reading December 21st,
and was “read a third Time and paſſ'd to be Engroſſ'd " on De-
cember 22d. On the last day of the month the engrossed Bill was
passed to be enacted, and on the afternoon of January 4, 1737–8,”
“His Excellency the Governour,” J. Belcher, “was pleased to give
His Conſent to the Enaćting” the Bill, and in the record the
name WALTHAM of the new town is printed for the first time on
this date.
On January 3rd, it was “Ordered, That Mr. William Browne, one
of the principal Inhabitants of the new Town taken out of Water-
town by this Court in their preſent fitting, be and hereby is fully
authorized and impowred to aſſemble and convene the qualified
Voters there in ſome ſuitable Place to elect and appoint a Town
Clerk and other Town Officers there, to ſtand till the anniverſary
meeting of the ſaid Town in March next.” The act of incorpo-
ration reads as follows:–
§).
t
1. Deacon William Brown was much respected, and intrusted very often with Municipal and
Church affairs of Watertown and Waltham. — Bond. 2. Daniel Benjamin, Jr., trader, was a
Selectman of Watertown 1735, '36, and '37; Selectman of Waltham, 1738, 39, '40, '42; Assessor
many times from 1738 to 1752. – Bond. 3. This date being Old Style, the addition of 11 days
gives January 15, 1738, as the date New Style of the incorporation of Waltham.


WALTHAM FROM NEAR THE Foor oſ prospect hill.

1738] Act of Incorporation. 65
“An Act for dividing the Town of Watertown,
and erecting a new Town there by the Name of
Wa///ame.
“WHERE As the Inhabitants of the Westerly Precinóż in Water-
town, within the County of Middlesex, by Reaſon of great Difficulties
they labour under, have addreſſ’d this Court that they may be ſet off
a diſtiné? and separate Zown/hip, whereunto the Inhabitants of the
Aa/? Precinóż in ſaid Town have manifeſſed their Conſent;
“33e it therefore enacted by #is (Éxcellenry the (§overnoitr, (£altit-
riſ and #epresentatives, it (ºtheral (fourt aggembled, and In; the
34tthority of the game,
“That all thoſe Lands in Watertown aforeſaid, lying Weſtward of
that Line, ſometime ſince' ſettled by this Court, as the dividing
Line between the ſaid Eaſt and West Precinóts, viz.: Beginning at
Charles-River, and to be extended North-eastward, ſo as to run on
the Eaſt ſide of the houſe of Caleb Ward, and on the ſame Courſe,
being a right Line, to run on the Weſt ſide of Thomas Straight's
Houſe, and thence to continue a ſtrait Line through ſaid Water-
town till it interſect their North Bounds, be and hereby are ſet off
and conſtituted a ſeparate Townſhip by the name of Waltham.
And that the Inhabitants thereof be and are hereby inveſted with
all thoſe Powers, Privileges and Immunities that the Inhabitants
of other Towns within this Province by Law are or ought to be
inveſted with.
“3nd Iſt it further tuarted, That all ſuch Votes and Agreements,
as have been made and entered into by the two Precincts in
Watertown, as the Conditions of their Consent to a Division of the
ſaid Town into two Townſhips, be and hereby are ratified and
confirmed to all Intents and Purpoſes whatſoever.”
1. See page 55.
9
66 AWamed from Waltham-Abbey. [1738
WALTHAM was the 145th town incorporated in the State.
There are six parishes of the same name in England, from one of
which probably the name was taken. Perhaps the best claim can
be made for Waltham-Abbey, called also Waltham Holy Cross, a
market town and parish of the County of Essex, twelve miles N. by
E. from London, on the left bank of the river Lea, to which place
belongs Nasing, the birthplace or home of the Rev. John Eliot, and
other early settlers of New England. “It is a large, irregular town,
situated near the Lea, which is here separated into divers streams,
and skirted by low meadows, which have been long celebrated for
the succulent and nourishing qualities of the grass.”
The Convent of Waltham was originally founded about A. D.
Io20, by Tovi, (Stallere or Standard-bearer to Canute the Dane,
King of England), who built a humting-seat in the forest, near
which he established a village of “threescore and six dwellers.”
After completing this settlement he founded the church. The place
was named WALTHAM, from the Saxon WEALDHAM, a dwelling or
/home on the forest or wild. It afterwards received the adjunct
name of Holy Cross, from a cross with a figure of our Saviour upon
it, said to have been found at Montacute, and brought to Waltham,
where, in the hands of the priests, it manifested miraculous powers.
It is said to have cured Harold, son of Earl Godwin, of the palsy,
1. The original great forest which extended, in a desultory manner, over the largest part of the
County of Essex, and of which what now remains of Epping or Waltham Forest is but a remnant.
“Epping Forest lies to the north and north-east of London, comprises a series of woodlands,
beginning at Leytonstone, seven miles from London, and ending at Epping, eight miles further on ;
a tract on an average three & four miles wide.” “The Stuarts did a good deal of hunting in this
forest; we still show the house where Charles II., using his sword for a carving-knife, patted the
joint of beef with it and made it a Sir Loin. And in his father's time there seems to have been
considerable anxiety as to whether the woods were not running away into the farmyards, and
a solemn inquest was taken to determine boundaries. Forty gentlemen took a walk . . . starting
from Stratford bridge, called Bow; they glanced at West and East Ham, got to Ilford and Rom-
ford. . . . And then they saw landmark after landmark, and looked up the various “meers, metes,
bounds, and limits of the forest aforesaid,” until every man must have earned any amount of dinner,
and we hear of them at Epping and Harlow, and then among the marshes of the Lea at Waltham
Abbey, the monks of which were, at one time, large proprietors and lords of manors in the district;
and so on “to a bridge called Lock bridge, now broken down, where now for passage is used
Trajetus (a ferry), and from thence by the same river Lea' (which bounded at once the forest and
the county), ‘to the fore-nominated bridge of Stratford Bow.’” – Cornhill Mag., March, 1864.
1 177] Waltham Aáčey Re-established. 67
whereupon he rebuilt the church, increased the number of canons
to twelve, settled on them ample estates, and provided for the
establishment of a school of learning at Waltham."
Tovi, the original founder, had a prodigal son, named Athelstan,
who squandered his father's great estates “so that by some transac-
tion this place returned to the crown.” Harold received Waltham
and “the lands thereabouts” from Edward the Confessor, his
brother-in-law, and in gratitude for his wonderful cure by the “holy
cross” “immediately built and endowed there a monastery.” He
bestowed seventeen manors upon the Dean and Canons, for their
support. Most historians state that Harold was killed at the battle
of Hastings, and interred in Waltham Abbey, where for a long
period a tomb said to be his was pointed out. There was, however,
a tradition that he escaped alive from the battle, and lived in
religious seclusion at Chester. William the Conqueror took from
the church many of its valuables, plate, gems, and rich vestments,
but did not disturb the estates or revenues.
Matilda, the first wife of Henry I., “gave to the clerks of Waltham
the mill of that place, then a valuable benefaction,” and Adelais, his
second wife, “bestowed on them all the tithes of Waltham.” Their
unbounded prosperity was their destruction, for “Henry II. utterly
dissolved the foundation of dean and eleven canons at Waltham, on
account of the lewdness and debauchery of their lives.” On the eve
of Pentecost, I 177, this King, in company with a number of bishops,
visited Waltham and established a new church, with sixteen regular
canons of the Order of St. Augustine, which was declared exempt
from episcopal jurisdiction, and still remains exempt from the Arch-
deacon's visitation. It was first dedicated to the Holy Cross, and
afterwards to St. Lawrence. Henry II. confirmed by his charter
their right to lands given by Harold and others, and added the
manors of Siwardston and Epping, using the remarkable expres-
sion, that it was fit that “Christ, his spouse, should haze a new
dozery.”
Richard I. gave a new charter, confirming former grants, and
1. Dugdale’s “Monasticon.”
68 Waltham-Abbey Church. [1834
bestowed on the canons “his whole manor at Waltham, with the
great wood and park, called Harold’s Park, three hundred acres of
assart” land, the market of Waltham, the village of Nasing, a mem-
ber of Waltham, and one hundred and sixty acres of assart land
there, — they paying yearly to his exchequer £60 in lieu of all
services.” He subsequently made further additions to their prop-
erty, and they obtained valuable grants from other benefactors
during his reign.
To avoid the expenses of a court Henry III. frequently took up
his residence at Waltham Abbey, and to reward the hospitality of
his entertainers, he granted them the right to hold a fair annually
for seven days. Subsequently two fairs” were held, each contin-
uing one day, the first on the third of May, O. S., the Invention of
the Cross ; and the other on the fourteenth of September, O.S.,
the Exaltation of the Cross. He also bestowed on it many rich
gifts. “From his time it became so distinguished by royal and
noble benefactors, as to rank with the most opulent establishments
in the kingdom.” In 1242, it was again solemnly dedicated, prob-
ably in consequence of additions being then made to the original
buildings, of which Our Zady's Chapel, on the south side, now and
for many years used as a School-room, may have formed a part.
The buildings of Waltham Abbey once covered many acres.
The engravings from which our views are taken were made in 1834.
One represents the nave of the Abbey Church, with an attached
chapel on the south side, called the Zady Chapel. There then stood
in the burial-ground a very fine, widely-spreading elm, the trunk of
which, at several feet above the earth, measured seventeen and
a half feet in circumference.
The Tower, a massive stone fabric, embattled and supported by
strong buttresses, stands at the west end of the church. It is
eighty-six feet in height, and was erected about the year 1558.
1. Grubbed or cleared. 2. Perhaps it was to perpetuate the old home custom that the Freemen
of Watertown, March 30, 1639, “Ordered yt two Faires at Watertowne, ye one upon the first Friday
of ye 4 month [June], ye other upon the first Friday of the 7 month [September], shalbe kept upon
the Trayning place.”
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ALTHAM,
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1686] Dunton's Ramble through Waltham. 69
“The Lady Chapel, which is probably of Henry the Third’s
time, is supported by graduated buttresses, ornamented with ele-
gantly formed niches. Beneath it is a crypt (now a charnel
house), ‘the fairest,’ says Fuller, “that ever I saw,' the roof of
which is sustained by groined arches.””
The other view represents a small Bridge and Gateway a little
to the northward of the Abbey Mills. The gateway is of stone
repaired with bricks of remarkably large size. “It has two pointed
arches, a larger and a smaller one ; the outer mouldings of the large
arch rest on corbels, formed by two demi-angels supporting shields,
on which (but much corroded), are the royal arms of Edward the
Third’s time, viz.: France and England, quarterly.”
With the modern pronunciation of the name, Wal-tham, instead
of Walt-ham (Walt-'um),” appears to have been lost the original
Saxon home-liness of its derivation and signification, the forest
/home. What peculiar gratification it must have afforded those who
gave the name to the town to thus preserve, ever present, amid
new associations and surroundings, the recollections of their old
homes across the Sea.
The appropriateness of the name is manifest to even a casual
observer of the beautiful groups of trees that have been preserved
in various parts of the town, especially upon the Gore and Lyman
estates. The following is an extract from a letter written in 1686
by John Dunton, a careful observer, to his father-in-law in England,
describing a “ramble ’ made by a party from Boston to attend the
annual sermon preached to the Indians at Natick. The men rode
upon horseback, each having a lady companion upon the pillion of
his saddle as “luggage.” Dunton was fortunate in escorting the
“Widow Brick,” a fair lady, whom he calls “the flower of Boston.”
They started early and arriving at Watertown “alighted and
refreſh't our Luggage, and while others were Engaged in Frothy
Diſcourſes, the Widow Brick and I took a View of the Town, which
is built upon one of the branches of Charles River, very fruitful, and
1. Brayley's Graëhic and Historical Illustrator. 2. As it is pronounced in England.
70 First Town-Meeting. [1738
of large extent: watered with many pleaſant Springs, and ſmall
Rivulets: The Inhabitants live flatteringly." Within half a mile
is a great Pond divided between the two Towns.” A mile and a
half from the Town is a great Fall of Freſh Waters, which convey
themſelves into the Ocean thro’ Charles River. . . . Having well
refreſh't our ſelves at Water-Town, we mounted again, and from
thence we rambled thro’ ſeverall Tall Woods between the Moun-
tains, over many rich and pregnant Vallies as ever eye beheld, beſet
on each ſide with variety of goodly Trees: So that had the moſt
Skilful Gardner deſign’d a ſhady Walk in a fine Valley, it would
have fallen ſhort of that which Nature here had done without
him.”
This description is understood to apply to the road through
Waltham to Weston, and is nearly as applicable to-day as when
written, when it is remembered that the “pregnant Vallies " have
swallowed up the “tall woods.”
January 13, 1737–8, Deacon William Brown, by virtue of the
authority vested in him by the General Court, notified “the Quali-
fied Voters in sq. Town of Waltham to appear at the publick
meeting house in sq. Town, on Wednesday the Eighteenth day of
Janry. Currant,” to elect and appoint town officers. The Freemen
therefore assembled on the day appointed, and the following town
officers were chosen: —
Moderator. — Deacon Thomas Livermore.
Selectmen. — Deacon William Brown, Deacon Thomas Livermore,
Mr. Daniel Benjamin, Mr. Joseph Pierce, Lieutenant Thomas
Biglow.
Town Clerk and ZŽeasurer. — Samuel Livermore.
* Constable. — Mr. Joseph Hastings.
Assessors. — George Lawrence, John Cutting, John Chadwick.
Sealer of Zeather. — Mr. Joseph Stratton.
1. Josselyn in his Two Voyages, 1663, from which our Dunton “borrows” this part of his
description, uses the word “scatteringly ’’ here, which seems to fit better. See p. 17. 2. New-
town and Watertown. Fresh Pond is meant. This description of the Pond and Fall, Josselyn
himself borrowed from Wood's AWew England's Prospect, 1634. º
1738] A “Moving School." Ordered. 7 I
Fence Viewers. —John Ball, Jr., Joseph Hagar.
Surveyors of Highways. – John Ball y” 3d, John Viels.
Tytheing men. — Isaac Peirce, Theophilus Mansfield.
Fogreves." — Josiah Harrington, Elnathan Whitney.
These were to hold office till the “annual meeting” in March.
February 7th, the Selectmen were ordered to build a Pound on
some piece of land near the meeting-house. March 25th, Thomas
Hammond, John Smith, John Bemis, Ensign Thomas Harrington
and Deacon Jonathan Sanderson were chosen Selectmen for the
ensuing year, and Samuel Livermore was re-elected Town Clerk
and Treasurer, an office he was annually chosen to fill for many
years in succession.
On May 9th, Daniel Benjamin was chosen as Representative,
but he refused to serve, and Lieutenant Thomas Biglow was chosen
in his place. On the 12th, the Selectmen were ordered to pay
Josiah Fiske £9 15s. for building the pound, and Lieutenant
Thomas Biglow 6s. for “ſeting up the town Stockes.” A 1 9s. was
ordered to be paid for mending meeting-house glass during the
year 1737.
July 3, 1738, Deacon Jonathan Sanderson and Ensign Thomas
Harrington were “deſired to treat with Mr. Timothy Herrington,
and agree with him if they can to keep the School for one Quarter
of a year as cheap as they can.” The agreement was made “at
A 20 of the old tenure * per quarter. September 25th, and an-
nually thereafter till 1747, 48o was voted for the school for the
ensuing year. At this meeting Samuel Livermore was chosen
Sexton and granted £3 for his annual services.
A 12 3s. Id. was voted to be paid “to Watertown towards paying
their Representative last year.”
November 24th, the Town voted that the school should be a
“moving school,” and three squadrons, or divisions, were made of
the territory. The first squadron was east of the church and in-
cluded Beaver Street and all north of it; the second squadron
1. See note 1, page 73.
72 A'um and Cider at Funerals. [1740
embraced Beaver Street west of the church, and all north of it,
including Pond End; and the third squadron was all south of
Beaver Street and included the Plains. Each Squadron was to
furnish a place for the school, and convenient board for the teacher.
The Selectmen were to have a school kept in the school-house, on
the land of Deacon Jonathan Sanderson, near the junction of
Beacon and Lexington Streets, until December, and then were to
divide the remainder of the year into proportionate parts, and the
school was to be kept in each squadron in turn. The school was
kept in North Street in the house of Joseph Peirce.
January 5, 1738–9, the Selectmen paid Isaac Pierce 4 I “for
killing a wild catte.” A committee was appointed to see that the
Act of the Province to prevent the destruction of deer be not
violated.
January 5, 1739–40, the Selectmen voted “to provide for the
funeral of Wid” Wyeth four paire of men's Gloves and two paire of
woman’s and alſo to provide ſuch a Quantity of Rum as ſhould be
found neceſſary.” The expenses of the funeral were £2 10s. Of
her effects they sold “an old frock, bed, and two old blankets and
an old pillow or two and Sundery old things (which were meen)”
for 30s.
March Io, 1739–40, 6s. was established as the rate for a day's
work on the roads, and 12s. for a man and his team, allowing eight
hours for a day.
In 1743, Captain Samuel Livermore’s company consisted of
ninety men, and the law required for them 150 lbs. of powder, 3oo
lbs. of bullets, and 450 flints. A 195 15s. 7d. expended on account
of the great bridge in Watertown over Charles River, was appor-
tioned as follows:– Watertown, £72 6s. 8d., Weston, 464 2s. 4d,
and Waltham, 459 6s. 7d.
In 1744, the Selectmen ordered, for the funeral of Phillip Shat-
tuck, one pair of gloves for Rev. W. Williams, four pair for the
bearers (who were literally bearers in those days of carrying the
corpse to the burying-ground), and also cider for the people who
attended the funeral.
BANK AND PUBLIC LIBRARY.
RUMFORD HALL.


1738] Salary of Rev. Warham Williams. 73
Until March 4, 1744–5, swine were allowed to run at large," but
at this meeting the usual motion to allow them to run was nega-
tived. May 13th following, the usual permission was granted and
the hogs had their liberty again.
September 9, 1745, a committee was appointed to address the
General Court “that the millers in said Town might have the
liberty to keep up their mill Dams as formerly.”
August 25, 1746, £50 was granted as Waltham’s “part of repairs
to the Great Bridge.”
October 5, 1747, grants of money were voted in new tenor, the
sexton receiving 15s., the school {30, and the poor £5 instead of
4, 15 O. T.
March 7, 1747–8, Deacon William Brown was granted 4, 16 Ios.
for teaching a school in the north part of the town. tº
August 28, 1749, the expenses of a funeral in old tenor were “for
Coffin 64 Ios. Carrying to grave £3 Ios. ringing Bell 18s. Paul 4, 1,
eight pairs of gloves £7 4s.
In 1751 Mr. Matthew Bridge, being present at a town-meeting,
“gave the town 4, 1 6s. 8d. as a gift in consideration of his congre-
gating with them.” &
At the town-meeting March 25, 1737–8, the town voted 4 I I I as
the salary of the Rev. Warham Williams for three-quarters of the
year, from December 4th to September 4th, and 49 for cutting and
carting of his firewood. It also voted, “that the Selectmen should
take Care that the meeting-hous be landed up, and the ammuni-
tion Sequred.” The arms and ammunition belonging to the town
1. “Every perſon ſuffering his Swine to go at large by vertue of such Town Vote, ſhall before he
ſuffer his Swine to go at large as aforeſaid, Cause each of them to be well and ſufficiently Yoked and
Ringed in the Nose, and conſtantly kept ſo Ringed and Yoked. . . . They may go unyoked from
the laſt day of October to the firſt day of April. . . . No Yoke ſhall be accounted ſufficient, which
is not the full Depth of the Swine's neck above the neck, and half ſo much below the neck; and
the ſole or bottom of the yoke Three times as long as the breadth or thickness of the Swine's
neck.” – Province Law. It was also provided that Hogreves should be chosen,
“Whoſe Duty it ſhall be . . . to take care that it [this Act] ſhall be duly observed, and to
prosecute the Breakers thereof . . (and in order thereto ſhall Paſs through the precinct at leaſt
once every fortnight).” – Prozince Lazu. Any one chosen a Hogreve who refused to serve or
neglected his duty forfeited twenty shillings to the poor of the town.
IQ
74 Zºrouă/e zwith the Cho?r. [1765
were at first kept in the belfry of the Church, but after 1806 in a
small brick building erected for them, in the grave-yard. It was
located on the highest ground on the west side and cost $76.75. The
same meeting granted to Samuel Livermore" and his heirs a pew
on the east side of the pulpit, for so long a time as the meeting-
house should stand upon his land, in full satisfaction. He was
also voted 35s. for care of the meeting-house as Sexton, and Sep-
tember 4, 1739, 30s, for keeping the town records for 1738.
September 25, 1738, Mr. Williams was voted a salary of 4, 17o
with £20 for firewood, and the next two years the same, with the
addition September 8, 1740, of 4 Io, “In Consideration of the
great Expense of his present jorney to Albany to visit his Sister.”
In 1741 his salary was raised to £200 with £20 for wood; in 1742
and 1743 to £220 and £25 for wood, and afterwards to £250, with
4.25 for wood. “These sums were probably old tenor, as October
5, 1747, the salary granted was 4 Ioo new tenor, and 4, 1o for wood.
In 1749 4, 125, and in 1750 466 13s. 4d. lawful money, were the
grants. May 3, 1751, 42 o was voted to pay for preaching during
Mr. Williams's illness. He died June 22d, aged 52 years. The
town voted £300 old tenor for the funeral expenses, and afterwards
added £2 for grave stones to 8s. 6d. given by Mr. Bridge.”
Mr. Williams was succeeded by his son-in-law, the Rev. Jacob
Cushing of Shrewsbury, who was ordained November 22, 1752.
“In 1765 the Waltham meeting-house was re-seated by a com-
mittee who didn't leave the choir together. Thereupon ‘those per-
sons that had been at Cost and Pains to learn themselves to sing,’
petitioned the town-meeting for seats together, and the town voted
them the “three hind seats in front on the men's side,' if any one
knows where those were. This arrangement displeased the friends
of congregational singing, who to the number of eighteen peti-
tioned the town “to seat the town in the usual method by which
1. Samuel Livermore was the grand nephew of Nathaniel Livermore, who willed to him the
* farm since become famous as
~%.” ? * the “Lyman Place.” He was
Zºu 0.7°27′4–77-622- a prominent citizen and held
the ºffices of town-clerk, treasurer, assessor, sexton, and keeper of the pound. He was also Cap-
tain of a company. -

1767] A Wew Meeting-House. 75
Q.
evey man may know & keep his place, and the worship of God
not be disturbed as it has been in months past.’ They say
that ‘the town must see some very ill consequence from numbers
of young men fixed in the front gallery, rushing on so fast as to
leave the body of the church behind them, & so irregular that even
the master of the assembly [Deacon Samuel Livermore], though
of undoubted skill and good voice, is not able to govern and lead
them,’ and although the young men ‘profess to know so much
about singing,' they are declared ‘on the whole to sing so as to
interrupt the service and really give pain to the judicious singer.’
The singers were thereupon sent down but were afterwards invited
to return, which they did.”"
Mr. Cushing preached in the same church as his predecessor until
1767, when it was abandoned and a new meeting-house erected on
the triangular piece of ground * a short distance west of the site
of the old one.
“It was not painted for many years, until it required repairs and
more pews to accommodate the increasing number of worshippers.”
“This structure was a pure specimen of that order of architecture
which may be termed the Puritan, that had its origin in the 16th
Century, and succeeding the Gothic, so long considered peculiarly
adapted to ecclesiastical purposes, it was intended to supersede
those styles which preceded it, while it combined all their mer-
its and avoided their defects.” The pews were square, 40 in
number, with seats on hinges to be lifted when the congregation
stood up in prayer; the clatter of the falling seats would shock the
sensibilites of our modern church goers. The deacons, chosen for
high religious character and eminent qualifications in other respects,
sat in front of the pulpit facing the congregation.
“In those days the old men sat together in one place in the
church, the young men in another, the young women in another.
The boys all sat on the pulpit stairs and gallery stairs, guarded by
constables. Each of these constables had a wand, with a hare's
1. Colby’s Mss. Wotes. 2. A lot of three acres purchased of Samuel Livermore for 466
13s. 4d., paid for by subscription. The old church was sold to Thomas Wellington, Jr.
76 Sleepers in Church. A ept Awake. [1767
ſoot on one end and a hare's tail on the other. These were to keep
the people awake. If any woman went to sleep, the constable
touched her on the forehead with the hare's tail; but if a small boy
nodded, he was rapped with the other end, not quite so gently. No
doubt the wand was often used, for the services were sometimes
three and four hours long, the sexton turning the hour-glass before
the minister at the end of every hour.”
The minister's family” occupied the pew on one side the pulpit,
and the Governor * and family the one on the other side. “The
Governor's three-cornered beaver hanging on a nail in a conspic-
uous position, drew the eyes of the whole congregation, and the
people felt a natural pride in the reflection, that whatever honors
and distinctions other towns and churches might claim, Waltham
Church had the only cocked hat in the State.”
The choir occupied seats” in the gallery fronting the pulpit, with
pews at each end, and also a row in the rear. “The choir in
Waltham was rather large, and they sang with confident assurance
whenever a majority were present, and they were kept in countenance
by the unblushing clarionet or viol; but as they were not accus-
tomed to brazen solo performances, they would not lift up their
voices, unless supported by numbers. It so happened upon an
inclement day, the attendance being thin, and only two or more
women in the singers' seats, that when the hymn had been given
out, these “unprotected females,' not possessing the confidence of
professional performers, did not attempt to execute it. An old
gentleman who sat near, a man of resolution and religious zeal,
seeing their hesitation, in order to encourage them, spoke up loudly,
‘come gals, strike up ; but even this kindly solicitation failed to
arouse their courage to the sticking point, and this part of the
service was entirely omitted.”
1. Higginson, pp. 75–6. 2. Mr. Cushing was granted the first choice of the pews. The other
39 were granted to the 39 highest tax payers, upon their paying £296 16s. towards furnishing the
house. The first choice brought 4, 12, the last £3 6s. 6d. 3. Governor Christopher Gore, Gov-
ernor of Massachusetts in 1809. 4. Granted to “those persons who are skilled in singing to sit
together, so that that part of divine service may be carried on with decency and harmony.”
MAIN STREET.

1770] Lightning Rods Introduced. 77
The steeple was struck by lightning in August, 1770, and set on
fire. It was seen by a man who was milking near by, and he
ascended the belfry and extinguished the fire with his pail of milk.
This led to the introduction of lightning rods in Waltham. John
Winthrop in a letter to Benjamin Franklin, dated Cambridge, Octo-
ber 26, 1771, says: — “I am very glad to find your admirable
invention of lightning-rods is coming into fashion in England, and
cannot but think your circulating particular directions for making
them by the magazines will greatly promote the use of them. I
have on all occasions encouraged them in this country, and have
the satisfaction to find it has not been without effect. A little piece
I inserted in our newspapers last Summer induced the people of
Waltham (a town a few miles from hence) to fix rods upon their
steeple, which had just before been much shattered and set on fire
by lightning.”
This meeting-house stood until 1841, when it was taken down.
“The old rooster, that surmounted the steeple for three-quarters of
a century, was the favorite resort of the martins, a bird once very
numerous here.” The steeple is visible in the picture of “Eden
Vale in Waltham.”
The Rev. Jacob Cushing graduated at Harvard College in 1748.
His ordination sermon was preached by his father, Rev. Job Cush-
ing. The town appropriated “A 146 13s. 4d. lawful money, as a
gift for his settlement, 4.8o for his yearly salary, and 4, 13 6s. 8d. to
defray the expense of his ordination.” His salary from the time of
his settlement until 1796 varied from £80 to £1 oo, lawful money,
except during one period when he was paid in the depreciated Conti-
nental paper currency, and then he received £5,600 for one year's
salary; the town the next year voted him £1 16 4s. Iod, in specie,
to make up for the depreciation of the paper money.” From 1796
till his death his salary was $5oo per year.
He died January 18, 1809, in the 79th year of his age, and the
57th of his ministry. His funeral sermon was preached by the
Rev. Dr. Stearns, of Lincoln. During his ministry there were
admitted as church members 369 persons; he baptized 1376, and
78 The Ancient Highways. [1739
married 756. “Peace and harmony prevailed in his congregation
for the space of fifty-six years,” said Dr. Stearns, and no stronger
testimony could be offered to the character and influence of this
well beloved pastor.
From the beginning considerable attention was given to the
highways. 4 Ioo and afterwards £2 oo were appropriated annually
for roads, and surveyors were appointed. A resident of the town
twenty years ago, after carefully examining the records, especially
for 1739, wherein the bounds of the Overseers of Highways are
described, came to the conclusion that of all the roads and streets
in Waltham, the following only were in existence when the town
was incorporated, viz.: Mill Street, part of North Street or Trapelo
Road; Pigeon Hill Road, part of the old Forest Street; part of
Quince ; Beaver; Winter; part of Lincoln, the way up the hills; a
way by Mr. Hagar's unknown ; Prospect; Weston; Main, the
country road; part of South, the way to Dummer's farm; the road
over Prospect Hill, beginning above the house of Hon. N. P.
Banks ; Bacon Street, Skunk, or Mixer's Lane, from Country Road
to School-house; Pleasant; Grove and Warren Streets. Gore Street
was an ancient way, but is not mentioned as a highway in the
Surveyors’ bounds.
The northern portion of the town had nearly double the popu
lation of the southern portion. With the exception of a few
residences on the Main or Country Road (Main Street), the earliest
settlers in Waltham seem to have lived upon Trapelo" Road (North
Street), Beaver Street, and their vicinity, in the districts known as
Trapelo and Pond End. At the Watertown line was the house
and lands of Thomas Straight, referred to in the Act of Incorpora-
tion, afterwards the property of Mrs. Phelps and the subject of a
law-suit between Watertown and Waltham for the recovery of taxes
which had been paid to the former town. Among the early owners
1. The origin of the word “Trapelo" is not known. A traditional explanation of its derivation
states that it is a combination of the words “traps below,” a phrase used by the early settlers, who
trapped beavers in Beaver Brook, and who made use of the expression “we will look at our traps
below.”—“REcoRD '' in Walthame Sentinel.
1750] The Old Trapelo Road. 79
of property in this section are found Nathaniel Whitney and
Phinehas Stearns. The latter moved to Lexington in 1768, and
was in the battle of Lexington. He was the fifth son of Deacon
Isaac Stearns,' who was a Selectman
thirteen years, between 1754 and ./J%ae, offected
1772, and Assessor I 744 and 1753.
From Deacon Isaac Stearns the property descended to his sons
John and Peleg; it afterwards became the property of John alone.
It was sold by him and passed, divided, into the hands of Josiah
S. and Jonas B. Kendall.
On Beaver Brook, at this point, was situated Kendall's grist
mill; lower down the brook, formerly stood a saw-mill, which gave
place to Plympton's satinet factory, and this latter was destroyed
by fire in 1848.
Westward of the Stearns's lands are those of the Lawrences,
which have remained in the family since the days of George Law-
rence, Sen., who purchased a portion of them from Nicolas Cady
by a deed dated September 11, 1668, which is still preserved.
Further west, the Lawrences own part of the farm once belonging
to Hopestill Mead, who was a Selectman in 1745 and 1746.
Here, extending on Trapelo Street about three-eighths of a mile,
rises Mackerel Hill, from the sides and summit of which to the
south and east fine views may be had of Newton and Brighton,
Boston and Roxbury, with the Blue Hills of Milton in the distance,
and portions of Needham, Dedham, Natick, Weston, and other
towns. On its western slope is “a dense pine grove, through
which the sun but faintly penetrates, whose soft carpet invites
repose, and through whose swaying branches the gentle winds
chant a melody beautiful as the song of the Messenger Bird.”
Near Forest Street was the residence of Deacon William Brown,

1. The fourth generation of the same name in direct descent from Isack Sternes of Water-
town, who came in 1630 probably in the same vessel with
Governor Winthrop and Sir Richard Saltonstall. The
inventory of his property taken June 24, 1671, shows him &22 e5
to have been owner of 535 acres of land, a large portion
of which was in Waltham.
8O First School. House in Trapelo. [1772
who was one of the petitioners for the incorporation of the town,
called the first town-meeting, and held numerous positions of trust,
before and after its incorporation. Upon the old Brown estate is
situated Pigeon Hill, so named from its having been formerly the
resort of pigeons in large numbers. Three or more times within
the past century a hospital has been established here for those
afflicted with the small-pox. In olden times a bye path crossed it
which materially lessened the distance from the eastern part of
Trapelo to the church, “and in Saddle and Pillion times, the
youthful Trapelonians were sent this way with strict admonitions
not to loiter or whistle by the way, but to go and return at the
proper time.”
At the junction of Forest and Trapelo Streets is situated the
large property purchased of the Bowman family by Matthew
Bridge, in 172 I or 1722. It then included two farms in Lexington.
On the death of Matthew Bridge, in 1761, it passed to his son,
Cornet Nathaniel Bridge, who was a Selectman of the town from
1767 to 1777. He was a friend of Washington and entertained
him at his house while the troops were stationed in Cambridge. On
the marriage of his oldest son William he gave him a deed of one-
half the entire estate, and this still continues in the possession of
the Bridge family. The other portion, at his decease, went to
his daughter Anna, who married Isaac Sanderson, and was known
as the Sanderson place. It has since passed into several hands.
The old Forest Street, closed nearly a quarter of a century ago,
was built directly over the tops of many of the hills. “Previous
to the opening of Lexington Street it was the most direct route to
Lexington and Lowell, and through it the stage, and also teams
transporting merchandise between Waltham and Lowell used to
pass.”
The first school-house in Trapelo was built at private expense in
1772 or 1773. At a town-meeting held October 21, 1773, “The
article respecting granting the proprietors of the school-house in the
north-east part of the town pay for building the same, not acted upon,
as the proprietors thereof desired it might be omitted.” Eighteen
AMERICAN w Arch CoM PANY FROM NORTH SIDE OF CHARLES RIVER.

1750] Trapelo's West End. - 8I
years later, in 1791, the town voted to pay for the school-house.
The sum of money granted the same year for the school in Trapelo
was £24 18s. and one farthing.
Westward of the Bridge property was that of the Wellingtons,
the old homestead of many families of the name. William Welling-
ton was a Selectman for seventeen years between 1780 and 1803.
That portion of Trapelo west of the Wellington estate belonged to
the Stearns families almost exclusively. Here lived Deacon Isaac
Stearns and his descendants.
Joshua Mead owned the Viles estate in 1753, and at his death,
in 1794, it passed to his son Moses, who had a shop located at a
small water power on Chester Brook, where he manufactured
rolling-pins, mortars and pestles, rakes and hoe handles, as cele-
brated in his day as those of the best present manufacturers.
Here, too, was situated the sportsman’s paradise, “Sam Stearns's
wood lot,” where “partridges, woodcocks, quails, rabbits, and
particularly gray squirrels, were formerly very plentiful.” Welling-
ton's Grove, the scene of many a Fourth of July celebration, and
the old Great Pond, with its quartette of modern names," are well
known features of Trapelo's west end. Mount Enoch, also on
Wellington lands, is the highest of the Trapelo Hills, and offers
fine views from its summit to the north and west.
During the first seventy-five years after the incorporation of the
town, the men of Trapelo filled important positions of trust and
honor in the management of town affairs. The Browns, through
Deacon William Brown and three generations of descendants, were
represented nearly every year.
The valleys in Trapelo are of the richest soil, and produce the
finest of fruits and vegetables. It has an elevation of nearly two
hundred feet above the level of Charles River, and is cooler in
summer and warmer in winter than on the “Plain * below. The
frost comes later in the fall and leaves the ground earlier in the
1. It is to be hoped that its ancient name of Saltonstall may be restored to this beautiful sheet of
water, and forever remain a memorial of the leader of the founders of the old plantation on Charles
River. See p. 27. n. 1, where the name Hardy's Pond is omitted.
II
82 The Main Road below Beaver Brook. [1806
spring. For these reasons, doubtless, it was for a long time the
best settled part of the town.
In 18oo there were but thirty-six dwelling houses on Main Street,
twenty on the north side and sixteen on the south ; fifty years
earlier not much above one-third that number. Among these were
a tavern on the south-east corner of Main and Gore Streets, kept
by Thomas Wellington, Jr., followed by William Goodhue, and
afterwards by Colonel Jonathan Brewer, a Revolutionary officer,
who commanded a regiment in the old French war, and at the
battle of Bunker Hill, where he was wounded. His wounds were
dressed by Dr. Marshall Spring” who lived a short distance below,
on the opposite side of the road in Watertown. Dr. Spring was one
of the members from Middlesex in the Constitutional Convention
of 1788, who voted against the adoption of the Federal Constitu-
tion. The building afterwards became the farm house of the
Gore place. It was finally divided and removed. Christopher
Gore, received as a citizen of the town by vote, April 1, 1793,
upon his written request, was a noble specimen of the “gentleman
of the old school.” In 1809 he was governor of the Common-
wealth. In 1796 he was appointed, with William Pinkney, a com-
missioner under Jay's treaty, to settle our claims against England
for spoliation. Colonel Trumbull, who painted the portrait of
Governor Gore, was chosen the fifth member of this commission.
A little to the west on the north side was the farm and house of
Dr. Josiah Clark, containing 150 acres. Here afterwards John War-
ren built a house, in which was used the old oak frame of the par-
sonage of Rev. Warham Williams; later, this was known as the
Maxwell house. The old frame is still standing in the barn belong-
ing to the residence of Mr. Bowker, Next west, and on the east
side of Beaver Brook, was the old Parkhurst farm ; the house was
1. Dr. Spring “during his long life sustained such a high professional repute as very few private
practitioners have attained to. He was eminent as a wit, and it is said that he was the only man
of that time who could successfully meet Chief Justice Parsons “in the keen encounter of wits.” In
the Revolution he was a Tory, fully and firmly ‘convinced of the entire inexpediency of resisting.”
Yet, on the 19th of April, 1776, he arrived early at Lexington, and devoted his best skill and care
to his wounded fellow citizens.”— Bond.
I 742.] The “Cutting Zazern.” 83
supposed to have been built by Samuel Parkhurst, a grandson of .
George who was born in 1618, was an early comer, and probably
settled here.
Above the burying-ground on the south side, at the corner of
Grove Street, was the house of John Bright, a tanner, farmer, and
magistrate, who received numerous appointments of trust from the
town. This place has been in the family more than a century.
Attached to the tannery, which was upon the bank of Beaver Brook,
was a small shop that had been a barrack at Cambridge during the
Revolution. The old house was taken down in 1848 and the
present residence erected. The fine large elm in front was planted
in 1720. The property is now owned by J. B. Bright, Esq.
Beaver Brook, now a small stream, was once four rods wide,
tradition says. *
In 1798 Main Street on the west side of Beaver Brook “passed
through a deep cut between high and steep banks. The one on
the South side having a good growth of wood on its eastern side
facing the brook, while that on the north side of the road was a
sand bank so high and abrupt that it was not accessible, except on
the west side of what is now Linden Street.”
The first house on the north side of Main Street, above the
brook, was the “Cutting Tavern.” Richard Cutting" was a
licensed inn-holder from 1742 to 1767, when he died, and his
widow Thankful succeeded him in the business, until 1770, when
she became the fourth wife of Deacon Samuel Livermore and
the mistress of what is now the beautiful Lyman estate. Uriah
Cutting, son of Richard, then became landlord, followed by his
brother Daniel. At his death, in 1798, it became the property of
his brother, Dr. Amos Cutting of Marlboro’, and was occupied by
Jonas Darling. About 1840 it was taken down and the Massasoit
Hotel erected on the same spot. This was burned in 1849. The
property has since been divided. M. S. Foster's store and District
School No. 4 are below the old tavern stand, and Linden Street
1. He was the great-grandson of Richard Cutting who came to Watertown in 1634, at the age.
of 11 years, and became a wheelwright.
84 7%e “Aºra! Tazerſ.” [17OO
cuts through the old pasture where, for many years, shooting
matches for Thanksgiving poultry were held, and on one occasion
a Fourth of July dinner was given under a tent. An old cellar on
the west side of Linden Street still marks the site of the old
taVern.
Not very far to the westward stood the “Bird Tavern,” at the
corner of Pleasant and Main Streets, a few rods back from the
main road. This was a plank house, so called, with the sills above
the floors, and was built probably before 17oo. Captain Isaac
Gleason," licensed in 1766, was for a time landlord here, and it
was known as Gleason's Tavern. He afterwards kept the “Cut-
ting Tavern,” and at the time of his death was keeping still
another on the lot below Church Street, where Colonel David
Townsend resided. There was a very large barn connected with
the Bird Tavern, and the old-fashioned lofty hay-scales, the only
one in the town, stood in front of the tavern at the junction of the
roads. The property was purchased by Cornet David Townsend,
and the tavern was kept for many years by his son Colonel David
Townsend.” After passing through other hands it was taken down,
and the land was bought by Rev. Samuel Ripley who built his house
back of the old tavern stand and resided there till he removed to
Concord in 1846, when it passed into the hands of Mr. James
Ellison the present owner.
Opposite the Cutting Tavern, on the south side of the street was
a house occupied in 1777 by Stephen Wellman, and in 1798 by
John Foley, the tailor. Next above, in 1798, was the residence
and store of Samuel Wellington ; afterwards the property of John
Welsh of Boston, who added a third story to the house and made
it the finest residence on the street at the time. It had an exten-
sive garden, coach and summer houses, kept in the best of style.
The house was finally removed to Lincoln Street and thence to
Charles Street, and divided into two houses.
1. Captain Isaac Gleason was Assessor 1772-76, and Selectman 1778–80. 2. Colonel David
Townsend was a Selectman 11 years, between 1802 and 1818, and Representative lo years from
1809 to 1820.
CENTRAL HOUSE-
PROSPECT HOUSE-


1775] A Tea - Selling Bachelor. 85
Near the Bird Tavern was the hatter's shop of Eleazer Brad-
shaw, a bachelor, who in 1775 brought tea from Albany and sold
it in defiance of public opinion, and even threatened to “be the
death of any person who should molest him.” Whereupon the
Committee, before whom he acknowledged he had procured and
sold tea, decided that he had “proved himself inimical to his
country,” and recommended their fellow citizens, “to with hold
commerce and dealings with said Bradshaw, until there appears a
reformation in said Bradshaw.”
Between the Cutting and Bird Taverns and on the same side of
the road stood the house built and occupied by Amos Hagar,
afterwards owned by Captain Mead who had a blacksmith shop
east of the house. Connected with this was the wheelwright shop
of Captain Morse, who occupied a part of Captain Mead's house.
West of the house Cornet David Townsend built a shop occupied
by Horatio Bird, cabinet maker, son of Benjamin Bird, innholder.
On the south side, above Wellington's house, was a small one-
and-a-half story house, with a shop at the east end, owned by
Cornet David Townsend, and occupied in 1798 by Stephen Well-
man. It had previously been occupied by Peter Edes with whom
Eleazer Bradshaw boarded. In 1799 it was occupied by Abraham
Fiske. The owner himself lived in it for a while, using the shop
for a bakery. Next west was the dwelling erected by Cornet David
Townsend ; in its rear, and occupied by him previous to building
the house, was a small building, formerly a barrack at Cambridge,
in which he lived and had his bakery. After his house was finished
he erected a bake-shop and store. This house is probably the one
referred to in the description of the picture of “Eden Vale in
Waltham,” in which it appears among the trees near the meeting-
house. It is still standing, occupied by grand-daughters of its
builder. A daughter, the last survivor of a large family of children,
died in 1877. The old barrack was taken down in 1878.
Above Cornet David Townsend's house was the dwelling of
Henry Kimball, taxed in 1798 for $870. It is still standing
on the corner of Newton Street. He previously had a store
86 Village of Waltham. [1798
which stood west of the house. He afterwards was owner of
the “Kimball Tavern,” where the “Central House ’’ now stands.
This part of Main Street between Beaver Brook and Newton
and Pleasant Streets, was the most thickly settled portion, and
constituted the village. Here were “two of the principal taverns,
two stores, the tailor, blacksmith, wheelwright, and cabinet
maker’s shops. The center of this cluster was the old Bird
Tavern, where the militia trainings and many public gatherings
took place.”
The first dwelling in 1798 above Newton Street, on the south
side of the main road, was then owned by Abijah Livermore and
occupied by Eliphalet Warren. Before that date it had been the
home of Peter Ball, a deputy sheriff, and one of the coroners of
Middlesex in 1774, who removed to Brookfield and died there.
It was afterwards purchased and occupied by Warham Cushing,
eldest son of Rev. Jacob Cushing, a cabinet maker, who died in
1804. It was finally taken down and another built by his son
Leonard on the same lot. Warham Cushing built the next house
above for a workshop soon after 18oo, which Elijah Brigham, the
sexton, occupied for Some years. These are still standing, and
owned by heirs and descendants of the Cushing family.
Next stood the tavern kept by Captain Isaac Gleason at the
time of his death, afterwards the property of Nathaniel Livermore,"
who married his daughter Elizabeth. This house was finally pur-
chased by Colonel David Townsend, who resided in it until it was
burned, when he built the house standing on the same spot, where
he died. It is now the residence of, and owned by J. W. Parmenter.
Above this was a narrow one-and-a-half story house occupied
by James Priest, a potter, who had his pottery in the west end.
He died in 1790, and in 1798 it was taxed as the property of
Abigail Priest and Joshua Child. In 1803 Major Uriah Moore,
a paper-maker, married one of the daughters and occupied the
house. It was moved back from the Street and improved. Amos
1. A son of Nathaniel Livermore, who was Selectman in 1760–63. The late George Livermore,
Esq., of Cambridge, was his son.
1798] The Main Road above the Village. 87
Whitney, another son-in-law, and John Livermore occupied these
premises, and finally Walter, the son of Amos Whitney.
On the east corner of Moody Street was a shoemaker's shop,
“afterwads occupied as a dwelling by Amos Harrington," a laborer,
Joshua Garfield, a cooper, and then by Felix, a colored man, in the
employ of John Boies, the paper-maker.” It does not appear in
the tax list of 1798; perhaps was previously removed.
Nearly opposite Newton Street is the house in which Warham
Cushing resided in 1798. The front part of this had been one of
the soldiers’ barracks at Cambridge during the Revolution, which
he purchased and removed hither It passed from him to Samuel
Wellington, and then through various hands to Edward O. Hawes,
who died here in 1850.
Above this was a dwelling belonging to Cornet D. Townsend,
occupied by Samuel Nutting, and in 1798 by John Livermore. It
was afterwards removed to the other side of the road, near the
residence of its owner, and occupied by his son, Deacon Samuel
Townsend.
The next house was an old farm house, where the Central House
now stands. In 1798 it was occupied by John Clark, Jr., who
sold it to David Smith, who built a large front to it and converted
it into a tavern. Afterwards Henry Kimball owned it, and it was
known as the “Kimball Tavern,” as already stated. It was after-
wards owned by Thomas R. Plympton, and then by Jacob
Farwell, and now forms a part of the Buttrick estate.
Next above was an old farm house known as the Mixer place,
Occupied by descendants of Isaac and Sarah Mixer, who came from
England in 1634 and settled in Watertown. It was probably the
dwelling erected in the four acre lot granted in the Further Plain
to Isaac Mixer. In 1798 it was owned and occupied by William
Wellington, Jr., who built the brick house now standing on the
original site of the Mixer house.
Just above Bacon Street, (formerly known by the title of Skunk
1. See note 1, page 88.
88 7%e O/a “A”ske //ozse.” [1798
Lane), there still stands the house once the property of Isaac and
Benjamin Hagar. In 1798 William Fiske was the owner of this
house and 40 acres of land. From him it passed to his youngest
daughter, Caroline, who upon her decease, devised it to the town
of Waltham. It is among the oldest buildings if not the very oldest
standing in the town. Full particulars in reference to this devise
will be given further on.
Jonathan Stearns, in 1798, occupied a house just below where
the Prospect House now stands, the property of the heirs of Jona-
than Hagar, long since gone.
Further west stands a house which, previous to 1798, had been
occupied by successive blacksmiths whose shop stood near by. It
passed through several hands and finally became the property of
Seth Wellington. s
Above this is the residence of Hon. Nathaniel P. Banks, built by
Jacob Gale and owned by him in 1798. It was purchased by
General Banks of J. Baker. A few rods above the barn on this
estate, previous to 1795, there stood a small house owned and occu-
pied by Amos Harrington,” probably built by his father Daniel,
who kept the Harrington Tavern at this point. Above this is an
old road running over Prospect Hill, which, from the records,
appears once to have been a public road between the Harrington
and Stratton Farms. The latter was in the northwest part of the
town beyond the hills, near the junction of West and Winter
Streets.
Above Moody Street, on the south side of Main Street, was a
house once occupied by a Captain Thayer, a carpenter and wheel-
wright, and then by Leonard Williams Cushing, a son of the clergy-
man, who sold it to Nathan Upham. It was afterwards the property
of Jonas Clark, hatter, who removed to a farm east of Lexington
Street, where he died at the age of 85, and this house came into the
hands of Joseph Hoar.
1. He was a revolutionary soldier, at one time said to be the richest man in Waltham. He was
a trader, and afterwards became a poor laborer, and lived at the east corner of Main and Moody
Streets. After his father's death his mother became the second wife of Deacon Samuel Livermore.
FISKE HOUSE, MAIN STREET.
*
-
sº "" " - tº
Hºuſ nº
- - | |
RESIDENCE OF HON. N. P. BANKS.










1812] Public Dinner at the “Green Tazern.” 89
At the east corner of Harvard Street, formerly known as Brown's
Lane, stands the house of Mr. Daniel French, where formerly stood
two houses, one in the rear of the other. The one in the rear
was known as the William Hagar house. In 1798 Amos Brown, Jr.,
was taxed as owner and occupant of the other, which was or had
been a tavern and store.
The next house was built by Captain Zachary Wesson, son-in-
law of Captain Abijah Fiske (a soldier in the Revolution), who kept
a tavern on the opposite side of the road. This was known from
its color as the “Green Tavern.” In 1795 it was kept by Captain
Joseph Nixon, a son-in-law of the builder, who had been a fifer in
the regiment commanded by his father, Colonel Nixon, in the Rev-
olution. It was afterwards occupied as a tavern by Samuel Har-
rington, then by Charles Wesson, son of the builder, and at the
time of the war of 1812 by Captain Isaac Mills. “A public dinner
was given here to which General Miller, of the army on the frontier
was invited. He came late, and while he was anxiously expected,
it was remarked that they had his promise, and that “a soldier's
word is as good as any other man's bond.’” Leonard Smith suc-
ceeded Captain Mills as landlord until he built the Prospect House
opposite, where he died, and the Green Tavern became a dwelling
until it was taken down. In the corner of Prospect and Main
Streets was an old house owned in 1798 by Lois Hagar, where she
had a store.
West of Fiske Avenue on Weston Street (the old main road),
stood a very ancient farm house, the dwelling of Jacob Bigelow,
who was born in 1717, afterwards the residence of his son Abijah.
The latter sold to Captain Zachary Wesson, who demolished the
old house and erected another in which he resided in 1798. This
was purchased by Abraham Fiske and afterwards became the resi-
dence of his son Theodore.
The last house on the south side was the old “ Brick Tavern,” .
built by David Smith and taken down by his son Samuel when he
built the Prospect House, using the material for the latter. His
father kept it in 1798. He is said to have built it in consequence
I 2
90 The “Bemis Tavern.” [I750
of a quarrel with his brother-in-law, Isaac Bemis, who kept the
“Bemis Tavern,” farther up on the other side. He is said to have
petitioned the Court to alter the road so as to run farther south
and thus leave the Bemis Tavern out of the line of travel.
Returning to the north side of the road, at the ſork of Main and
Weston Streets, were the house and store of Daniel Stearns, and the
district school-house just below. The latter was removed when the
new No. 6 was erected in its place.
Near Mr. Nehemiah Warren’s house on the west the road crossed
Masters's Brook. On the east side of the brook stood the tavern
of Samuel Bigelow, and on the west side the house of Bezaleel
Plagg.
Above Stowe Street stands the house of N. L. Sibley, formerly
the residence of Nathan Locke, and owned and occupied by Brad-
shaw Smith before him. Just above this was the dwelling in 1798
of Zebedee Macomber, built by his father-in-law David Smith,
owner of the Brick Tavern which stood opposite. In building it
he made near the fire-place a secret cupboard to keep his money
in, which no one knew of until he pointed it out to his daughter
several years after.
The last house in Waltham on the Main road was the Bemis
Tavern, owned and occupied by Isaac Bemis as a tavern in 1798,
and kept by him for a long time. John Ball is supposed to have
occupied the stand previous to him, and a Mr. Stratton followed
him. It is still standing, the only one of the ancient taverns left,
but no longer a public house. It is among the oldest houses of
Waltham, and doubtless a fair specimen of the ancient inn.
The first retailer of strong liquors in the town was Jonathan
Hammond in 1739, and next Rebecca Walker, in 1750; then Mrs.
Sarah Bowles succeeded in the liquor line, until 1752, when
Samuel Woodburn was licensed, “he being of good conversation,”
as stated in the records. This conversation was equally satisfactory
to the Widow Sarah Bowles, his predecessor, whom he married,
and the town transferred to him the liquor license.
“The inns continued to increase, and in 1765, with a population
1783] Amount of T.wavel through the 7 own. 9I
of 663 there were six taverns; in 1783 there were nine, the highest
number ever reachcci. . . . In 1798 there were but five, and this
number was reduced in the next half-century to two, the present
number,” and the same number that there was in 1743 when the
population was not more than 3oo.
The number of inns is an index to the amount of travel that
passed through the town. For many years Main Street was the
great thoroughfare over which passed the supplies and manufactures
sent in from the northern and western sections of New England to
Boston. Large droves of cattle stopped here on their way to Mon-
day's market at Brighton. Large teams transported several hun-
dred thousand chairs annually to the city. It was not until after
the opening of the West Boston Bridge to Cambridge and the
Mill-Dam Road, and the establishment of Railroads, that this
stream of travel was diverted to other channels, and with the
change came the establishment of the Factories, and the country
village of Waltham became the present prosperous manufacturing
to Wn.
The Selectmen of Waltham, June 2, 1777, “forbid Drs. Williams
and Spring, inoculating any more in said Waltham for the Small
Pox.” Their hospital was an ancient dwelling on the land of
Governor Gore on Grove Street, probably built by the Livermore
family. Nathaniel Livermore, Selectman 1760–63, died here in
1783 at the age of 70. His son Moses afterwards occupied the
house. It was afterwards tenanted by persons employed in a paper
mill erected by Governor Gore where the Bleachery now stands.
Governor Gore sold the old building, which stood where the farm
house of Francis C. Lowell now stands, about 181o to Joseph
Nixon, who moved it to Main Street, opposite the burying-ground.
It was finally again removed, in 1845, to the south side of School
Street, above the Unitarian Church, where its old white oak frame
still remains under a new covering.
The paper mill referred to became the property of William
Parker of Cambridge; afterwards of Major Uriah Moore and Enoch
Wiswall. The latter, with Samuel Coverly and John Holland, of
92 “Adenz Vale ºn Waltham.” [1793
Boston, afterwards erected a Cotton Factory at the same point, and
they were incorporated October 24, 1812, as “The Waltham Cotton
and Wool Factory Company.”
Betwenn 1780 and 1790 John Boies first made use of the water
power at the upper fall by erecting a paper mill, and soon after a
dwelling house. In order to establish a legal right to the mill priv-
ilege, and to prevent other parties, who were preparing to build a
dam above Newton Street, which would have overflowed and
destroyed his water power, from carrying out their plans, he is
said to have set up a grindstone to go by water, whereupon the
others abandoned their project.
The site of the mill and its surroundings was so picturesque as
to acquire the name of “Eden Vale,” and attracted the attention
of the publisher of the Massachusetts Magazine, the number of
which for April, 1793, contained an engraving of the locality, (a
copy of which we give,) with the following description: —
“We have the pleasure to present our patrons with a south view
of Mr. John Boyce's Paper Manufactory, combining a prospectus
of his dwelling house, and outbuildings, together with a view of the
meeting-house, the seats of Messieurs Townsend and Pacy, and
Charles River. The situation is acknowledged to be one of the
most elegant and delightful in the township of Waltham, and has
deservedly acquired the name of EDEN VALE. It is about ten
miles from Boston, and one half-mile from the Great Road on the
Plains.””
The property of John Boies was valued in 1798 at $4,550. It
was afterwards purchased by the Boston Manufacturing Company,
who erected their first Cotton Mill upon the site of the old paper
mill.
East of Moody Street stood formerly an ancient house, the home
of the Pierce family, taxed in 1798 as the property of Abraham
Pierce, and occupied by his father before him. “The farm of this
family included the premises of John Boies, and extended to those
1. Mass. Mag, 1793, p. 192.
COTTON MILLS IN 1820.

1738] The Farm of Abraham Pierce. 93
of the Widow Hoar on Main Street, and the Gale farm on the
west, and east to the property of Warham Cushing,” including the
common, factory grounds, and other lands on the river. This
property has increased in value more than any other in the town.
In 1798 the valuation was $3,983.50. Captain Abraham Pierce
died in 1801. -
The present Poor-Farm was purchased by the town after the
death of its owner, Alpheus Gale, son of Anna Gale who lived
nearly opposite on South Street. The father, Samuel Gale, prob-
ably built both houses and was taxed for them in 1798. The land
was part of the N. E. half of the “Oldham Farm,” bought by
Richard Gale in 1661.
The Kilham place was taxed to Joseph Hagar in 1798. Stand-
ing on the hill to the west of South Street it commands an exten-
sive view.. Farther south on this street is the Harrington farm,
bought by their ancestor in 1684, being then the S.W. half of the
“Oldham Farm.”
Below the Fitchburg Railroad there stood an old house, long
since taken down, that belonged to Samuel Dexter, Esq., in 1798.
Where the Miller place now is stood the residence of Benjamin
Harrington, taken down about 1851. It was supposed to have
been one of the oldest houses in Waltham, if not the very oldest.
The farm was probably a portion of the “Oldham Farm.”
Nathan Upham, taxed in 1798 for a house on the south side of
Main Street, built the first mill at Stony Brook, near South Street.
It was a paper mill, and he and his brother Amos served their
apprenticeship with John Boies. It passed into the hands of Will-
iam Parker, of Cambridge, who moved a small house from Cam-
bridgeport to this place, which was the first dwelling-house on
Stony Brook. After the Messrs. Roberts purchased the property
the wooden buildings were burned, and the present establishment
arose from their ashes. -
On Warren Street stood an old dwelling occupied in 1798 by
Peter Warren, opposite Hagar's lane, once a road where many of
the first settlers lived, now open merely as a cart path, and without
94. A “Better Currency” than Specie. [1730
a house upon it. On Beaver Street, near the Watertown line, is
the house occupied by Captain Samuel Barnes in 1798. His father-
in-law, Phinehas Warren, father of Peter, occupied the place before
him, and he was probably preceded by his father Joshua, grandson
of John Warren, who came to Watertown ;
in 1630, and with Abraham Browne was }oſa 4134-1 U/LL
appointed to lay out all the highways.
March 14, 1658–59, he was warned for not attending public wor-
ship ; but “Old Warren is not to be found in town.” He was also
fined for not attending public worship, and for violating the law
concerning baptism, and in 1661 his house was ordered to be
searched for Quakers.
At the junction of Warren and Beaver Streets was the house of
General Jonathan Coolidge," still remaining; the west end of which
was built by him, while the other is quite old. His father, Captain
William Coolidge, bought it of his wife's uncle, Captain John
Brown, who owned and

* %2%. occupied it for a few
(— years. Captain Brown
fills a prominent place
in the early history of
the town. He was an innholder in 1737, and had “the reputation
of being a man of more than common energy and enterprise.” He
held many offices and positions of trust; was Selectman 1744–48
and 1752, and Representative in 1748. In 1759 his assessment
was the largest except one in Waltham. In 1760 he with several
others, directors and partners in the Land Bank Company, peti-
tioned the General Court “for a lottery, to relieve themselves from
the disastrous results of that celebrated association, which was
established 30 years before, under the delusive expectation of fur-
nishing the people a ‘better currency' than gold and silver,
which had become very scarce.” He died in Weston in 1784 at
the age of 80, quite poor; “the few hundred pounds realized in
1. Selectman 1791–1807; Representative 1802 and 1804.
1798] The “Zyman Place.” 95
Continental money from the sale of his last real estate, turned to
dust and ashes in his hands.”
The next house was one on the Pigeon Hill Road, probably
built by Ephraim Hammond, a son of Deacon Thomas Hammond
who was a Selectman in 1741 and 1743. It was afterwards occu-
pied by his son, who sold it to Deacon Lawrence. The house on
Beaver Street, opposite to Linden, was built by Jonathan Hammond,
who died in 1807, and whose widow became the second wife of
General Jonathan Coolidge. His father Jonathan lived here before
him in a very ancient house.
The mansion house of Theodore Lyman still remains, valued
with two acres of land in 1798 at $8,000. The “Bell House,” so
called, built and occupied by William Bell, his gardener, stood
north-east of the mansion house near the deer park, and was valued
at $300. The old Livermore house stood north-east of the mansion
house, and was occupied by Mark Vose, in the employ of Mr.
Lyman, and was valued at $560. This was afterwards removed to
Main Street.
The land of the Lyman place is supposed to have been the 50
acres" of land in the First Great Dividend granted to William Paine,
and bought of him by John Livermore, who came from England in
April, 1634, and is supposed to be the ancestor of all the Liver-
mores in the United States. He gave this property to his son
Nathaniel, who died in 1730, and bequeathed his real estate to his
grand-nephew, Samuel Livermore, afterwards Deacon, who was
born in 1701. The latter had four wives. He died in 1773 leav-
ing the property to his son Elijah,” who sold to Jonas Dix,” who in
turn sold to Theodore Lyman. In the hands of the latter the
rough and irregular grounds were brought into the highest state of
cultivation, and laid out in the most artistic and elegant manner.
1. The grant to William Paine was 70 acres, but the Inventory of John Livermore, dated March
2, 1684, says “50 acres dividend land, bought of William Paine, and given to son Nathaniel.” The
Inventory also covers “I acre at Chester Brook.” 2. Elijah Livermore moved to Maine in 1779,
and became the father of the town of Livermore, which was first settled by emigrants fyom Wal-
tham, Watertown, and the adjoining towns. – Bond. 3. Jonas Dix was a graduate of Harvard
in 1769; was Selectman in 1780–86 and School-master for twenty-two winters. -
96 Poor A/ouse aſ: “Aſe//'s Mozeſh.” [I750
Across the brook which flowed through the lawn in front of the
house he erected a beautifully proportioned bridge of three arches,
made of Chelmsford white stone, which added greatly to the beauty
of the place: but owing to some trouble with the town concerning
it, it was afterwards removed. Sixty years ago there was a deer
park on the south side of Beaver Street opposite Forest Street, and
from the bridge a road extended through the grounds across the
present Linden Street to the back road, in the direction of Quince
Street. Our views convey but a faint idea of the picturesqueness
of the scenery in these attractive grounds.
On the east side of Pleasant Street was the parsonage of Warham
Williams, probably erected soon after his settlement over the church
in 1723. After his death his widow and son, Dr. Leonard Williams,
occupied it. The latter died in 1799, and Mr. Lyman purchased
the estate. The frame of the old house afterwards was used in the
“Maxwell House” in Main Street, already mentioned.
Rev. Dr. Cushing's parsonage was also on Pleasant Street, and
still remains. The house is probably 120 years old. It was sold
by the daughter of Dr. Cushing to Henry Timmins, who improved
it, and it afterwards came into the possession of Mr. James Ellison.
It was modelled after the house of Mr. Samuel Harrington, on
South Street, who made the estimate for the lumber required so
closely, that Dr. Cushing used to say that, “there was not enough
left to build his two bee hives.”
The Poor House of 1750 was a small house owned by Samuel
Garfield, located at what was called “Hell's Mouth,” up among the
hills between Stony Brook Mills, at the end of Weston Street, and
Mr. Amasa Harrington’s on South Street. It was taken down and
removed to the land of Jacob Gale (now Banks's), opposite the
junction of South and Weston Streets. Jacob Garfield afterwards
bought it and used it as a carpenter's shop for a while, and then
converted it into a residence. -
Newton Street was voted March 3, 1755, upon the petition of
Steven White and others, to run from the Main Road to the river,
crossing Beaver Brook near the river by a bridge. In 1759 Some
CHESTER BROOK, LYMAN ESTATE.
THE LYMAN MANSION.


17OO] “Piety Corner.” - 97
alteration was made in the road near the river, on land of Jonas Dix
and Richard Cutting," and in 1761 the subject of a Bridge over the
river was brought up in town-meeting. The “new way to the new
bridge’ is first placed on the list of town ways in 1762, and prob-
ably a bridge had then been completed, built by subscription. In
1773 a vote of the town shows that the mouth of Beaver Brook had
been changed, so that it should flow through Jonas Dix's land more
to the eastward, to avoid having a bridge over it on Newton Street.
“Pond End” was the name applied to the neighborhood on the
Lincoln road near the “Great Pond.” Allen Flagg and his
brothers John and Michael settled here about 1684, on Chester
Brook, and the Sandersons about 1689. Joshua Bigelow had
settled on or near Chester Brook in 1676. Several of the deacons
in Mr. Angier's church lived in this section. Jonathan Sanderson*
was chosen deacon January 7, 1702–3, and his son and grandson
of the same name held the same office. Thomas Livermore was
appointed deacon October 3, 1718 ; his homestead afterwards
passed into the hands of Jonas Clarke, Sen. So many of the leading
men in the church resided here, near to each other, that the name
“Piety Corner’’ was given to the locality around the junction of
Bacon and Beaver Streets. Captain John Clarke” lived here, the
eldest brother of Jonas just named. The Clarkes had a grist-mill
on the site of the present machine-shop of George F. Shedd on
Chester Brook which, perhaps, had previously belonged to Deacon
Thomas Livermore.
1. His grandson, Uriah Cutting, Jr., was a noted man in Boston, extensively engaged in real
estate transactions, and distinguished for projecting and carrying out very important public im-
provements. He was the chief mover in opening Broad, Cornhlil, Brattle, and other Streets in
Boston; also in building Central and India Wharves. He projected the Mill-Dam, but did not live
to see it completed. 2. His grandson, Abner Sanderson, was Assessor 25 years, 1766–1805; Select-
man 21 years, 1778-1806; Representative 23 years, 1778–1808; also a Justice of the Peace and principal
surveyor of the town. He accompanied Mr. Ripley in 1814 in his search for Mt. Feake, Masters's
Arook, and Adam's Chair. Since page 28 was put in type it has been ascertained that the Fitchburg
Railroad passes over the site of Adam's Chair, every trace of which has been obliterated. 3. Captain
John Clarke was the son of Deacon John Clarke, whose sister Hannah was maternal grandmother
of Hon. Hannibal Hamlin of Maine. She married Deacon Elijah Livermore, father of the town
of Livermore, Maine, and her daughter Anna, born in Waltham, was the mother of the dis-
tinguished Senator and Vice-President, who thus had Deacon Samuel Livermore as his maternal
great-grandfather, the mother of whose children was a sister of Deacon William Brown, of Waltham.
I 3
98 First Tax List of the Town, [1738
Deacon John Sanderson, son of Deacon Jonathan “y” third,”
made an addition to his house a few years before his death on the
east end, and upon a panel over the mantel in this east parlor
J. W. Edes, supposed to be the same artist who drew the picture
of “Eden Vale,” painted in 1789 a barnyard scene which still
remains. This dwelling was recently remodeled by the late
Rev. Thomas Worcester, and stands near his residence. A gable
and window of the original Old Sanderson house are still retained
in the modernized building, and the east parlor is also preserved
as originally finished with wooden cornice, deep windows, and
inside shutters.
The list of tax payers, or, Invoice as it was termed, completed
October 6, 1738, gives the tax 43,521 11s. 0d., and 144 polls at
3s. 3d, 4, 16 18s. od new tenor. Thomas Hammond and John
Cutting were each taxed for a slave. On the Province Rates of the
same year there are 151 names, 119 residents and 32 non-residents;
87 residents being taxed on real estate. On the back of this list
it mentions:– “Trapilow pays 460 os. 6d. ; out of £323 9s. 1d.”
Samuel Parkhurst paid the highest tax, next David Mead, Lieu-
tenant Thomas Biglow, David Benjamin, and Deacon Thomas
Livermore. -
March 6, 1734, the second article in the warrant for the precinct
meeting was “considering the Difficultys of the Reverand Mr.
Williams for want of a Servant, to know their minds whether they
will Grant him a sum of money to Purchus him a Wegro Boy,” but
it was not passed, from motives of economy probably. In 1742,
“the Selectmen agreed to have a pair of Curtains at 2 of the Meet-
ing-house windows to prevent the sun shining in Mr. Williams's Eye
and hurting his sight.”
There is an account on file for 1742 of sums, amounting to more
than half the minister's salary, paid for killing 2,374 squirrels (622
of them by Jonas Smith), 618 blackbirds, and 3 water rats. The
amount paid in 1743 for the same was £1 13 9s. Iod, exceeding
the salary of the minister. The valuation of the same year was
43,815 6s. Od. – 144 polls, horses IoS, oxen IoS, cows 438, Swine
17 s 8] “Z%e O/a/ French War.”
178, negroes I. Valuation in 1747, £4,223 6s. od, ; polls 144, horses
111, oxen 121, cows 435, swine 174, sheep 281 ; no slaves men-
tioned, but 3 were returned in 1752; in 1756, I to Thomas Wel-
lington, I to Samuel Livermore, 2 to Captain John Cutting. In
1764 there were 13 slaves. In 1753 the number of polls was 147.
“Quick-stock,” viz.: 3 slaves, 299 sheep, 188 swine, III horses,
455 cows, 118 oxen, 9 chairs, and I chaise. The chair being “a
sort of open chaise.” *.
February 1, 1730 Rev. Warham Williams baptized Peter, an
infant negro belonging to Joseph and Margaret Priest. In 1790,
there were Io colored persons in the town ; 6 in 1800, 5 in 1810.
In 1753 one Prince Jonah, a slave of Abraham Bigelow of Wes-
ton, found a leather pocket case with tickets of land lying in
Gardner, Canada, east of Northfield, belonging to Joe Williams,
also one dollar, one pistareen, and two coppers, and an empty
money bag. This was so extraordinary an occurrence that it was
entered upon the town records, and there stands a witness to the
sterling honesty and integrity of the fathers.
February 3, 1752, before the settlement of Mr. Cushing, the
church and town invited Mr. Eli Forbush to become pastor. March
16th he declined the call, but asked further time to consider it.
March 27th he wrote stating that he had once decided to accept,
but learning of opposition to his settlement on the part of some,
he had finally concluded not to accept their call.
Captain Jonathan Brown, of Watertown, commanded a company
of troops in what is called “The Old French War,” on the Cana-
dian frontier. A writer who carefully examined some of the
“Brown Papers,” dated at Lake George in 1758, gives a list of 51
names of soldiers who served in his command, and judges from the
names that a majority of them were from “Watertown, Waltham,
and contiguous towns.”
Probably all of these, with the exception of one named Cuffe
Peacock, who signed his name by a mark, and was doubtless a
negro, were “Native Americans, and all live Yankees.”
In 1759 a body of English troops under Lord Amherst arrived

IOO Minute-Men of the Revolution. [1775
to take part in this war; previous to their departure for Lake
George, they were encamped in Watertown, at “Dirty Green,”
below the AEtna Mills, on the Charles River, near Pleasant Street.
An Act passed May 28, 1760, by the General Court, for assess-
ing the sum of 497,345 13s. Od., levied upon Waltham A339 16s.
3d., Weston £302 4s. 0d., Watertown 4.374 14s. 4d., Lincoln 4,261
19s. 1d., Lexington £4.47 12s. 8d., Newtown 4,638 6s. 8d., which
shows the relative valuation of these several towns at that date.
January 25, 1773, a letter was read in town meeting, received by
the Selectmen from the town of Boston, complaining of the griev-
ances the colonists labor under, and Jonas Dix, Esq., Captain
Abijah Brown, Leonard Williams, Esq., and Deacon Isaac Stearns
were appointed a committee to draw up a vote in answer and
report.
September 30, 1774, Captain Abijah Brown, Leonard Williams,
Esq., and Captain Jonathan Brewer were appointed a committee to
draft instructions to their Representative respecting the several
towns forming themselves into a Provincial Congress, and October
3d following Joshua Bigelow was chosen delegate to the Congress
at Concord.
January 9, 1775, “The question was then put to know the minds
of the town, whether they will all be prepared and stand ready
equipt as minute men 2 And the town answered in the affirm-
ative.”
How quickly the minute-men of the towns of Massachusetts
responded to the call of their Committee of Safety, issued the day
after the battle of Lexington, is too well known to be repeated here.
Companies and “individual volunteers rushed from every quarter
to the seat of hostilities.” Stiles, in his Mss. Diary, writes that on
Friday, April 21st, an American army of 20,000 men was assembled.
On the 22d “many of the regiments were at Waltham and Water-
town; but on the 26th they were ordered to march forward to
Cambridge.””
x. Fröthingham's-Seige of Boston, p. 92.
COMMON.


1775] The Town Pledged to Independence. I O I
May 13, 1775, in accordance with the recommendation of the
Provincial Congress, the Selectmen furnished each of the follow-
ing named persons, who had “enlisted in the service of Massachu-
setts for the defence of the liberties of America,” with a good
blanket : —
Eliphalet Hastings, Jonas Lawrence, Elijah Cutting,
Elisha Cox, Josiah Convers, Cutting Clark,
Abraham Parkhurst, Matthew Pierce, Josiah Bemis, Jr.,
Daniel Warren, Elijah Mead, Asa Gould,
Bezaleel Wright, Samuel Mullikin, Amos Fiske,
Zechariah Weston, Job Priest, David Smith,
Benjamin Gallop, Amos Harrington, George Wellington,
Micah Bunepo, Jonas Smith, Jr., John Viles,
Josiah Lovett, Elisha Harrington, Habakkuk Stearns,
Jesse Goodell. Nathan Wright, Abijah Fiske,
Rufus Stacey, Isaac Bemis, Elisha Stearns,
Reuben Bemis, Timothy Flagg, Eliphalet Warren,
Moses Warren, William Sprague, Thaddeus Child,
Andrew Benjamin, John Symms, Edmund Lock,
who probably formed the company which went to Bunker Hill a
month later.
They likewise delivered to Eliphalet Hastings, Abraham Park-
hurst, and Daniel Warren the guns of Jonas Dix, Esq., William
Wellington, and Josiah Brown respectively, the owners being will-
ing to lend the same. Two weeks later, May 27th, a vote was
passed advising their Representative “that if the Honorable Con-
gress should, for the safety of the United Colonies, declare them
independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, they, the said inhab-
itants, will solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support
them in the measure.”
June 11, 1776, the Selectmen ordered the Treasurer to pay Josiah
Wyer for a bayonet lost by Eliphalet Hastings at the Battle of
Bunker Hill.
June 25th, the town voted the sum of £6 6s. 8d., as a bounty to
each non-commissioned officer and soldier that shall engage in the
expedition to Canada, and appointed Matthew Collins and Isaac
Gleason a committee to raise the money to pay the same. The
IO2 Draft from the Militia. [1776.
certificate of the committee states that they raised £152 for twenty-
four men “that engaged for Waltham in the Continental Army in
the year 1776, which was called the Canada expedition.” Among
the number was a negro belonging to Isaiah Edes.
The Declaration of Independence was placed upon the town
records.
The following is the return of William Brown to a warrant from
Colonel Thatcher: —
“State of the Massachusetts Bay, County of Middlesex.
WALTHAM, September 20, 1776.
“Pursuant to a warrant from Col. Thatcher, agreeable to a
resolve passed by the General Court of this State on the 17th inst.
The first Company of Militia in this town were mustered for the
purpose of drafting every fifth man from said Co. to joyn the army
of the United States, at which time the following persons volun-
tarily offered to do a turn, or procure a man for that purpose:
“Viz. – John Sanderson Procured Josiah Lovett,
Reuben Pierce do. Isaac Bemis
Phinehas Lawrence
Nathan Viles do. Elisha Stearns
Zechariah Smith do. Joseph Brown
Capt. Isaac Gleason do. Edward Bird
“The above Company were mustered
pr WILLIAM BROwn.
“A List of the first Company of Militia in Waltham, including
all from sixteen years old and upwards. [56 names follow].
“Those who are now in and have done a turn in the service.
[42 names not included in above list].
WALTHAM, November 29th, 1776.
“A List of those persons in the first Company of Militia in
Waltham, from sixteen years old and upwards, who are able bod-
ied, effective men, and not in the service of the United States of
America.” [28 names].
1778] Committee to Levy War Tax. IO3
May 19, 1777, the town voted to instruct Jonas Dix, Esq., then
chosen Representative, “to join (if he think proper) with the Rep-
resentatives and Council in one body, to form such a Constitution
of government as he shall judge best calculated to promote the
happiness of the State.”
On the 9th of February 1778, “the Articles of Confederation
and perpetual Union between the United States of America were
read to the town, and maturely considered by them ; the town
unanimously agreed that the said plan of Confederacy is well
adapted for the securing the Freedom, Sovereignty, and Indepen-
dence of the United States of America, and instructed their Rep-
resentative to give his vote in favor of authorizing the Delegates
from this State to ratify the same in y” Congress of the United
States, that the same may become conclusive.”
September 28, 1778, Abner Sanderson, Elisha Cutler, Peter
Warren, John Bright, and Jonas Child were chosen by the town a
Committee “to estimate the services of persons in the war either
by bearing arms, or paying money to encourage others, and to
apportion to the same by a tax upon the polls and estates of the
town, and also to determine how men shall be raised for the war
hereafter.”
October 19th following they reported that thirty men, then in-
habitants of Waltham, with Colonel Jonathan Brewer" at their
head, were in the eight months campaign, and were entitled to 43
12s. each. Nine “two months' men were sent to the Cambridge
lines, and received 18s. each. Seven went to Canada, and in con-
sideration of their travel and hardships, and the extravagant prices
they had to pay to the French for supplies, they were allowed £15
each. Colonel Jonathan Brewer, Captain Abraham Child, William
Lock, and Jonas Lock were in the Continental service in the Jer-
seys in 1776, and lost their baggage, so they were allowed £6
each.
Sixteen persons who chose to hire substitutes rather than go on
I. He made a proposition to the Provincial Congress at Watertown to raise five hundred men
for an expedition to Quebec.
104 Men and Means Furnished for the War. [1778
the expedition to Canada, had to pay an additional sum of £6
each. Eight men who went with the State and Town bounty were
allowed £6 each additional.
Deacon Elijah Livermore, Amos Brown, and Jonathan Fiske paid
A6 each, and eleven other leading men in the town paid £10 each,
to procure men to go to the lines at Boston. 4, 17o was raised from
twenty-nine persons, in sums of from £3 to £5 each, to hire soldiers
for the town quota of a reinforcement for the Continental army, and
to secure the passes of the North River.
Warham Cushing, James Priest, and Benjamin Hagar, each pro-
cured a man to serve in the army three years or during the war,
and were allowed £30 each. Fifteen men did service at the Boston
lines and at Dorchester Heights in the winter of 1776, and three
went to Rhode Island. The latter received £6 each. Five, who
were drafted to go to Bennington, went in person or procured sub-
stitutes. Eight went in November, 1777, to guard the troops of the
Convention at Watertown, and remained until the following April.
Twenty others went in January, and six for 15 days in July.
The Committee also give a long list of persons who gave from
42 to £30 each to procure men for the Continental Army.
Fourteen men went to the Boston and Roxbury lines in the
spring of 1778, and fourteen others advanced money to procure
men to go to Rhode Island in the summer following. Five went to
escort prisoners to Rutland. Fifteen, who went to the lines in
August of the same year, were allowed £2 each.
The total sum of the allowances reported by the Committee was
43,308 6s. 4d. The report was accepted by the town and the
money granted. At the same meeting Captain Abraham Peirce
and John Bright were appointed a Committee to procure men for
the war whenever there should be a call for more troops.
Nathan Lock, the last survivor of these patriots of a century ago,
who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor in
defence of the liberties of their country, died nearly 30 years ago;
but the spirit of the fathers descended to the children's children,
and the record of Waltham in the Rebellion is as much to her
honor and credit as in the Revolution.
GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
GRAMMAR SCHOOL, SOUTH SIDE.


1781] Paper Money to Silver as 75 to 1. IO5
May 24, 1779, Abner Sanderson" was chosen Representative, and
was empowered to vote for the calling of a State Convention to form
a new Constitution, on the condition that the several towns and dis-
tricts in the State have a voice in choosing Delegates to the Conven-
tion, and that the Constitution be submitted to the people for their
approval. August 18th following Jonas Dix, Esq. and Captain
John Clark were chosen Delegates to the Constitutional Conven-
tion to meet at Cambridge, September 1st ; and the first named
was also chosen a Delegate to the Convention to meet at Concord,
in October.
From October 14, 1779 to March 5, 1781 the town appropriated
4, Io8,78o 18s. 6d. for the hiring of soldiers, and the purchase of
clothing and provisions for the army. Among the items are 4, 2,900
to pay for three horses, 4, 1,200 to purchase 7,200 lbs. of beef, and
4, 50,400 to hire twelve soldiers. These grants were made in the
depreciated Continental bills. In December, 1781, the constables
were instructed to collect the taxes remaining due on their lists in
silver money, at the rate of one silver dollar for seventy-five on
their list of rates, the taxes being levied in paper money of the
old issue.
September 4, 1780, “a meeting of the inhabitants, 21 years of
age, who have a freehold estate of the income of three pounds, or
any estate of the value of £60, was held, and the vote for Governor”
stood:— For John Hancock 54, for James Bowdoin 3. April 2,
1781, John Hancock had 41 votes for Governor; and the next year
John Hancock received 31 votes, and James Bowdoin and Colonel
Jonathan Brewer I each, for the same office.
September Io, 1781, the town refused to take any steps to defend
Lieutenant Eliphalet Hastings and others against an indictment
found against them for a riot, in their endeavors to arrest Felix
Cuff, a negro slave who was enlisted by the committee in 1780.
Felix Cuff” and other negro slaves concealed themselves in the
summer of 1780 in a cave on Stony Brook, called the “Devil's Den.”
r. See note 2, p. 97. 2. This same Felix Cuff received for his services in the war 4, 1,500, and
60 bushels of corn.
I4
IO6 A'evolutionary Documents. [I775
Opposite the Stony Brook depot is a hill, called Snake Rock, from
the rattlesnakes which used to abound at the foot of its precipitous
western side. In the face of this high rock is this cave, some
twenty feet in depth. Lieutenant Hastings, having discovered the
whereabouts of the fugitives, went up with a party of young men to
capture them ; but they met with a warm reception and came back
empty handed. The negroes afterwards prosecuted Hastings for
riot; hence the indictment referred to."
The following documents, though belonging more especially to
the parent town, will not be without interest here. It is believed
that they have not before been published.
The Colony of Maſſachuſts Bay
D* to Samuel Bowers for going from Watertown to Concord with
a priſioner myself and horſe and expenſes one Day £o: 9: O
overchag 3
Watertown, July 13th, 1775. 6
In the Houſe of Representatives— Oct". 1775.
Resolved that Samuel Bowers be paid out of the publick Treaſury
six ſhilling in full of the above account.
1776, Feb. 26. Exam" and allow". Ao : 6: O
Not Recorded. ABRA* WATSON
THO8 PLYMPTON
AARON WOOD
JOSEPH LOCKE.
[Endorsed]. This may Certifye that the within named Sam'
Bowers Did the ſervice within mentioned.
JAMES BARRETT.
June 22", 1775. To the Commety of Suplys at Watertown.
Honorable Gentlemen I ſend you five fire Locks which I Pur-
chaſed in Deerfield for the uſe of the Colony of the Maſſachuttes
bay BENJ* ELY.
1. Colby's Mss Motes,
1789] Washington aſ Włalozy Coolidge's 7.avern. Ioy
1776. Colony of the Maſſachusetts Bay to Elkanah Wales D*
March 25. To the uſe of a Room, occupied as an Office by the
Hon “Committee on Accº from Dece 15", 1775, to this Day,
= is 34 months @ 13s. 4d. p. month £2 : 3: 4
Deduct overcharged IO ... I O
Errors Excepted. 4, I : I.2 : 6
PP. ELKANAH WALES.
[Endorsed]. April 29, Exam" and allowed £1 : 12: 6
ABRA* WATSON
NATH" MIGHELL
THO8 PLYMPTON
AARON WOOD.
Elkanah Wales married Susanna Coolidge, a daughter of Nathaniel
Coolidge, who kept a tavern from 1764 to 1770, the first house on
the south side of the river at Watertown Bridge. This house is
still standing in excellent preservation, but the barn and sheds
attached show the ravages of time. This was probably the tavern
referred to by General Washington, who wrote in his diary Thurs-
day, November 5, 1789, “We lodged in this place [Watertown] at
the house of Widow Coolidge, near the Bridge, and a very indiffer-
ent one it is.” He had come from Lexington that day, and says,
“Instead of going to Waterto Vn from Lexington if we had pro-
ceeded to Waltham we should in 13 miles have saved at least 6.”
In 1786 there occurred in Massachusetts an insurrection against
the government known as “Shays's Rebellion;" it caused some
anxiety at first, but was speedily suppressed by State troops under
Generals Lincoln and Shephard. The leader, Daniel Shays, was
not unknown in Waltham, as appears from the following document
in the possession of an old citizen : —
“WALTHAM, Febry 23, 1786.
“Received of John Bright two pair Mens Shoes for which I
promiſe to Deliver him Fourteen lb. good Flax on demand.
DANIEL SHAYs.”
IO8 Longevity in Waltham. [1789
In the Constitutional Convention of 1788 the votes of a majority
of the Delegates from Middlesex County were given against the
adoption of the Federal Constitution ; seventeen Delegates voting
in favor of the adoption and twenty-five against. The Delegates
from Waltham and Weston voted in the affirmative ; those from
Watertown in the negative.
April 13, 1789, John Adams, Vice-President elect of the United
States, set out on his journey to New York from Braintree, via
Dorchester, Charlestown, and Cambridge. At Watertown Major
|Kent's Artillery saluted his Excellency, who passed on through
Waltham, and arrived in New York at noon on the 20th.
In October of the same year Washington visited the Eastern
States, leaving New York on Thursday the 15th. He lodged and
breakfasted at Captain Flagg's in Weston. Captain Fuller's com-
pany of Horse met him and escorted him through Waltham and
Watertown to Cambridge. He, too, was saluted by the Watertown
Artillery as he passed through the town on Saturday, the 24th of
October. Twelve days later he lodged at Widow Coolidge's Tav-
ern, as stated on the preceding page.
The following is the “Bill of Mortality for the Town of Waltham
from Jan. 1ſt, 1767 to Jan. 1ſt, 1789. Deaths, under 2 years of
age 62 ; between 2 and 5 years 20: 5 and Io years 13; 1 o and 20
years 19 ; 20 and 30 years 18; 30 and 40 years 18; 40 and 50
years 17 ; 50 and 6o years 13; 60 and 70 years 13; 70 and 80
years 25; 80 and 90 years 22 ; 90 and Ioo years 4; Total 244.
By which it appears that 51 lived to 70 years and upwards.”
In 1857 there were living in this State eleven brothers and
sisters of the Wellington family, all born in Waltham, whose united
ages amounted to 825 years. One other had died at the age of 75,
and a thirteenth was drowned at 18.
In 1865 the deaths between 30 and 40 years of age numbered 6;
40 and 50 years 9 ; 50 and 60 years 2 ; 60 and 70 years 8 ; 70 and
80 years 16; 80 and 90 years 3; over Ioo years I ; giving a total
1. Mass. Mag. V. I. (1789) p. 63.
SOLDIERS' MONUMENT.HIGH SCHOOL.

1812] A Miracle—“Casting out Two Devils.” Io9
of 20 over 70 years of age. In the 150 deaths for the year the
average age of persons native born was about 11 years longer than
that of those of foreign birth. In 1870 there were 24 deaths over
70 years of age including I over Ioo.
In 1878 there were 15 deaths between 70 and 8o ; 13 between
80 and 90 ; and 4 over 9o, including I at 99 years age. Allowing
for a possible error in the ages recorded for five of those of foreign
birth the total number for the year over 70 is 27.
These statistics would seem to show that residence in Waltham
is conducive to longevity, while to be born there, especially of one
of the original families, is to secure a better than an average
chance for a long life.
In the war of 1812 Waltham was equally as ready as in the
Revolution, and as prompt to meet every requisition for men and
money for the national defence, and, “in addition to the compen-
sation paid by the government, the town generously rewarded its
own soldiers.”
So loyal were the people to the government that fifty-five” mem-
bers of Mr. Ripley’s church (The Frst Church) seceded and organized
themselves into the “Second Religious Society” in Waltham, in
consequence of an anti-war sermon preached by the pastor on a Fast
day appointed by President Madison. He belonged to the Federal
school and did not hesitate to freely express his sentiments, not
perceiving that hostility to the government was encouragement to
the enemy. Among the loyal men to whom his discourse was
offensive were many of his best and firmest friends. Two" of
them left the church before the sermon was finished, and this gave
rise to the story that the minister in Waltham had performed a
miracle — casting out two devils. The seceders engaged Rev.
Elisha Williams to preach for them, first in the district school-
house below the old grave-yard, and afterwards in the hall of the
1. Historical Address, July 4, 1876, by Josiah Rutter. 2. As appears from two certificates
among the town records, one bearing date October 12, 1813, containing 49 names, and another
dated two days later containing 6 names, both signed by John Bright, Uriah Hagar, and Thomas
Miller, committee, and addressed to the town clerk as the law required. 3. Deacon Isaac Peirce
and Mr. John Bright.
I IO Wa///am's A'effe//zom A^ecord. [1863
Kimball Tavern. They were arranging to build a church, when,
in the following year through the efforts of some members of both
churches, with the assistance of the Rev. Ezra Ripley, father of
the pastor, a meeting of all parties was brought about, suitable
apologies or explanations were made, the differences were healed,
and the seceders returned to the First Church.
During the Rebellion between six and seven hundred of the young
men of the town “enrolled themselves for service in the army or
navy of the Republic.” The town was represented in fourteen reg-
iments of infantry, in the 1st and 2d cavalry, and in the 3d and
4th batteries; but the greater portion of those who early entered
the service belonged to Company H of the 16th Regiment of Mas-
sachusetts Volunteers, organized April 30, 1861, and cordially wel-
comed home on their return, July 22, 1864. The names of twenty-
nine battlefields are inscribed upon their banners, in evidence of
the conflicts in which they were engaged.
Fifty-four “returned no more, or returned scarred with wounds or
exhausted in strength, to die with kindred and friends.”" To per-
petuate the memory of these heroes the town erected upon its
Common the Soldiers’ Monument, dedicated May 30, 1868, with
appropriate services. Upon four tablets of “enduring marble ’’
are chiselled the names of those whom the memorial was erected
to honor. It was designed by George F. Meacham, of Boston, and
executed at Kilburn's establishment in the same city by George E.
Johnson, of Waltham. Its cost was about $9,000.
“To the town of Waltham belongs the credit of being one of the
first in Massachusetts to establish a Union League,” which should
embrace not only legal voters, but all of an age liable to military
service, and by joining which they might record their unconditional
loyalty to their country, its Constitution and Government. The
Report of the Committee, published in 1863, is one of the most
patriotic and loyal documents called forth by the War of the
Rebellion.
1. Address of Hon. NATHANIEl P. BANKs, at the dedication of the Soldiers’ Monument.
1809] Rev. Samuel A'ipley Ordained. I I I
Nor were the women of Waltham less loyal than the men, as the
Reports of the Soldiers' Aid Society abundantly show. A reviewer
of the First Annual Report says: — “The women of Waltham
make little parade of their devotion to the cause; but, neverthe-
less, they are steady and persevering in their efforts, working day
and night, encroaching on hours usually Occupied in home duties,
study or pleasure, and even rest, that they may do what they can
for the comfort of the soldier, whether fighting in the trenches, or
lying sick and wounded in the hospital. . . . Even the school-girls,
stimulated by the example set them, raised $200, the fruits of their
busy fingers. . . . Another society of ladies in our town, which
meets weekly, is energetically at work in behalf of the contrabands.
As no report of their doings has been published, it is less known,
but it is equally active and industrious.”
February 22, 1864, the ladies held a Sanitary Fair for the
Waltham Soldiers' Aid Society, the net proceeds of which ex-
ceeded $2,000.
At a town-meeting held August 24, 1809, Rev. Samuel Ripley,
a Unitarian clergyman, was chosen to succeed the Rev. Dr. Cush-
ing” as “their gospel minister,” receiving all the votes cast
(fifty-nine in number), and he was ordained “November 22d follow-
1. From the first number of the Waltham Free Press, November 25, 1863. 2. After the death
of Dr. Cushing all of his papers, many of which must have contained valuable information concern-
ing the history of the town, were sold to the late Peter Force, of Washington, D. C.
3. The following bill of fare at his ordination shows what was considered in those days suitable
entertainment for guests at public gatherings: —
** BILL OF FARE FOR ORDINATION.
FoR BREAKFAST. – Tea, Coffee, and all other articles suitable for gentlemen.
LUNCHEON.— Boil'd legs of Pork and Bacon, Neats Tongue, Bread, Cake, Cheese, etc.,
together with all kinds of spirits, mix"d or unmix’d as shall be call’d for.
DINNER.— Roast Beef, Pork, Turkeys and Fowles, Baked Plum Pudding, Boiled Pork and
Fowles, Alamode Beef, legs of Bacon, or corn’d legs of Pork and Neats Tongues, with vegetables
of every description. Pies of three kinds, Wine, Punch, Cyder, and any liquors that may be
call’d for. Pipes, Tobacco, and Cigars, in fine every necessary article for a handsome Enter-
tainment.
Lodging and horsekeeping for those who may come the night previous or tarry the night
following ordination.
N. B. — The Wine to be Sherry or Lisbon of the best quality, and all other articles above
enumerated to be of a quality that will do honor to the person or persons who provide the enter-
tainment and to the town.”
II 2 First Church Bell. [1815
ing, that day being the fifty-seventh anniversary of the ordination
of his predecessor. During the first five years of his ministry forty-
five persons were received to communion, and one hundred and
fifty-nine were baptized. January 1, 1815, he reported the num-
ber of members about 160. His salary was $700 per year. In
181o the town voted to give the pew occupied by the family of
Dr. Cushing to his successor, for his use during his continuance in
the town as minister, reserving to Mrs. Cushing her seat in it
during her life, and to her daughter Bridget a seat also, “so long
as she remains single.”
It was six years after the settlement of Mr. Ripley before the
sound of the church bell" echoed among the hills and valleys, and
it was not until about 1822 that the church was warmed in cold
weather. “Every proposition to buy a stove met with decided
opposition from Mr. Cushing and the fathers of the church. These
tough old saints (we sometimes thought them sinners) were a hardy
race, and did not realize the sufferings from cold of the women
and children, or else they were actuated by the spirit of the old
English Puritans who objected to bear baiting, “not because it
gave pain to the animals, but because it afforded pleasure to the
people,’ and we felt at times that the objection to warming the
church was not the expense to the town but the comfort to the
congregation.””
The present Trinitarian Congregational Church was organized
September 28, 1820, with eighteen members, as the church of the
Second Religious Society of Waltham, under which name Paul
Moody and forty-eight others were incorporated June 17, 1820.
An ecclesiastical council was convened October 29, 1820, at the
house of Jonathan C. Merrill. They voted to repair to the Factory
school-house, on Elm Street and organize the church, and the Com-
munion was administered by Rev. Jonathan Homer of the First
Church, Newton.
It “had its rise in a difference in doctrinal views from those
1. There seems to be good authority for this statement, but if it be true the query arises what
bell was rung at the funeral in 1749. See p. 73. 2. OLD SCHOOL in the Waltham Sentinel.
1826] Trinitarian Congregational Church. II 3
advanced in the First Church [Mr. Ripley's], as well as in a need
which had begun to be felt of additional accommodation for public
worship, resulting from the growth of the town, especially of the
Factory population.” The Manufacturing Company and some of
their employés, with other of the townspeople, having decided to
build another church, a paper was circulated for the signatures of
those favoring the project, the agreement being to settle a minister
according to the wishes of the majority of the signers.
The Congregationalists prevailed, and Rev. Sewall Harding,
from Medway, who had been preaching to them in the school-house
on Elm Street, was ordained January 17, 1821, the same day the
new house of worship was dedicated on Church Street, on the spot
now occupied by the Catholic burial ground. -
The views of Rev. Mr. Harding not according with those of a
majority of the parish, he was dismissed by a vote of the society,
April 4, 1825 — 62 affirmative, 15 negative. The church-members,
with the exception of one or two only, adhered to their pastor and
left in a body, worshiping at Deacon Pearson's house on Main
Street until they procured a hall on the corner of Main and Newton
Streets, where they remained till their first house of worship, erected
on the corner of Main and Heard Streets, was dedicated, October
11, 1826. “The church, in withdrawing with Mr. Harding, were
desirous of retaining the original mame; but as this was deemed to
be inadmissible the present name was taken " July 5, 1826.
The building was originally small, with but 60 pews. It was
twice enlarged, first by taking the original porch into the body of
the house, which added some twenty more; and at the same time
a basement vestry was constructed. In 1859 the interior was
renovated, and an organ introduced.
July 19, 1870, the corner stone of the present fine church edifice
on Main Street was laid, and it was dedicated March 2, 1871. The
farewell sermon in the old church was preached August 14, 1870,
by the Rev. Sewall Harding, who had preached the first sermon
within its walls forty-four years previous. For about six months
I5
II.4. Second Congregational Church. [1826
preceding the dedication of the new church the society worshipped
in the new chapel. The pastors of this church have been : —
Rev. Sewall Harding, January 17, 1821 to September 4, 1837.
Rev. John Whitney, November 8, 1837 to April 12, 1858.
Previous to the withdrawal of Rev. John Whitney a part of the
church seceded and organized a Second Orthodox Church, but
reunited with the old church after he left.
Rev. Richard B. Thurston, January 13, 1859 to October 1, 1864.
Rev. Elnathan E. Strong, December 21, 1865 to November 3, 1878.
After the dismission of Rev. Sewall Harding (Congregationalist)
by the majority of the parish of the Second Religious Society,
and the withdrawal with him of his church, a new church was
formed under Rev. Bernard Whitman (Unitarian), as appears from
the following from a book of records of the society. “The second
church was gathered on the 8th day of January, 1826, in presence
of the Rev. Dr. Lowell of the West Church, Boston.” A covenant
was read and signed by “Bernard Whitman from the Church of
Christ in Billerica, Ebenezer Hobbs and Mary Hobbs from the
First Church in Waltham, Jonathan Weeks and Sarah Weeks from
First Church in Marlboro’, Henry Moore and Mary Moore from First
Church of Christ in Bolton, and Cyrus Jones from First Church in
Weston. Dr. Lowell then pronounced these persons members of
the Second Congregational Church in Waltham, gathered according
to gospel order. Recorded by me, Bernard Whitman, pastor elect
of the Second Religious Society in Waltham, Jan, 9, 1826.” Then
follows a list of thirty-three persons who afterwards joined the
church, all but the first, Isaac Bemis, copied by Warren Burton
from another book apparently signed, he says, by the persons them-
selves. March 5, 1826, Bernard Whitman records “Service of
Plate presented by the Boston Manufacturing Company.” Warren
Burton writes, “After the usual transactions, with the exception of
Installation, which was omitted by a vote of the society, I entered
on my duties as pastor of the Second Religious Society in Waltham,
November 1, 1835.”
Rev. Bernard Whitman preached in the meeting-house on Church
1830] Church on the Common. I 15
Street until it was struck by lightning and burned, July 30, 1829.
The Society then worshipped in Rumford Hall until the completion
and dedication of their new church on the Common, January 1,
1830. Rev. B. Whitman continued to be their pastor until his
death, November 5, 1834, at the age of 38 years. Rev. Warren
Burton was his successor, residing for a time with the widow of Mr.
Whitman, and remained until he was released from his engagement
in April, 1837. The house was then sold to the Methodists and was
occupied by them in May following. “After the sale, the Society
worshipped in Rumford Hall, having no settled minister, but em-
ploying Mr. Burton, Mr. William Ware, and others.” “This house
was sold to the Methodists not on account of the feebleness of the
Society, but the element of Universalism had become so prominent
in it, that it was probable they (the Universalists), would soon con-
trol the pulpit.”
The Second Religious Society does not appear to have been in
existence aſter the organization of the Independent Congregational
Society, which many of its members joined at its formation, nor
does any record appear of its dissolution.
Mr. Ripley remained with the First Society until February 1,
1839, when he resigned. The society, however, continued as a live
organization, and held its annual parish meeting April 13, 1840;
May 11th chose a committee to quit-claim all their property to the
pew-holders if they would pay the debts, and here their record ends
abruptly, and the First Church of Waltham passes out of existence.
The church edifice was disposed of in lots, and scattered over the
town. The old rooster which served as a weather-vane on its high
steeple was in the possession of a resident ten years ago. The
bell, said to have been a very fine. toned one, was bought for the
Trinitarian Congregational Society of Winchester.
A meeting of the First Parish, March 12, 1821, chose officers and
accepted Mr. Ripley's offer to “relinquish so much of his Salary as
was carried away by the other society,” the Second Religious Society,
organized in 1820, of which Rev. Sewall Harding was pastor.
September 23, 1829, the first move appears on the record towards
I IG Independent Congregational Society. [1839
a union with the Second Religious Society, of which Rev. Bernard
Whitman was pastor. Propositions were made by both societies,
but they came to naught. Again in November, 1834 an unsuccess-
ful attempt at a union was made.
From the records of the Independent Congregational Society it
appears that June 25, 1838, a business meeting “of the subscribers
of pews' in the contemplated meeting-house ’’ was held, nearly all
the active members of both the First and Second Societies being
present. A resolve was passed to build a new house, and a build-
ing committee was appointed. They afterwards organized, as
recommended by a committee which reported December 26, 1838,
under the name of the Independent Congregational Society, and
were incorporated January 31, 1839. The new meeting-house was
dedicated February 6, 1839, and the Act of Incorporation was
accepted February 22d. “By-Laws were adopted and thus, it
seems, a new and distinct church was established in Waltham.”
Fev. Mr. Ripley was invited to be associated with a pastor to
be selected, which call he accepted. In his letter of resignation
to his old society, he mentions that a new meeting-house had
been built in the town, and says, “It was my hope and desire
that all our society would unite in building the new church and
as a society go there, . . . but as this object is not yet attained,
and as a large majority of this [First] society will leave their
present place of worship and hereafter assemble at the new meet-
ing-house,” he accepts the call of its proprietors, and resigns
his office in the First Society. -
Mr. Ripley and different clergymen preached to the Independent
Congregational Society from April 1839 till the installation of Rev.
George Simmons, October 27, 1841. Mr. Ripley was “invited to
become associate pastor, free of all responsibility, and also, accord-
ing to his request, not receiving any salary.” He occupied this
position till April 6, 1846. -
Mr. Simmons resigned on account of ill-health in April, 1843,
and was succeeded by Rev. Thomas Hill, who was ordained
1. In all 80 persons agreeing to take 87 pews.

1725] Ann Mills's Legacy for the Poor. I 17
December 24, 1845. Mr. Hill resigned in January, 1860. The
Rev. James C. Parsons followed, being ordained June 6, 1860.
He also resigned in May, 1864, and was succeeded May 18, 1865,
by the Rev. S. B. Flagg who remained till January 1, 1869. Rev.
C. McCauley was the next pastor. He was installed December 29,
1869, and remained three years till December, 1872.
The present pastor, Rev. Edward C. Guild, was installed June 8,
1873. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1853, and from
the Cambridge Divinity School in 1857.
An Act of the Legislature approved May 3, 1866, enacts that,
“The Independent Congregational Society in Waltham shall be
called and known by the name of the First Parish in Waltham.”
The church edifice was thoroughly repaired and remodeled in
1867.
A Committee was appointed by the Parish April 16, 1867, to
“inquire into the history of the Ann Mills Fund and the Ripley
Fund.” From their report it appears that “Ann Mills by her
Will, November 7, 1725, gave to the Church of the West part of
Watertown one quarter of her estate, the interest of which was to
be annually distributed to the Poor of the Parish by the Ministers
and Deacons.” The First Church appointed trustees of the fund,
which in 1732 was £282 6s. 4d., and in 1747 was increased to £300,
and the income was regularly given to the poor of the parish, “until
about 1832, when the Rev. Samuel Ripley . . . took or borrowed
the Fund and gave his note for the same, as follows: —
“Waltham, Oct. 1, 1832. For value recd. I promise to pay
Mess. Jonas Viles, Nathan Sanderson, junr., and Jacob Lawrence,
or their successors in office, or order, the sum of Three hun-
dred and forty dollars, being the money left to the church by
the Will of Ann Mills for the use of the Poor of the church with
interest on demand.
“SAMUEL RIPLEY.
“Attest, LEONARD LAWRENCE.”
When the First Church dissolved in 1840, Mr. Ripley “became
anxious to rid himself of the Ann Mills Fund, and, after repeated
II 8 The Mills and Ripley Fund. [1867
consultations upon the subject with his friends, consulted the late
Hon. Samuel Hoar, of Concord, professionally. Mr. Hoar advised
him that there was no society or party to whom he could legally
transfer this fund ; he therefore continued scrupulously to admin-
ister it, paying the interest annually to the Poor until the year
1847, when he was about to leave town.”
His connection with the society had been without pay, and at
the annual meeting, April 7, 1846, the society “voted that the
sum of $300 be presented to the Rev. Samuel Ripley out of any
unappropriated funds of the society.” This vote was amended
April 6, 1847, by adding the words, “for services rendered said
society,” and at the same meeting a communication from Mr.
Ripley, written (probably) in April, 1846, was read, in which he
declined receiving the money, but asked them to “accept this sum
of $300 and invest it as a Fund, the interest of which shall be given
annually to the indigent members of the church belonging to the
Independent Congregational Society in Waltham. . . . It is my
desire that this Fund should be in the hands of the Pastors and
Deacons of the church for the time being, and that they designate
the recipients of it.”"
The society accepted the trust, but did not make any use of the
money till 1853, when, with the interest it amounted to $408; the
treasurer was then directed to give eight dollars in cash and his note
for $400 to the Minister and Deacons, and to pay the interest to
them annually. The committee close their report by recommend-
ing that the fund be hereafter known as the Mills and Ripley
Fund, and this report the Society adopted.
April 6, 1846, Mr. Ripley presented to the Independent Con-
gregational Society a portrait in oil of the Rev. William Welsteed,
who was invited to become Mr. Angier's successor in 1722, but
declined the call. He was born in 1695, the son of William Wel-
steed, a merchant of Boston, who brought the news to Boston
of the earthquake at Port Royal, Jamaica, on which occasion he
1. From Mr. Ripley's letter.
1794] First Methodist Preaching. II 9
narrowly escaped death. He was graduated from Harvard College
with the class of 1717; was Librarian from 1718 to 1720, when he
was appointed a tutor, and held the position till 1728, when he
was called to the pulpit of the old North Church in Boston. He
and Nicholas Sever, a fellow tutor, were conspicuous for claiming
seats in the board of overseers of the College, in 1721–3, and in
the troubles which grew out of an attempt to change the board, and
effect the removal of certain liberal members of the Corporation.
He died in 1753.
The first services of the Protestant Episcopal Church, connected
with the formation of the parish of Christ Church, were held in
Rumford Hall, on the first Sunday in November, 1848. The
parish of Christ Church was organized February 9, 1849 ; the land
on Central Street, upon which the church was built, was given by
Dwight Boyden and J. S. C. Greene. Rev. Thomas F. Fales was
elected Rector and entered upon his duties November 1, 1849.
The church was consecrated December 6, 1849, and Mr. Fales has
remained Rector until the present time. .
The first Methodist preaching in Waltham of which we find a
record, was at the house” of Abraham Bemis, by Bishop Asbury,
Saturday, July 19, 1794. In 1798 a meeting-house, simply a
boarded enclosure, with a platform for the preacher and rough
board seats, was put up in the north part of Weston. In 1834
they had preaching at Mr. Ropes's school-room on Church Street,
and in 1836 they began to occupy the Masonic Hall on Main
Street. In the spring of 1837 a site was procured and a contract
made for building a church on Church Street, when the opportunity
was offered to purchase the meeting-house of the Second Religious
Society (Rev. Bernard Whitman’s) on the Common. Dr. Theodore
Kittredge and Rev. George Pickering met the Committee of the
Unitarian Society at the house of Dr. Hobbs, Agent of the Boston
Manufacturing Company, and completed the purchase by giving
their joint note for $3,000, its original cost having been about
1. An excellent engraving of this house is given on the title-page of Stevens's Memorials of
Methodism.
I 20 Mew Methodist Meeting-House. [1861
$4,200. They occupied the house in May, 1837, the Rev. George
Pickering preaching the first sermon. .*
In 1858 the town purchased the ground of the society for the
Common for $6,000, and the church was removed to the site of
the present one on Moody Street. The lot, including the double
house on the corner of Main Street, half of which is used as a par-
sonage, was purchased of William Porter for $7,000.
The church was removed and refitted, but was destroyed by fire
on the night of May 27, 1860. The society immediately began the
erection of the present edifice, the corner stone of which was laid
August 21, 1860. It was completed and dedicated March 13, 1861.
The ministers stationed here have been as follows : —
Rev. George Pickering, alternating with Rev. O. R. Howard at
Watertown, from 1838 to 1839.
Rev. E. A. Lyon, from 1839 to 1840.
Rev. Horace G. Barrus, from 1840 to 1842.
Rev. B. K. Pierce, from 1842 to 1844.
Rev. David Kilburn, from 1844 to 1845.
Rev. John Paulson, from 1845 to 1846.
Rev. Moses P. Webster, from 1846 to 1848.
Rev. Jacob Sanborn, from 1848 to 1850.
Rev. George W. Bates, from 1850 to 1852.
Rev. N. J. Merrill, from 1852 to 1853.
Rev. Luman Boyden, from 1853 to 1855.
Rev. Justin S. Barrows, from 1855 to 1856.
Rev. T. W. Lewis, from 1856 to 1858.
Rev. E. A. Manning, from 1858 to 1861.
Rev. Samuel Kelley, from 1861 to 1863.
Rev. D. K. Merrill, from 1863 to 1865.
Rev. Cyrus L. Eastman, from 1865 to 1868.
Rev. D. E. Chapin, from 1868 to 1870.
Rev. L. J. Hall, from 1870 to 1872.
Rev. Jesse Wagner, from 1872 to 1875.
Rev. W. A. Braman, from 1875 to 1876.
Rev. W. W. Colburn, from 1876 to the present time.
|- | –
| | | |
|-
EpisCOPAL. Chu R.Ch.CATHOLIC CHURCH.




1852] Airst Baptist Church. I 2 I
The First Baptist Church in Waltham was constituted with
twenty-four members November 4, 1852, and the Sunday-school
was organized November 29th. The vestry of the present house
of worship was occupied for the first time January 1, 1856, and the
house itself was dedicated February 14th, following.
The church has had the following pastors in the order in which
they are named : — Revs. M. L. Bickford, E. B. Eddy, A. M. Bacon,
W. H. Shedd, W. C. Barrows, and F. D. Bland; the last mentioned
being the present pastor. g
The present membership of the church numbers two hundred
and thirty-three.
Rev. Father Strain was the first resident pastor of a Catholic
Church in Waltham, about thirty-three years ago. He remained
here two years and was followed by Rev. Patrick Flood, who held
the position until his death, December 5, 1863, at the age of 55.
He was at the time of his death the oldest settled clergyman in
Waltham, having officiated here and in Watertown nearly 30 years.
He began the erection of the present church in 1859.
Rev. Bernard Flood succeeded him for thirteen years until his
death, December 20, 1876. He commenced the enlargement and
remodelling of the church in 1875, and it was rededicated in
April, 1877. Rev. J. J. Murphy was appointed Assistant Pastor
in July, 1873. Rev. T. Brosnahan, the present resident pastor was
appointed December 28, 1876. The church has seating capacity
for eighteen hundred persons, and the number of communicants is
about five thousand.
The Universalist Society of Waltham was gathered in the Bank
Hall, and the first preaching held in the fall of 1836. The desk
was supplied by the Rev. Thomas Whittemore and others till the
following summer, when the society engaged the Rev. William C.
Hanscom, from New Market, N. H., as their pastor, who entered
upon his duties August 29, 1837. His health gave way and he
preached his last sermon on the first Sabbath in January 1838.
He died May 23d following, at the age of 23. Rev. Sylvanus
Cobb, of Malden, succeeded him in April, 1838, and in July a
16
I 2.2 The AVew-Church Schoo/, [1860
church was formed, numbering 33 members, which was publicly
and duly recognized September 13th of the same year.
In 1839 about twenty families of the old First Parish residing
in the northeast part of the town proposed and effected a union
with the Universalist Society and assisted them in building a church
on the corner of Lyman and Summer Streets, near the site of the
old church, upon land given by Hon. Theodore Lyman, who also
took ten pews in the house. Several years afterwards the building
was removed to a site on Main Street, near the Central House,
where the society worshiped till 1859, when they dissolved and
the building was disposed of and converted to secular uses. It
is now known as “Exchange Hall,” and is occupied as a Furni-
ture Store.
Revs. Edwin A. Eaton, T. G. Farnsworth, A. P. Cleverley, Alex-
ander Hichborn, Massena Goodrich, and Henry A. Eaton were
successive pastors of the old church.
After the society dissolved no regular meetings were held till
1865, when a new organization was effected and Rev. Benton
Smith began preaching in Rumford Hall.
March 28, 1869, Mrs. Phoebe A. Hanaford was settled over the
Society and remained with them about a year. The Rev. Dr.
Thayer and others then preached to the Society until the settle-
ment of the present pastor, Rev. M. R. Leonard, September 1,
1871. Their services are still held in Rumford Hall.
Three quarters of a mile from the village of Waltham, on the
road to Lexington, and within a stone's throw of the site of the old
Clarke's grist-mill on Chester Brook, stands the handsome brick
building of the New-Church School, erected in 1864, and the
dwelling-houses built for the accommodation of pupils. The school
was first opened in September, 1860, in a small stone chapel, with
one end cut off by a movable partition for school use, erected by
the Waltham Corporation of the New Jerusalem Church. This
chapel was burned December 19, 1869, having occupied the same
spot where the now enlarged and beautiful stone chapel stands,
which was dedicated December 25, 1870. The location is not Ioo
1634] Aºrst Grºsſ-M2// oz M2// Creek. I 23
rods from the geographical centre of the town, and not 20 rods
from the site of the first school-house in Waltham. In the imme-
diate neighborhood are some of the finest residences in the town.
The grounds are high, and well drained, with an abundant Sup-
ply of air and water remarkably pure, fresh, and invigorating, while
on the east, north, and west they are sheltered by high hills a half
mile distant.
“The scope of the school reaches from the learning of sounds
and letters in the Kindergarten to fitting for Harvard, or to as
high attainments as any class of pupils may desire.” The school
is for pupils of both sexes, and experience here “has demon-
strated the value to both boys and girls of being thus associated
under proper care.” The discipline is very simple and the public
sentiment of the school very strong against serious misconduct.
The number of pupils for the past ten years has ranged from sixty
to seventy.
In 1864 the school property was transferred to the New Church
Institute of Education.
The homes of the boarding-pupils are kept specially for them
and for teachers, by ladies of experience, who give their whole
time to the charge, and whose efforts are directed to develop and
cultivate a true family feeling among the inmates of each.
As the advantages of this school become more widely known
the town itself will be benefited, as other towns have been by
the establishment of the higher Educational Institutions in their
midst.
The first mill built within the limits of the original town of
Watertown was the “water-mill” referred to on page 2 I in con-
nection with the grant of lands to the wear. It was a grist-mill,
built as early as 1634, upon Mill Creek, a probably natural canal
or raceway flowing around the lower fall and affording sufficient
power for the mill, without the erection of a dam. The volume of
water in the river was very much greater then than now, and the
natural current of Mill Creek would give all the needed power for
an undershot mill wheel. No mention is made of a dam at this
124 A Child Carried under the Mill. Wheel. [1636
early date, and it is not likely that one was then built. Mill Creek
still Supplying power to the mills upon its banks, is doubtless the
oldest mill-race in the country that has continued in uninterrupted
use for so long a period. A dam was erected many years ago
and now turns the shallow waters of the river into its narrow
channel.
Winthrop relates a singular accident that happened at this mill.
A five year old son of one Smith fell into the raceway near the
mill-gate and was carried by the stream under the wheel. One of
the boards of the wheel had fallen off, “and it ſeems (by ſpecial
providence) he was carried through under that gap, for otherwiſe
if an eel paſs through, it is cut aſunder.” The miller noticed
the sudden checking of his wheel, and looking out, found the
child unhurt, sitting up to the waist in the shallow water below
the mill.
In 1653 this mill was rated at £140 for the support of the min-
istry. Before the close of 1686 a fulling-mill had been erected
adjoining the corn-mill, by the proprietors of the latter.
The next mill built was within the limits of Waltham, and was
a fulling-mill, erected in 1662 or 3 on Beaver Brook, in the eastern
corner of the town, supposed to be on the spot where Kendall’s
Grist-Mills stood; sold in 1663 to Thomas Livermore, and eight
years later Captain Benjamin Garfield purchased part of it. Pre-
vious to 1690 a corn-mill had also been erected there. In
17oo these mills or a part of them belonged to Samuel Stearns.
The third mill is referred to in a vote passed at a town-meeting,
held January 5, 1679–80, by which it was “granted that the new
corn-mill now ſet up and to be finiſhed at Stony Brook, be freed
from rates for 20 years” from that date. In 1684 they were owned
by John Bright and others. “These mills,” says Bond, “were
probably owned some time by Lieutenant John Brewer, and after-
wards, for a long time, known as Bigelow's Mills. The mills built
on the three points just referred to, were the only ones in the town
for the first seventy, probably the first hundred years after its
settlement.”
NEW-CHURCH CHAPEL.
NEW-CHURCH SCHOOL-


18O3] Seth Bemis's Cotton Factory. I 25
In 1778 David Bemis, who had purchased 39 acres of land on
the Watertown side" of the river, and Dr. Enos Sumner, who then
owned the land on the Newton side, constructed the original dam
across Charles River, at Bemis Station, where the AEtna Mills now
are, about one mile above the old mill in Watertown. The next
year a paper-mill” was erected on the Newton side, of which David
Bemis owned two-thirds, where he and his son, Captain Luke
Bemis, carried on the business. After his death, in 1790, his sons,
Luke and Isaac, became full owners, and continued until the death
of the latter in 1794. Luke continued the business until 1821,
when he sold out to his brother, Seth Bemis. While running the
paper-mill on the Newton side, David Bemis, previous to 1790,
built and carried on a grist-mill and snuff-mill on the Watertown
side. The first mill on that side at that point. At his death his
two sons, Seth and Luke, inherited this property. About 1796 the
former purchased the interest of his brother, became the sole pro-
prietor, and began to manufacture chocolate, and prepare dyewood
and medicinal woods and roots for use. In 1803 he made addi-
tions to the old mill and commenced spinning cotton by machinery,
making cotton warp, which was so superior to that spun by hand
that the demand speedily became greater than the supply, and the
business proved exceedingly profitable.
“For several years previous to the establishment of the Waltham
Factories, Mr. Bemis was somewhat extensively engaged in man-
ufacturing Cotton Duck, Sheetings, Shirtings, Bed Ticking, Bagging,
Cotton Yarns, &c., employing large numbers of weavers on hand
/ooms.
“In March 1809, he employed a Mr. Douglas to construct
for him a Zwisting Machine of 48 spindles. In October of the
1. Probably a part of the grant to Abraham Browne, the first surveyor in the town, who had some
acres here above “Dirty Green.” 2. The molds first used for the manufacture of paper by hand
were all imported from England, and had to be sent there to be repaired. About 18oo Jacob Mead,
of Waltham, an ingenious inventor, contrived a machine for weaving copper wire for paper molds.
He did not procure letters patent, but kept it concealed, even from his family, in a chamber in his
house, and repaired molds himself. After his death the machine, boxed up and unseen, was sold
by his administrator to Thomas Miller, of Waltham, for $550, but new improvements in paper
making machinery soon rendered it valueless. -
*
I 26 First Ose of Coal Gas for Lighting. [1812
same year, he employed six English weavers, paying fourteen cents
per yard for weaving, and in November following made sales of
duck in Boston, No. 1 at 65 cents, and No. 2 at 58 cents per yard.
This was probably the first Cotton Sail Duck ever made and sold
in this country.”* The sheetings and shirtings sold for 42 cents
a yard. -
During the years 1811 and 1812 his sales in Boston increased,
and he also introduced his goods into the southern markets. After
the interruption of commerce by the war of 1812 Mr. Bemis had to
transport his manufactured goods by his own teams overland to
Baltimore, Alexandria, and even Richmond. “His teams would
be gone on these expeditions several months, bringing back, as
return freight, flour, tobacco, and other articles of southern pro-
ducts.” One house in Baltimore made sales for him in 1812–13
of about $20,000, and another in 1815–16 of more than $21,000.
The brick building in which the English weavers worked is still
standing. His duck was made of Sea Island cotton, which then
cost 20 to 25 cents per pound, while the No. I duck during the war
sold at nearly $1 per yard. He introduced the power loom in
1816,” and by this means reduced the cost of weaving from four-
teen cents to nine-tenths of one cent per yard. In 1831 the price
of duck was 35 cents per yard. Mr. Bemis discontinued the man-
ufacture of duck in 1816, resumed it in 1830 and continued it till
1836 when he relinquished it altogether.
In the autumn of 1812 the venerable Seth Davis, now of West
Newton, erected for Mr. Bemis a small brick building at the east
end of the old mill for a gas-house, and for two years the factory
was lighted with gas made from coal. This is believed to have
been the first successful attempt to use gas in the United States.
In 1798 a part of the celebrated manufactory of Boulton and Watt,
at Soho, England, was lighted with gas, and in 1805 the cotton
mills of Messrs. Phillips and Lea, at Salford, were lighted by Mr.
William Murdock, of Redmuth in Cornwall, who in 1792 had
1. Report of Boston Board of Trade, 1857, p. 65. 2. His looms were set up by a Mr. Stim-
son, machinist, of Cambridgeport.
º,
18ool Village of “Tin Horn.” 127
lighted his own house and offices successfully ; this is the earliest
recorded use of gas for the purpose of lighting.
The use of gas by Mr. Bemis was discontinued after two years,
only because the tin pipes through which it was conducted leaked
so badly, and it was prepared so close to his dwelling-house, that
its longer use was objectionable.
Mr. Bemis carried on the cotton and wool business from 1816 till
1837. After which time, in connection with his son, Seth Bemis, Jr.,
he made the factory the leading mill in the country for grinding and
preparing dyewoods and dyestuffs by machinery, still continuing
the manufacture of cotton and wool into yarn, grinding and cutting
glass, polishing binnacle and other lights for light houses, ships,
&c., running also a shop for repairing and making machinery, and
a grist-mill.
For the first eighteen or twenty years the operatives were sum-
moned to and from work by the blowing of a tin horn at the house
of Captain Luke Bemis, where a number of them boarded. This
house is still standing on Bemis Street in Watertown, near the
Railroad Station. From this custom the euphonious title of
“Tin Horn' has been given to the village near and around the
mills.
In 1821 Mr. Seth Bemis purchased, of his brother Luke and his
partner, Caleb Eddy, the property on the Newton side, and thus
became sole owner of the whole water power. Soon after he sold
to the Boston Manufacturing Company his original right to put a
twelve inch flash-board upon the top of the dam for $1,000 per
inch, or $12,000. In 1822 he built the present stone rolling-dam in
front of the old wooden one which is still standing.
February 3, 1827, the Bemis Manufacturing Company was incor-
porated, and manufactured satinets and duck until 1830, when the
Company dissolved and Mr. Seth Bemis and Thomas Cordis con-
tinued the same business till 1839. The latter then sold out to
his partner and Seth Bemis, Jr. In 1847 they sold the dyewood
business on the Newton side to William Freeman, and Seth Bemis
continued to run the Watertown mills till his death, in 1850, when
128 Waltham Cotton and Wool Factory Co. [1810
Seth Bemis, Jr. became the sole proprietor. In 1860 he sold out
to William Freeman & Co., and they transferred the property to the
AEtna Mill Co. who enlarged the works and now prosecute the
manufacture of woollen fabrics by both water and steam power.
Between 1790 and 1796 the Messrs. Bemis constructed a bridge
without a railing over the river, which was afterwards put by the
commissioners upon the two towns. In 1807 the Watertown end
was swept away by a freshet. It was followed by a ſoot bridge for
a few years, when a bridge suitable for teams was erected by sub-
scription. The north end of this was swept away in 1818. The
present bridge was built not long after.
The establishment of “The Waltham Cotton and Wool Factory
Company,” is described January 1, 1815 as follows: " — “It is an
extensive and profitable establishment. The company commenced
building early in 1810, and the cotton factory was in operation the
same year. It contains 2,000 spindles, and works 3oo lbs. of
cotton per day. The woollen factory has 38o spindles, 4 jennies,
and 2 jacks, and spins 60 lbs. per day. The number of looms in
constant operation is fourteen. Probably upon an average Io, ooo
yards of cloth are made every month, under direction of the insti-
tution ; though a considerable portion of the weaving is done in
the neighboring, and some of the distant towns. More than 2 oo
persons are attached to this manufactory, about 150 of whom,
chiefly women and children, are daily employed in spinning,
weaving, dyeing, &c. They compose twenty families and upwards.
The cotton factory is a large wooden building of four stories; there
are besides four dwelling-houses, two of them very large, for the
convenience of the people, a large store and warehouse, dye-house,
grist-mill, mechanics’ shop, woollen factory, weaver's and school-
house. These buildings, situated near to, or upon the bank of the
river, and shaded by a grove of lofty oak and ash trees, present a
pleasant object to the traveller upon the main road, about half a
1. In the “Description of Waltham,” in Mass. Hist. Coll., Vol. III. 2d Series, said to have been
written by Rev. Samuel Ripley. The article is signed M. U. which may be the initials of Unita-
rian Minister reversed.
BOSTON MANUFACTURING COMPANY’S BLEACHERY.

1815] A Factory with Orderly Surroundings. 129
mile north. They are at the south-east extremity of the town,
within a few rods of the line.
“There is, perhaps, no institution of the kind in our country,
under better regulations. Unlike most manufacturing establish-
ments, this is free from the disorder and immorality which, in
general, are found to exist, and by many are supposed to be
almost their necessary evils. There is as much peace, order, and
propriety of -behavior among these persons, as with any other
portion of the inhabitants. This may in part be attributed to the
employing of several families of established good characters, with
whom others, and those who have no guardians or parents to
inspect their conduct, are obliged to live. Such parents will care-
fully watch the manners and habits of their own children, and
permit none to dwell under their roof, of positively bad characters.
. . . Here, the Superintendent is also a proprietor, of an estab-
lished moral character, who has every motive to promote virtue,
subordination, and industry among his people. The proprietors
support a school for the instruction of the children and youth
employed in the factory. A school is taught six months by a
woman, and in the evenings by masters in the winter.”
We have quoted thus largely from Mr. Ripley's admirable paper,
because so much has been written and said of the greater mill,
afterwards builded above, which speedily swallowed up this one,
that what was done by these pioneers in establishing a factory
with orderly surroundings, meriting and receiving such praise from
such a man, deserves not to be overlooked, as it appears to have
been hitherto. The proprietors may have lacked the enterprise,
capital, and mechanical skill, that guaranteed grand success from
the beginning to the larger undertaking; the enterprise of a Lowell
to conceive the plan, the capital of an Appleton, a Lowell and a
Jackson to furnish the means, and the engineering skill of a Moody
and a Jackson to accomplish the work, but they are entitled to full
credit for the measure of success to which they attained.
In 1813 Messrs. Francis C. Lowell and Patrick T. Jackson, of
I7
130 A Power Zoom in Successful Operation. [1814
Boston, purchased Boies's" paper-mill and water-power at the
upper fall, and in connection with Mr. Nathan Appleton and other
associates, incorporated as the “Boston Manufacturing Company,”
with an authorized capital of $400,ooo, by an Act passed February
23d of that year, began the erection of the cotton-mill that was to be
the nucleus of some of the largest cotton-manufactories in America,
and from the completion of which was to date the change of
Waltham from an agricultural to a manufacturing town, far out-
stripping its neighbors in rapidity of growth and in prosperity.
Two years previous Mr. Appleton and Mr. Lowell had met in
Edinburgh and discussed the feasibility of introducing the improved
system of cotton manufacture in this country. Mr. Lowell, encour-
aged by Mr. Appleton's advice, visited Scotch and English facto-
ries, obtained all the information possible on the subject, and
returned in 1813 to apply his knowledge for the benefit of himself
and his associates, in the successful development of the new indus-
try here. The power loom was then being introduced in England
with but partial success. Mr. Lowell determined to perfect it himself,
and while Mr. Jackson was erecting a new dam and the build-
ing” for a mill at Waltham, and was preparing the other machinery,
he was “experimenting at a store in Broad Street, Boston, employ-
ing a man to turn a crank.” After several months he achieved
success, and in the autumn of 1814 a power loom was put in success-
ful operation in Waltham. Mr. Paul Moody,” of Amesbury had
been engaged as machinist, and needed improvements were made
in all of the machinery, several important ones originating here
continuing still in use.
Within two and a half years six entirely new machines were
invented and put in operation : — the power loom, the warping and
1. Mr. Boies's cottage was situated nearly opposite the counting-room of the company. Directly
in front of its site there stood, until within two years, a fine large willow tree, said to have been
planted by Alden Bradford, the old Secretary of the Commonwealth, from a willow stick which had
frequently been used for one or more days as a drover’s staff. 2. 9o feet long, 40 feet wide, and
four stories in height, above the basement or wheel room. 3. “To the efforts of his self-taught
mind, the early prosperity of the great manufacturing establishments at Waltham and Lowell is, in
no small degree, owing.” - Edward Ezerett.
1815] Quality and Price of the New Goods. I 3 I
dressing machine, the regulator for the water-wheel, the double
speeder, the dead spindle, and the throstle filling frame.
The first goods manufactured were made in imitation of those
imported from India; “a heavy sheeting of No. 14 yarn, 37 inches
wide, 44 picks to the inch, and weighing something less than three
yards to the pound,” according to Mr. Appleton's statement in his
pamphlet. The first entry upon the original record book of goods
manufactured, kept at the factory and still in use, stands thus: —
“ 1816, Feb. 2. 31 pieces: — 912.2 yards, 4–4,” or 36 inch goods.
It seems hardly credible now that only sixty-four years ago
there was but one shop in Boston, and that on Cornhill, where
domestic goods were sold. This shop was kept by one Mrs. Isaac
Bowers. Samples of the new goods were offered for sale by her;
the people praised them and made no objection to the price asked,
but would not buy. Mr. Appleton, however, then a partner in the
firm of B. C. Ward & Co., found an auctioneer, a Mr. Forsaith,
who disposed of them at once at over thirty cents per yard, and
continued to sell them at auction at about that price. Mr. Apple-
ton received a commission of one per cent for attending to the
sales, and this became the established rate for a long period.
The factory at Waltham was the first where all the processes for
the manufacture of cotton into cloth were arranged within the walls
of the same building. But few changes have been made from
these arrangements as established by Mr. Lowell in the first mill
built here. -
With the influx of mechanics came a necessity for dwelling-
houses, which the company provided. The boarding-houses were
“put under the charge of men or women from the farming districts,
of known good character, with stringent regulations for the govern-
ment of the same.” The founders determined that their factory
should not be surrounded by the vice and poverty that prevailed in
the manufacturing towns in England. A school-house was built
on Elm Street, and a school maintained at the company's expense
for more than ten years, and worship was held in it on Sundays.
Early in 1816 the company decided to erect a new mill 150 feet
tº
º
º
&
I 32 Factory Visited by John C. Calhoun. [1818
in length and 40 feet in width, which, with a porch and stairway
on the outside, would afford double the capacity of mill No. 1. A
brick building, three stories in height, was also erected for man-
ufacturing machinery. The new mill was started in 1818. “The
goods made in each mill were from Nos. 14 and 18 yarn. There
were three widths, 30, 37%, and 54 inches. The goods were sold
at 30 cents, 37% cents, and 50 cents per yard for the respective
widths; and such was the desire of the merchants to obtain them
that orders were registered so that each should be filled in its
turn.” "
In 1818 John C. Calhoun, who two years before “saw clearly
the benefit which the cotton planting States would derive from the
introduction of the manufacture into the country,” made a visit to
the new establishment, “with the apparent satisfaction,” says Mr.
Appleton, “ of having himself contributed to its success,” by the
action taken by himself and Mr. William Lowndes on the tariff
of 1816.
In February, 1819, the company purchased the entire property
of the Waltham Cotton and Wool Factory Company, and the
General Court allowed them to add $200,ooo to their capital. They
took down the old wooden spinning mill and laid the foundations
for a new factory and a bleachery. The latter was in operation in
1820, and the new mill the next year. It contained about 2,000
spindles, and manufactured finer goods than the upper mills. In
order to connect the two establishments the company bought all
the land on the north side of the river and laid out River Street,
widened Newton Street from one rod to two, and also improved
Willow and Pleasant Streets, and planted several thousand shade
trees along the two miles of road they had thus improved.
They erected another school-house to accommodate the people
at the lower village, and appropriated $500 for a library for the use
of their employés. This library was afterwards united with that of
the Rumford Institute.
The Waltham loom was operated by a cam motion, the English
1. Dr. E. Hobbs, Agent of Boston Manufacturing Company.
|
|-
| || ||
|-|-
posto N. MANUFACTURING COMPANY’S COTTON MILL-
| || || ||
№.




1823] First Water-Wheel in Lowell. I 33
power loom by a crank motion; the latter was introduced in the
Rhode Island mills in 1817, but it was not till ten years later that
the change from the cam to the crank loom was made at Waltham
and Lowell, and mule-spinning was not introduced at either place
till after 1830. w
The success of the Waltham Company led to the incorporation
in 1822 of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company, and the
founding of the City of Lowell, where the first water-wheel was
set in motion on September 1, 1823. The bulk of the stock of
both companies was held by the same persons, and an early
arrangement was made, making a mutual interest between them ;
so that the new company was really but an extension of the old at
a point where better facilities were offered for the successful estab-
lishment of calico printing. Paul Moody held ten per cent of the
stock of the Merrimack Company, and moved from Waltham to
Lowell to take charge of the manufacture of machinery.
Between 1829 and 1832 the machinery at Waltham was rebuilt
and rearranged, increasing the number of spindles to 12,000.
New water-wheels were added, and to increase their water-power a
new canal was dug in 1833, capable of utilizing all the water in the
Charles River. Ten years later the space between the two upper
mills was filled up by building another the same size as No. 1, with
a capacity for about 8,000 mule spindles. In 1836 the water-
power ſailed by reason of drought, and steam-power was put in
to drive some of the machinery in cases of emergency. In 1846
this steam-engine was removed to the bleachery and a larger one
set up.
In 1847 the old wooden dam was removed and a solid granite
one erected. In 1852 the company erected a new mill 200 feet
long and 8o feet wide for the manufacture of extra wide sheetings
of a finer fabric. Three turbine wheels were placed under this
mill. Self-acting mules were set up in the old mills and the spin-
dles increased to 40,000, the present number.
Business at the Bleachery increased steadily till it was worked to
its full capacity of six tons per day. The old building of wood, orig-
I 34. The Rumford Institute Organized. [1826
inally built for a paper-mill by Governor Gore, afterwards used as
a fulling-mill, had been thus far used for finishing the bleached
goods. It was now much too small for the work required of it,
therefore a new brick building was erected around and over it, and
the old building was taken down piecemeal and thrown out of the
windows without much interruption to the business. With other
additions the capacity of the Bleachery was increased to ten tons
a day. It now finishes fifteen tons of goods daily. In 1868 the
Hosiery Works were put in operation for the manufacture of the
finest qualities of hosiery, and about 5,000 dozens of these goods
are turned out each week.
In 1873 the company again made additions to their buildings by
erecting a four story mill 150 feet by 94, with a flat roof, a picking
building 75 by 92 feet, two stories high, with flat roof, and an
engine and boiler house. They put in a new engine and rearranged
the driving power and machinery throughout the mill, replacing the
older portions of the machinery with new.
The Newton Chemical Works, established in 1820, on lands
afterwards annexed to Waltham, were at one time the largest chem-
ical works in the country. Ten years ago they covered an area of
eight acres, three of which were roofed over. The principal article
produced was sulphuric acid or vitriol, in the manufacture of which
Io,ooo pounds of sulphur were used each week. The company had
five platinum retorts, each of which cost $15,000 in gold. They were
used for boiling acid and each held one hundred gallons. Twenty-
seven lead chambers were used in reducing the sulphur. These
works were closed several years ago.
On Saturday evening, December 23, 1826, from fifty to seventy-
five gentlemen, “favorably disposed towards forming a society for
the purpose of mutual instruction in the arts and sciences,” met at
the upper factory school-house and organized the Rumford Institute.
The credit of first proposing the plan of the society belongs to
Isaac Parker, who secured the earnest cooperation of Rev. Bernard
Whitman, Isaac Bemis, Esq., Dr. Samuel L. Dana and others. It
is the earliest institution of the kind in the State and perhaps in
1858] The Rumford Institute Incorporated. I 35
the country. The first lecture was given before the Institute Jan-
uary 13, 1827, by Dr. S. L. Dana, on Chemistry.
During the summer of 1827 the Boston Manufacturing Company
erected the Rumford Building, fitted up a room for the use of the
Institute, and gave them the rent of the Hall for their exercises, on
the sole condition that they should purchase $60 worth of books a
year for the Library of the Institute. The society dedicated the
Hall on the evening of September 21st, and on September 29th the
first lecture was given within its walls by Dr. James Jackson, on
the art of preserving health.
On the list of names of those who have lectured before this
Institute during its first half century, will be found the names of
the most brilliant and successful orators, authors, and men of
science our country has produced. Everett and Emerson were
among the earliest, and Bancroft, R. H. Dana, Agassiz, Holmes,
T. Starr King, Whipple, Sparks, Sumner, Saxe, Hill, and a host of
others, have here addressed large and appreciative audiences.
Hon. N. P. Banks made his first public speech before this Institute.
November 16, 1830, the Boston Manufacturing Company gave to
the Institute the use of the books of the Manufacturers' Library and
deposited them in Rumford Hall. The library increased till it
numbered several thousands of volumes, and on the establishment
of the public library in 1865, it was given to the town.
In March, 1858, F. M. Stone, Eben Hobbs, Josiah Rutter, Hora-
tio Adams, Isaac Parker and their associates were incorporated as
the Rumford Institute, and the Act of Incorporation most appro-
priately received the signature of N. P. Banks, a member of the
Institute, then Governor of the Commonwealth.
The manufacture of watches by machinery was first undertaken
by Messrs. A. L. Dennison, Edward Howard, and Samuel Curtis,
of Boston, who established a factory at Roxbury, Mass., in 1850,
under the name of the Boston Watch Company. Finding their
expenses very large they moved to Waltham in 1854, but meeting
1. Mr. Rutter’s Address.
I 36 77%e American Watch Co. Incorporated. [1859
with unexpected obstacles they became bankrupt in 1856. Their
property was sold by an assignee, and was purchased by R. E.
Robbins for Appleton, Tracy, & Co., of New York. A. L. Denni-
son remained as mechanical superintendent. Appleton, Tracy,
& Co. in 1858 sold out to the Waltham Improvement Company,
which, by an Act of the Legislature passed February 4, 1859, was
allowed to take the name of the American Watch Company. This
Company was incorporated with a capital of $200,ooo, which was
Soon increased by subscriptions to $300,000.
The American Watch Company determined to make watches
that should surpass in excellence those of foreign manufacture,
and that could at the same time be sold at a low price. In the
face of the bitterest prejudice, and the strongest opposition, their
watches have gained the confidence and favor of buyers and deal-
ers, until their rate of manufacture has reached an average of four
hundred and twenty-five watches per day. The capital has been
increased from time to time till it is now $1,500,ooo.
The factory consists of twenty-four departments, each under its
proper foreman and his assistants. The buildings are beautifully
located upon the South bank of the Charles River, with a fine park
in front, and a garden in the hollow square which they form.
The most delicately constructed and accurate machines are here
to be found, each performing its allotted task with the utmost
precision and exactness. There is one that makes almost infinites-
imal screws with great rapidity, of which nearly 150,000 are con-
tained in a single pound's weight, and which are such exact dupli-
cates of each other that they may be interchanged indifferently.
Indeed this is the great feature of the establishment, each machine
duplicating its own work with microscopical exactness. Excepting
the jewels and the pivots that run in them, each of the one hundred
and fifty-eight parts of any one of a thousand movements may be
exchanged for the corresponding part of any other without affect-
ing its working.
In the manufacture of the jewels, rubies, garnets, and chrysolites
are cut into slabs by a gang of thin circular saws of Soft iron, the
WATCH FACTORY AND ROBBINS'S PARK.

1876] Superiority of Machine-Made Watches. I 37
smooth edges of which are toothed with diamond dust, and the
slabs are then skilfully divided into minute pieces for the turning
lathe and drilling machines. These jewels can only be worked
with diamond dust, which costs about $2 a carat, or nearly $3,000
a pound Troy weight.
The pivots are graded by delicate converging rules to the one-
ten-thousandth part of an inch, or one degree of difference. The
jewels are fitted by measurement to the pivots, each jewel hole
being adjusted one degree larger than the pivot that is to run in it,
to allow for the infinitesimal “play” necessary to perfect freedom
of movement. Each watch is numbered and the exact size of all
its pivots and jewels is accurately recorded. Thus any part of
any watch manufactured here can be exactly duplicated at any
time.
Of the full plate movements there are seven distinct grades, and
as many of the three-quarter plate movements. These are again
subdivided into varieties according to the number of jewels; by
making the balance wheel of nickel, steel, gold, or bi-metallic of
brass and steel for compensation ; and into stem-winding and key-
winding. The higher grades are most carefully adjusted in the
regulating department to all changes of temperature and position,
a six months’ trial being given to the best. One of the ten
movements selected at random from those exhibited at the Cen-
tenial Exhibition of 1876, and carefully tested for eleven weeks,
showed a mean daily rate of variation of thirty-eight-one-hundreths
of a second, and the difference of its mean daily rate between the
first and eleventh weeks of the trial was only one-hundreth of a
second.
Foreign manufacturers now freely acknowledge the superiority
of watches made upon the American system.
The area of Waltham is about 9,000 acres. Some 6oo acres were
annexed from Newton, April 16, 1849, known as Districts 8 and 9,
and for several years past called Southside, embracing the territory
north of a straight line joining the two points on Charles River,
where the eastern and western boundaries of the town touch the
18
I 38 Zncrease in Population. [1875
river. At the time of annexation there were thirty-five buildings
and one hundred and seventy inhabitants; they paid $1,000 to the
town of Newton and the taxes for the year to the town of Waltham.
The erection of the American Watch Company’s buildings upon
this side of the river, with their beautiful surroundings, has con-
tributed more than any thing else to the rapid and attractive
development of this newest part of the town.
By the incorporation of the town of Belmont in 1859 the town
lost 429 acres of its area. &
The population of Waltham in 1765 was 663, being but 30 less
than that of Watertown; in 1800 Watertown had increased to 1,207,
nearly 75 per cent, while Waltham had added but little more than
one-third, having then but 903 inhabitants; in the next decade
Waltham increased about 12 per cent and Watertown about 24 per
cent, their respective populations in 1810 being 1,014 and 1,531 ;
during the next ten years, owing to the establishment of the cotton
mills, Waltham made a gain in population of 65 per cent, increas-
ing to 1,677, while Watertown fell back to 1,518.
In 1830 Watertown closed its second century with a population
of 1,641, probably eight or ten times the number of the first settlers
in 1630. In 1840 Waltham, at the age of Io2 years, had a popula-
tion of 2,504, closing its first century with probably four times the
number of inhabitants it had at the date of incorporation. The
same year the population of Watertown"numbered 1,810.
Twenty-five years later, in 1865, the census gave Watertown
3,779, and Waltham 6,896 inhabitants, the increase in the former
town being between one and two per cent greater for the quarter
century than in the latter. During the next five years Watertown
gained nearly 14% per cent and Waltham nearly 31% per cent. In
1875 the respective populations were 5,099 and 9,967, Watertown
during the 75 years since 18oo increasing in population to four and
a quarter times that with which it began the century, while Waltham
during the same period gained over 1,000 per cent.
The following details of the census of 1875 are both interesting
and curious. The whole number of white males was 4,636; white
1875] Curiosities of the Census. I 39
females 5,318; colored males 79, females 5, and 1 male mulatto.
Of the males 2,725 were single, and 1,806 married ; of the females
3,013 were single, and 1,875 married. There were 105 widowers
and 428 widows; 8 divorced males, and 7 divorced females; 6
male and 3 female paupers, and no convicts.
The ratable polls numbered 2,598; native born voters 1,445,
naturalized 452, total, 1,897. The total number of persons en-
gaged in various occupations was 2,906; of whom 465 males and
I female were engaged in trade and transportation ; 271 males in
agriculture ; 1,551 males and 713 females in manufacturing. There
were 226 farmers, 14 clergymen, and 15 lawyers. The number of
families was 2,042 ; 1,223 Occupied dwellings, and 94 unoccupied.
The valuation of personal property was $2,264,570 ; of real
estate $7,866,200 ; total valuation $10,130,770. The value of the
agricultural products was $178,896, and of manufactures $2,620,788.
There are eleven school buildings in the town, including two
fine Grammar School-Houses and one High-School House, furnish-
ing accommodation for 35 schools.
Reference has already been made to the old Fiske house, on
Main Street west of Bacon Street, as probably the oldest house
in the town. Upon the walls of the parlor in the west end, quaint
paper, imported from China, is still preserved in as good condition
as when put on over eighty years ago. The three willow trees in
front of the house sprang from a willow switch, cut by the boys
seventy-five years ago, to quicken the homeward pace of the horse
they were driving, which switch their father, William Fiske, broke
into three pieces and set out on their return.
The estate, valued at $10,000, embraces about five acres of land
with a fine frontage on Main Street, and is located at the highest
point on the plain west of Beaver Brook. The late Miss Caroline
Fiske for more than a quarter of a century preserved this property
intact, refusing the most liberal cash offers for it, for the sole patri-
otic purpose of giving it to the town to be kept in its entirety for
public use forever. Upon her decease, August 1,1877, at the age
of 78 years, she carried out her long cherished plan by her will
I4O Fiske Estate Rejected by the Town. [1878
devising it to the town, making but one condition, viz.:-that the
town should give to her niece, Miss E. J. Fiske, $300 per annum
while she should live and occupy the old house, or $500 a year
if she should be removed from it.
January 26, 1878, the Town appointed a committee to take into
consideration the terms of the devise, and to recommend what
action should be taken.
Pending the final action of the town Miss E. J. Fiske, more
than anxious to carry out in spirit and to the letter the wishes of
her aunt, was compelled to spend a large sum of money in ward-
ing off from the property the rapacious hands of those who, regard-
less of the memory, the rights, and the wishes of the deceased,
sought to wrest the property to their own selfish emolument.
November 30, 1878, the majority of the committee reported
adversely to the acceptance of the devise, and the Town adopted
their report. Whatever may be thought of the action of the town
in rejecting a devise of property of such extent and value, it would
seem that such rejection would hardly tend to encourage liberally
minded citizens to cherish any such plans of giving to the town in
the future. It is believed that the time is not far distant when
this action of the town will be looked back upon with the keenest
regret.
In January, 1857, the “Waltham Agricultural Library Associa-
tion ” was organized for the purpose of establishing an agricultural
library, and of holding occasional meetings for the discussion of
agricultural subjects. This Association, popularly known as the
“Farmers’ Club,” has done very much in beautifying the town by
the planting of thousands of shade trees and in other ways, but has
accomplished still more by cultivating a true social spirit in the
community, and by creating and nourishing a popular sentiment,
high-toned and cultured to a degree seldom found in communities
where both the agricultural and manufacturing interests are so
extensive as in this town. “There have been no walls of separation
between its farmers and mechanics, manufacturers and merchants.”
The one class is the necessary supplement to the other, and their
PINION FINISHING ROOM, WATCH FACTORY.
WHEEL AND PINION MAKING ROOM.


1857] Amdustrial Exhibition. I4 I
united interests pursued with a common purpose contribute to the
prosperity of the whole community. - *
A few months after the establishment of the Association, at the
suggestion of Mr. Oel Farnsworth, a committee was appointed to
consider the subject of holding an agricultural and mechanical
exhibition of the products and manufactures of the town. This
exhibition was held September 24th–27th following, and was
successful in the highest degree.
Among the notable articles exhibited were the fabrics of the
Boston Manufacturing Company; the colored and white crayons, a
special article of manufacture, invented by Mr. F. Field, which
Waltham controlled ; the blow-pipe and retort of the Newton
Chemical Company; the occultator, an instrument for calculating
solar and other eclipses, invented by Thomas Hill, in 1842, while in
Harvard College; the arithometer, a machine for adding, subtract-
ing, multiplying, and dividing ; and the electrotyping process in-
vented by the same well known genius. The cattle, agricultural,
and dairy products exhibited were of the first class; and numerous
diplomas were awarded. Other fairs have been held in succeeding
years under the auspices of the “Farmers’ Club,” but none have
surpassed the “Industrial Exhibition ” in extent and excellence.
The whole number of manufacturing establishments in the town,
as reported in 1877, was eight. Three employed twenty-one per-
sons and upward, and these three in all gave employment to 1949
persons. The other five employed sixty-nine persons.
The water-works, established six years ago, upon the bank of the
Charles River, near Mt. Feake, give an unfailing supply of pure
water, not drawn, as was expected and intended, from the river by
filtration, but from springs in the bottom of the reservoir. -
This sketch can be closed in no more fitting words than those
used by a distinguished son of the town describing the general view
from its most prominent point, “Prospect Hill:”
1. An eminence N.W. of the village, elevated 482 feet above the level of the sea, used as one of
the stations in the trigonometrical survey of the State conducted in 1831–42. In a recent discussion
in the Free Press it is claimed that the White Mountains are not included in the ranges visible
from “Prospect Hill.”
I42 View from Prospect Hill. [1878
“From the crest of the lesser Prospect Hill is presented a
panorama of beauty, embracing an entire sweep of the horizon,
except when broken by the summit of the adjoining eminence.
The unaided vision follows the vessels of our own or of distant
lands, entering and departing the harbor of Boston. On the west,
the many mountain-ranges of New England rise up before us, -
mountain on mountain, until summit and cloud are united. You
can here watch the heavy, varying shadows of the Wachuset and
Monadnock, trace the shadowy and cloud-like outline of the White
Mountains, and follow range upon range, until the mountains
disappear in the cloud-caps of the azure sky. On the south, in the
river-valley, clusters the line of picturesque and prosperous New
England villages that fill the plateau of the river to the sea. In
what part of the world can we find a cluster of thirty towns and
cities that, in beauty or prosperity, equal those that lie at the
foot of the Trimountain city?— river, lake, and ocean, hill and
vale, copse, dell, and forest, plain cottage and the stately mansion,
diversifying the prospect. Every line of railway that creeps out
upon the plain is marked upon this busy and beautiful map of New
England life by an unbroken succession of the habitations of men
and the houses of God. Nature and art thus combined, the evi-
dences of happiness and prosperity multiplying on every side,
present a scene that surfeits every sense with pleasant emotions.
- “It is a goodly sight to see -
What Heaven hath done for this delicious land;
What fruits of fragrance blush on every tree;
What goodly prospects o'er the hills expand.’”
IN DE X.
Aberginians: Indians between Mystic and
Charles Rivers, 11 n. 4.
Abousett River, 38 n. 2. º
Adam's Chair, named by Gov. Winthrop, 26;
location of 28, 97 n. 2.
Adams, Alvin, residence, 5o.
Adams, John, passes through Waltham on way
to New York, 108.
Adventurers, the merely speculative, 9.
AEtna Mill Co., 128.
AEtna Mills, 1oo, 125.
Agawam visited, 34.
Alarm, first general, at night, 18. º
Allowance to those distressed by the Indian
War, 62.
Altercation, a political, begins at Watertown,
28; its result, 3o.
American Watch Co., incorporated, 136; fac-
tory buildings, 136, 138; accuracy of their
watch movements, 137; delicate precision of
machine work, 136.
Amsterdam, ships from, 15.
Ammunition for each soldier prescribed, 18.
Angier, Rev. Samuel, pastor in new meeting-
house, 54; death of, 55; records kept by, 56.
Anti-war sermon by Mr. Ripley, 109.
Appleton, Na han, encourages cotton manu-
facture, 130 ; first agent for selling goods, 131.
Appleton, Tracey & Co. purchase watch fac-
tory, 136.
Arbella (the), the admiral of Winthrop's fleet,
12 n. 3; arrives at Salem, 13.
Architecture, Puritan, 75.
Arms and ammunition, where kept, 73-4.
Assabet River, land at, 20.
Assessment for support of ministers, 23.
Assistants chosen, 12, 34.
Bailey, Rev John, succeeds Mr. Sherman, 49.
Bailey, Rev. Thomas, 49.
Ball, John, killed at Lancaster, 61.
Ballots, first elections held by, 34.
Banks, Hon. N. P., residence of 88.
Bass: boiled, 14 ; exchanged for bisket-cake, 14.
Basse and other fish, 1oo, ooo taken at Water-
town wear, 21.
Bastable, 1o n. 1.
Bearers at fune als, 72.
Beaver Brook named by Gov. Winthrop, 26;
and its branches, 26-27; source of, 27; once
four rods wide, 83; mouth of chang-d, 97.
Beaver Brook plowlands, 51 ; allotted, 53.
Beaver Meadow, 27.
Beavers, dams made by the, 26.
Beers, Capt. Richard, and his company, am-
bushed, 61.
Bell, the first church, 112 ; sold to Trin Cong.
Soc. of Winchester, 115.
Bellingham, Richard, first deputy-governor
elected by ballots, 34.
Belmont separated from Waltham by Beaver
Brook, 27; incorporated, 138.
Better currency (a) than specie, 94.
Bemis, Abraham, house of, 119.
Bemis, David, and Dr. Enos Sumner erect a
dam across Charles River, 125; built first
grist and snuff mill in Watertown at Bemis
Station, 125; Isaac, 90.
Bemis, Seth : his cotton factory, 125; owner of
whole water power, 127; sells his right to
raise his dam 12 inches, 127. Seth, jr., 128.
Bemis Manufacturing Co incorporated, 127
Bemis tavern, one of oldest houses in town, 90.
Benjamin, Daniel, 64, 70, 71.
Biglow, Lt. Thomas, 70, 71.
Bigelow: Abijah, Jacob, 89; Joshua, 97.
Bill of fare for ordination, 111 n. 3.
Bird Tavern (the), 84 ; militia trainings at, 86.
Bisket-cake exchanged for a bass, 3, 14, 63.
Black lead, a whole rock of, 35.
Bleachery, established, 132; new buildings at,
134; finishes fifteen tons of goods daily, 134.
Blessing of the Bay, the first vessel built in the
colony, 34
Block Island, 40, 41, 42.
Boarding-houses at factory in good hands, 131.
Boies, John : his cottage and paper-mill at
Eden Vale, 92; location of 130 n. 1 ; pur-
chased by Boston Manufacturing Co., 92,
93, I 3O. is º
Booths, people lying in, 22.
Boston, settlement of, 2, 15; 23, 33, 60, 69.
Boston Bay or Harbor at first called Massa-
chusetts Bay, 11 n. 3.
Boston Manufacturing Co. incorporated, 13o;
purchases property of Cotton & Wool Fac-
tory Co., 132.
Boston Rock Hill, 28.
Boston, Watch Co. at Roxbury, 135; move to
Waltham, 135; failure of, 136.
Boundary questions between Watertown and
New Town, 19.
Bounty for killing squirrels and blackbirds, 98;
to soldiers in Canada expedition, to 1.
Bowers, Mrs. Isaac : only domestic goods store
in Boston, 131.
Bowles, Mrs. Sarah, innkeeper, 90.
Bradford, Alden, plants a willow near cotton
factory, 130 m. 1.
Bradford, Governor of Plymouth, visits Salem,
11 : gives right hand of fellowship to church,
12 ; yisits Winthrop to arrange for trading at
the Connecticut, 35 ; complains against the
settlers on the Conn.; 36; shrewdness of, 37.
Bradshaw, Eleazer, sells tea, 85.
Bradstul, Simul, owner of Oldham Farm, 38.
Brewer, Col. Jonathan, wounded at Bunker
Hil, 82 ; proposed an expedition to Quebec,
IO3 Il. I.
I44
Brick bºiling for English weavers still stand-
ling, I 20.
Brick Tayern, old, 89, 90.
Bridge; Matthew, Cornet Nathaniel, William
property of 80.
Hridge on Lyman Place, 96.
Bridges at Bemis Station, 128.
Bright, Deacon Henry, Jr., fatal accident to,
49-50; marriage and residence, 50.
Bright, John, tanner, etc., 83, 103, Io4, Io9 n. 2.
Bright, J. B., 6, 83.
Brighton, 22, 79.
“ Brown Papers” (the), old French war, 99.
Brown, Capt. Abraham, autograph, 56.
Brown, Capt. John, autograph, 94.
Brown, Capt. Jonathan, 99.
Brown, William, 64, 70, 73,79, 81, 97 n. 3, 1oz.
Browne, Richard, a ruler in a church in Lon-
don, 23 : independence of, 24; elder at
Watertown, 24; complaints of congregation
against, 24; discharged from his office of
elder, 24; lands granted to him, 24 n. 2; a
person of consequence, 24; zealous in main-
taining church discipline, 24; an unflinching
supporter of Rev. Geo. Phillips, 25; ap-
pointed a commissioner “to end small causes,”
25; empowered to officiate at marriages, 25;
allowed to keep a ferry over Charles River,
25; chosen often as Representative, 25; com-
plains to the Court against John Endicott for
mutilating the ensign, 25; delegate...to the
First General Court, 30.
Bunker Hill, Company that went to, Ior.
Burying-ground, the old, 45.
Burying-ground below Beaver Brook, 55.
Cady, Nicolas, old deed from, 79.
Calf, the lost, 18.
Calhoun, John C., visits cotton factory, 132.
Cambridge, 2, 9, 20, 38, 49, 60, Ioo, IoS, at
first called New Towne, 17.
Cant not fashionable, 29.
Canute, the Dane, 66.
Cape Cod, landing of Pilgrims on, 9; "John
Oldham wrecked on, 38.
Cargoes of food bought for general stock, 19.
Carlyle, Thomas, on fundamental idea of Puri-
tanism, 23; Seventeenth-century Puritans, 29.
Catholic Church, 121; resident pastors of 121.
Cattle, importation and rapid increase of, 31 ;
driven to Connecticut, 39 ; lost there by win-
ter's severity, 39; sudden fall in price of, 57.
Census, curiosities of the, 139.
Charles River (the), 2, 14-16; named by King
Charles, 13 n. 4; original Indian name of,
Mishaum, 13 n. 4; probable origin of name
Quinobe.gtein, 13 n. 4.
Charlestown, 2, 14, 18, 19, 23, 33, 34, 62 ; first
settled by a small party from Salem, Io;
under orders, 38; plantation at, 11, 15.
Cherton, or Charlestown, built, 11.
Chester, Leonard, 27.
Chester Brook, the western branch of Heaver
Brook, 27; origin of the name, 27; Clarke's
grist-mill on, 97 ; Shedd’s machine-shop, 97.
Child carried under the mill wheel, 124.
Chinery, John, mortally wounded at North-
field, 61.
Christ Church, parish of, organized, 119.
Andez.
Chocolate manufactured by Seth Bemis at his
mill, 125. •
Choir (the), displeased, 74–5; seats occupied
by, 76.
Church edifice of First Church (Mr. Ripley's)
sold in lots, 115.
Church, First, in Massachusetts Bay organized
at Salem, 12.
Church organized at Watertown by Rev. George
Phillips the second in Massachusetts Bay,
22 ; location of, 44.
Church, second, built above Mt. Auburn, 44,
45.
Church members only to be trusted with the
liberties of the commonwealth, 30.
Church on the Common, 115.
Church records, earliest, 49
lap, Roger: his account of first landing at
Watertown, 13; describes early privations of
the settlers, 18.
Clark; John, constable, 32 : John, jr., 87;
Jonas, hatter, 88; Dr. Josiah, 82.
Clarke, Capt. John, 97, Io; ; Clarke’s grist-
mill, 97, 122.
Clematis Brook (so called), 27.
Climate and its effects, 59.
Cloth for raiment not cut short, 57.
Coal gas, first use of for lighting in U. S., 126.
Commission for selling cotton goods, 131.
Committee of Safety’s call for minute men, Ioo.
Committee to advise about raising public
moneys, 29.
Committee to levy war tax, 103.
Company H, 16th Reg, Mass. Vol., 11o.
Concord overlaps Watertown, 20 ; settlement
of, 20; “six myles of land square "granted
to, 20, 62
Confederation, articles of, endorsed, 103.
Confederation of the four colonies, 57.
Congregational order first adopted in New
England by the Watertown church, 22.
Connecticut; river, 34; a fine place for trade,
35; sixty settlers start for, 39, 40; 42, 57.
Continental army, men in the, 102, Io.4.
Convent of Waltham, Eng., founded by Tovi,
the Dane, A. D. Io20, 66.
Coolidge, Gen Jonathan, 94, 95.
Copper wire for paper molds, machine for
weaving, 125 n. 2.
Corn, abundance of, 1 1 ; scarcitv oſ, 33.
Corn-mills at Beaver Brook, Mill Creek and
Stony Brook, 124.
Cost of weaving reduced by introduction of
power looms, 126.
Cotton, John, on honest men, 30.
Cotton cloth, all processes for making, in one
building, 131.
Cotton Duck first made by Seth Bemis. 126.
Cotton goods, first pieces made at Waltham,
131; woven by Seth Bemis before 1810, 125.
Cotton-mill, first in the town, 92
Cotton warp, demand for machine made, 125.
Council for New England grant lands to the
new Dorchester Company, 9.
Council of seven persons with two of the plant-
ers to act with Endicott, Io.
Counties of Middlesex, Essex, Norfolk and
Suffolk formed 58.
Andex.
Court at South-Hampton aboard the Arbella,
12 ; of Assistants, 18-22, 25, 28-29. e
Covenant, signing of constitutes the organiza-
tion of a church, 22.
Cowes, Winthrop's fleet riding at the, 12.
Cradock, Matthew, first Governor of the new
Dorchester Company, Io; owner of Oldham
Farm, 38.
Crayons, colored and white, 141.
Cross, the red, a superstitious thing, 25. .
Cuff, Felix, and other negroes hide in the
Devil's Den, Ios; pay for his services in the
war, IoS n. 2.
Currency, Continental, 77, Ios. .
Curtains at two meeting-house windows, 98.
Cushing, Rev. Jacob, ordained, 74; death of
77: character and influence, 78; his papers
sold to Peter Force of Washington, 1.1.1, n. 2.
Cushing: Rev. Job, 77; Leonard Williams,
88; Warham, 86.
Customs of the people, 58.
Cutstomach obtains a gun, 59-60,
Cutting Tavern (the), 83.
Cutting, Richard, 39, 83, 97. tº
Cutting, Uriah, Jr., projector of the mill-dam,
7 n. I. e
D#. original, across Charles River at Bemis
Station, 125.
I)ates, Old Style and New Style, 64 n. 3.
Davenport, Ensign Richard, 41; Truecross, 41
Il. 4.
Davis, Seth, 126. &
Day, Stephen, first printer in New England,
47.
Dead spindle invented by Paul Moody, 131.
HDeaths, 200 in eight months after arrival, 16.
Dedham, land granted to, 20, 24 n. 2 ; 79.
Deer park, 96.
Deerfield attacked in 1665, 61.
Deerfield massacre in 1703, 56 n. 3.
Devil's Den, Stony Brook, IoS-6.
Devonshire, colonists from, 13.
Diamond dust, cost of, 137.
Disaffection throughout English realm, 9.
Dispersion of the settlers, 15.
Division in the church at Watertown, 24.
Dix, Jonas, school-master, 95, 97, 1oo, IoI, Io3.
Domestic goods, only one shop where sold in
Boston, 131.
Dorchester settled by the western men, 15;
why so named, 14 n. 2; 22, 36, 40.
Dorchester Company, the new : grants of land
to, 9; solicits and obtains a royal charter, Io.
Dorchester fields, firstlanding in Watertown, 14.
Dorsetshire, colonists from, 13.
Double speeder invented by Paul Moody, 131.
Draft from the militia, 1oz.
Driftway (the), now Gore St., 51.
Drinking of healths abolished, 33.
Dudley, Thomas, chosen Deputy-Governor
Mass. Bay Co., 12 ; letter to the Countess of
Lincoln, 14-16; 24.
Dummer, Jeremie, goldsmith, of Boston, 39.
Dummer, Richard, owner of Oldham Farm, 39.
Dunton, John, his ramble to Natick, 69.
Dutch: fort on the Connecticut, 35; plantation
on Hudson's River called New Netherlands,
35; vessel driven off by J. Winthrop, Jr., 39.
I9
I45
Dutch (the) send home for authority to deal
with the settlers on the Connecticut, 36.
Dwelling-houses on Main St. in 1800, 82.
Easterbrook, Rev. Mr., at ordination of Mr.
Angier, 54.
East Lexington, 27.
Eaton, Nathaniel, first principal of Harvard
College, 58 m. 1.
Eden Vale in Waltham, 92.
Edes, J. W., artist, 98.
Edgarton settled, 46.
Edward the Confessor, 67.
Edye (or Eddie), John, insanity of, 32; chosen
one of the first three selectmen, 34.
Elections, how conducted, 34.
Eliot, John, begins missionary labors, 6o; an-
tedated by those of Thomas Mayhew, Jr., at
Martha’s Vineyard, 47 n. 1; birth-place, 66.
Eliot, John, fish story told by, 28.
Ellison, James, 84, 96.
Endicott, John, and five associates, the new
Dorchester Company, 9; agent of the pa-
tentees, Io; at Naumkeag, Io; made Gov-
ernor under the Massachusetts Bay Com-
pany, Io; cuts red cross, from the king's
ensign, 25; censured for the act, 26; com-
mands first expedition against the Pequots,
4 I •
England, ships return to, 16.
English troops for French War arrive, 99; en-
camped at Dirty Green in Watertown, roo.
English weavers employed on hand looms, 126.
Epping or Waltham Forest, 66 n. 1.
Expenses for equipment and transportation of
Winthrop's company, 12.
Factory school-house on Elm St., 131 ; at
lower village, 132.
Factory with orderly surroundings, 129.
Fairs appointed at Watertown, 68 n. 2.
Fairs at Waltham Abbey, 68.
Fales, Rev. T. F., rector, 119.
Fall of fresh waters, 21, 70.
Falls: of Charles River, 21, 70; a disadvantage
attending most of the great rivers of New
England, 21 n. 4.
Familists, the, 32.
Farmers’ Club, 14o.
Farm lands or Farms, 51.
Farmers’ Precinct builds a meeting-house, 54;
incorporated as Weston, 55.
Farnsworth, Oel, 141.
Fasting and prayer, days set apart for, 11, 22.
Feake, Robert, 26, 3o.
Federal Constitution, Middlesex Co. delegates
vote against, IoS.
Fever, many sick with, 15.
Field, F., inventor of crayons, 141.
Fire destroys wigwams and houses, 17.
Fire-arms, accident from careless use of, 32.
First Baptist Church constituted, 121 ; list of
pastors, 121.
First Church of Waltham passes out of exist-
ence, 115; attempted union with Second Rel,
Soc. (1826), 116.
Fish used for manure, 21 n. 1; driven out of
river by impurities from gas works, etc., 22;
singular fatality to in Sherman’s Pond, 28.
Fishing stations of the Adventurers failures, 9.
I46
Fiske: Capt. Abijah, Abraham, Theodore, 89;
William, 88, 139.
Fiske, C. H., oration at Weston, 62 n. 3, 4.
Fiske, Miss Čaroline, 88; will of, 139, 140.
Fiske, Miss E. J., 14o.
Fiske, Sarah, widow, 39.
Fiske estate rejected by the town, 140.
“Fiske House,” the old, 88, 139.
Fiske’s Pond, 27 n. 1.
Flagg, Rev. S. B., pastor of First Parish, 117.
Flagg : Allen, John, Michael, 97; William,
killed, 6o ; Thomas, ancestor of all of the
name, 6o n, 3.
Flash-board on the Bemis dam, right to, sold to
Boston Mam'f'g Co., 127.
Fleet, number of vessels in Winthrop's, 13.
Foley, John, tailor, 84.
Food of the early settlers, 33.
Forbush, Mr. Eli, called to be pastor, declined,
99.
Foreigners to purchase a man’s right, 4o.
Forsaith, Mr., auctioneer, 131.
Foster, M. S. 83.
Francis, Dr. Convers, 45.
Franklin, Benj., Winthrop's letter to, 77.
Freemen, only church members admitted, 30.
French preparations against colonists, 15.
Freshets sweep away bridges, 128.
Fresh Pond, 19, 7o n. 2.
Fulling-mill, the first built on Beaver-Brook,
124; at Mill Creek, 124.
Funeral expenses, 72, 73, 74.
Gale : , Abraham, 39 ; Alpheus, Anna, 93 :
Jacob, 88; John, 39; Richard, Samuel, 93.
Gale, Richard, owns half of Oldham farm, 39.
Gallup, John, captures Oldham’s pinnace from
his murderers, 40; goes after pirate Bull, 43
Il. I.
Garfield: Edward, buys 4o acres of Phillips's
heirs, 47; Jacob, 96; Joseph, 39; Samuel,
6
90.
General Court of Delegates, first, 30.
Gibbs, Henry, assistant pastor, 5o ; ordained at
Watertown, East End, in open air, 54 n. 1.
Gleason, Capt. Isaac, 84, IoI.
Gleason’s Tavern, 84.
Goffe, Thomas, first Deputy Governor of new
Dorchester Company, Io.
Goldstone: Anne, Mary, Henry, 50.
Gore, Christopher, received as a citizen, 82 ;
afterward Governor of the Commonwealth
76 n. 3, 82; mansion and grounds, 48.
Gorges, John, grants land to John Oldham, 38.
Gorges, Robert, 38.
Governor and Company of the Massachusetts
Bay in New England, Io.
Governor’s cocked hat, 76.
Grant of lands to the new Dorchester Com-
pany, 9.
Grant of Waltham lands, 52.
Granite dam built at factory, 133.
Great Dividends, the, 51.
Great Pond in the woods, 27 n. 1, 81.
Green, Mr. Henry, first minister at Reading,
46 n. 3.
Green Tavern (the), public dinner at, 89.
Grist-mill, the first, 123; child carried under the
wheel, 124.
Index.
Groton attacked by Indians, 61.
Groton, Suffolk Co., England, 23 n1.
Guild, Rev. Edward C., pastor of First Parish,
I 17.
Gun, firing of a, after night watches punished
by whipping, 18; heavy fine for one that
should permit an Indian to use a, 23.
Hagar: Amos, 85; Benjamin, Isaac, Jonathan,
88; Joseph, 71, 93 ; Lois, William, 89.
Hagar's lane once well settled, 93.
Hamlin, Hon. Hannibal, maternal ancestors
of 97 n. 3. &
Hammond: Ephraim, 95; Jonathan, 90, 95;
Deacon Thomas, 71, 95.
Hancock, John: votes cast for him for Gov-
ernor, IoS.
Hardy’s Pond, 81 n. 1.
Harold, son of Earl Godwin, 66; received
Walliam (Eng.) from Edward the Confessor,
7.
Harringion: Amos, 87; once the richest man
in town, 88 n. 1; Benjamin, 93; Josiah, 71;
Samuel, 96.
Harrington, George, killed, 61.
Harrington, Robert, bought half of Oldham
Farm, 39, 61 n. 6.
Harrington Tavern, 88.
Hartford first called Newtown, 35 n. 1, 40 ;
Dutch fort at, 35; 42.
Harvard College, 44 n. 3, 49, 58 m. 1, 77, 117,
II9, I23. -
Harvests, scanty, 33.
Hastings, Lt. Eliphalet, and others indicted ſor
riot, Ios; Joseph, 7o
Hawkins, Tim, whipped and branded, 60.
Hay of Mr. Phillips and others burnt, 17.
Hay-scales, lofty, 84.
hiº John, first Governor elected by bal-
ots, 34.
Hell’s mouth, poor-house of 1750 at, 96.
Hemp, better than the English, grows at the
Connecticut, 35.
Henry I., 67; II., 67; III., 68.
Herrington, Timothy, first schoolmaster, 71.
Hewes, Joshua, gravestone found, 50.
Higginson, Francis, minister for first colonists,
11 ; arrives at Salem, 11 ; ordained as teacher
at Salem, 11 ; prepared Confession of Faith
and Covenant, 11 ; death of, 16.
Highway to Concord to be 6 rods broad, 52.
Highways, ancient, 78.
Highways, order to lay out, 51.
Hill, Rev. Thomas, pastor of Independent
Cong. Soc. , 116, 117; inventor, 141.
Hoar, Joseph, 88.
Ogreves, 71, 73 n. 1.
Hooker, Rev. Mr. of New Town, 35, 39.
Hour-glass in the pulpit, 76.
Hudson's River, Dutch plantation on, 35.
Hull, 13 n. 2.
Humphrey, John, chosen Deputy Governor of
Mass. Bay Co, 12
Hurd cottage, the, 50.
Husbandmen, the, 32.
Immigrants, three thousand arrive, 39.
Immigration ceased after the Revolution in
England, 57.
Incorporation, act of, 65.
Andez.
Independence in thought and action, 23.
Independence, Town pledged to, IoI. &
Independent Congregational Society organized,
116; Rev. George Simmons pastor; 116; list
of pastors, 116–117; name changed to First
Parish, 117.
India cottons imitated, 131.
Indian corn from Virginia, 19.
Indians converted at Martha’s Vineyard, 47 n.
1 ; dwelling on western shore of Sherman's
Pond, 28; exchange fish for bread, 14 : paid
for lands, 6o; sell corn to the starving set-
tlers, 19; threaten to burn Watertown, 62.
Industrial Exhibition, 141. . .
Inoculation for small-pox forbidden, 91.
Jackson, Patrick T., manager of the Boston
anufacturing Co., 130,
Jennings, Capt. William, 58 m. I (see next
name).
Jenison, Ensign William, 41; autograph, 41 n.
3; one of the three first selectmen, 34.
Şezwell (the) arrives at Salem, 13.
Jewels, watch, how made, 136; delicate meas-
urement of, 137.
Johnson, Lady Arbella, death of 16.
Johnson, Mr., death of, 16.
Kendall: Jonas B., Josiah S., 79.
Kendall's grist-mill, 79, 124.
Kimball, Henry, dwelling of 85.
Kimball Tavern, 86–7, 11o.
King Phillip's War begun, 60–62.
King's colors mutilated, 25, 41 n. 4.
King's common, 50.
Knowles, Rev. John, ordained associate pastor,
46; went to Virginia and returned, 46; re-
turns to England, 48.
Laborers, scarcity of, 31.
Lancaster, first settlement at, 47 n. 3; attacked
by Indians, 6o; second attack, 61.
Land Bank Co., 94.
Land in Great Dividends allotted, 53.
Lawrence: Geo. sen., lands of 70, 79; Jacob,
Leonard, 117.
Leagues, three up Charles River, 15.
Levy by General Court, 1oo.
Levy for palisade at Newtown, 28; resisted by
Watertown, 29.
Lexington, 1oo, Io?.
Library, The Manufacturers’, established, 132.
Library given to Rumford Institute, 132
Library given to the town, 135.
Lieu of Township lots, 51.
Lightning-rods introduced, 77.
Lily pond, 27.
Lincoln, 9, 1oo.
Liquor law, first, 33.
Liquors. first retailer of, 90.
Livermore Farm, 27, 83. .
Livermore: Abijah, 86; Elijah, 95, to 4.
Livermore, John, ancestor of all of that name
in U. S., 95; Moses, 91.
Livermore, Nathaniel, 74 n. 1; 86, 91, 95.
Livermore, Samuel, 64, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75 n. 2, 83,
88 n. 1, 95, 97 n. 3, 99; autograph, 74 n. 1.
Livermore, Thomas, chosen deacon, 56; auto-
graph, 56, n. 2; 7o, 97, 124. º
Lock, Nathan, last survivor of Revolutionary
patriots, Ioq ; Jonas, William, 103.
I47
London, Io, 12, 15, 31, 48, 66 n. 1.
Longevity in Waltham, 108-9.
Long Island visited by the Blessing of the Bay,
35; 40, 46.
Loom, English, operated by a crank motion,
adopted at Waltham and Lowell, 133.
Loom, Waltham, operated by a cam motion,
I32.
Lothrop, Capt., sent to Brookfield, 61.
Lowell, Francis C., 91, 129; perfects the power-
loom, 130.
Lowell, founded, 133. -
Lowndes, Wm., of South Carolina, 132.
Ludlow, Roger, the assistant, arrives in the
Mary area john, 13; has the western fever
at Dorchester, 36.
Lyford, John, welcomed at Plymouth, 37; his
complaining letters intercepted, 37; plays the
penitent, 37.
Lyman place, Chester Brook flows through, 27,
95-6.
Lyman, Theodore, estate of, 95-6.
Lynn, 2, 41 n. 2.
McCauley, Rev. C., pastor of First Parish,
II 7.
Machinery at Waltham rebuilt, 133.
Machines, six new invented, 130.
Machine-shop on Chester Brook, 27, 97.
Mackerel Hill, 79.
Macomber, Zebedee, 9o.
Main street a great thoroughfare, 91.
Manufacturing establishments, number of, 141.
Martha's Vineyard settled, 46.
Mary and john (the), Ludlow's ship arrives
at Nantasket, 13.
Mason, Lt. Hugh, 58; autograph, 58 n. 2;
made a captain, 58, n. 2; Capt. Hugh and
his train-band at Sudbury, 62.
Mason, Capt. John, commander in the Pequot
War, 43.
Massachusetts, Io, 15 n. 1, 38, 42, 57.
Massachusetts Bay, 1 1, 22, 38.
Massachusetts Bay: to what the name was first
applied, 11 n. 3. .
Massachusetts Bay Company incorporated, to ;
sends out its first colony, Io; transfers its
charter and government to New England,
I2.
Massachusetts River, Charles River called by
this name, 13, n. 4.
Massasoit Hotel, 83
Masters's Brook, named by Gov. Winthrop, 26;
in 1815, 17.
Masters, John, 26, 30.
Mattachusetts, 14. -
Mattapan (Dorchester), settled, 14.
Maxwell House, 82, 96.
Mayhew, Thom is, granted the 150 acres on the
south side of Charles River by the wear, 21 :
owner of Oldham Farm, 39, 46 n 2 : sends
settlers to Martha's Vineyard, 46, 58 m. 1.
Mayhew, Thomas, Jr., the first missionary
among the Indians, 47 n. I ; pastor at
Martha's Vineyard, 47 ; lost at sea, 47 n. 2.
Mead : Capt., 85 ; Hopestill, 79 ; Joshua,
Moses, 81. 4
Meadford upon the Mistick settled, 15; 23.
Meadows, Remote or West Pine, 51, 52.
148
Mead's Pond, 27, n. 1.
Meal, water and salt boiled together, 18, 57 n. 1.
Meeting-house Common, 45, 5o.
Meeting-house, dispute about a new, 53 ; lo-
cated near “Commodore's Corner,” 53;
Mr. Gibbs declines to be pastor of, 54; first
in Waltham near Nathaniel Livermore's, 55;
purchased from Newton, 55.
Meeting-house, new, on triangular plot, 75.
Meeting-house, first in Watertown, 44, 45;
gº built at corner of Mt. Auburn and Grove
tS., 45.
Men and means furnished for Revolutionary
War, 103-5.
Men drafted for the Indian War, 62 n. 4.
Merchants “damnable rich,” 58.
Merrimack examined, 34. -
Merrimack Manufacturing Co., incorporated,
I33.
Merry-Mount, Wollaston’s rabble at, 38.
Methodist preaching, first, 119 ; meeting-house
in Weston, 119.
Methodists buy the meeting-house on the com-
mon, 1.19; remove it to Moody St , 120 ; erect
the present edifice, 120; list of pastors, 120.
Milford, Conn., 48.
Military trainings every Saturday, 18.
Militia, first Co. of, 1oz.
Mill Creek, a natural raceway, 123: the oldest
in the country, 124. ſº
Mill No. 2 erected in 1816, 131 ; new mills
erected, 133, 134. tº
Miller, General, a public dinner given to, 89.
Mills, first three in the town, 124.
Mills and Ripley Fund, 118.
Mills, Ann, her legacy for the poor, 117.
Mills, Capt. Isaac, 89.
Ministers, houses ordered to be built for, 22 ;
A,6o levied for the support of two, 23.
Minute-men of the Revolution, Ioo.
Miracle, “casting out two devils,” Io9.
Mishaum the original Indian name of Charles
River, 13 n. 4.
Mishawum, Io, 11 n. 4, 38.
Mistick, a good place upon for a settlement, 15;
first vessel built at, 34.
Mixer, Joseph, chosen deacon, 56; Isaac,
Sarah, 87.
Modern improvers, 27.
Mohegans aid English in the Pequot War, 43.
Monoco, John, his boast, 62; hung with eight
others, 62.
Moore, Maj. Uriah, paper-maker, 86, 91.
Moody, Paul, 112 ; engaged as machinist, 13o;
moved to Lowell, 133.
Mortality, bill of, 108.
Morton, Nathaniel, 37.
Morton, Thomas, sent to England, 38.
Mouse and snake, combat between, 32.
Mount Auburn, 25, 44.
Mount Enoch, 81.
Mount Feake named by Gov. Winthrop, 26;
named from Robert Feake, the Governor’s
son-in-law, 26; marked upon plan made in
1640, 28; name still retained, 28; included in
Oldham Farm, 38; water-works near, 141.
Mt. Feake cemetery, 28.
Muddy River, 34.
Index.
Mule-spinning introduced, 133.
Munnings, George, loses an eye, 42.
Naemkecke, Io n. 1.
Nahant II m. 3.
Nantasket, 13, 31, 37, 38.
Nantasket Point, colonists put ashore on, 13.
Nantucket, 46.
Narragansett Bay, 43.
Narragansett fort, capture of, 61.
Narragansetts, fear of an uprising of, 41; aid
the English in Pequot War, 43.
Nashaway, plantation at, 47; 62.
Nasing, the birth-place of John Eliot, 66.
Natick, Indian church at, 60, 69, 79.
Naumkeag, Io, I I n. 2.
Negro infant baptized, 99.
Negroes, 59.
Neihumkek, II.
Neipnett, 20.
New-Church Chapels, old and new, 122.
New-Church Institute of Education, 123.
New-Church School, 27, 122-3; favorable con-
dition of, 123; provision for boarding pupils,
123.
New England coast, grant of fo Earl of War-
wick resigned to new Dorchester Co., Io.
New Haven, 44, 57.
New-Jerusalem Church, 122.
New Netherlands on Hudson River, 35.
Newspaper, the first printed in America, 62.
Newton, 79, 125, 137-8. *
Newton Chemical Works, 134, 141.
Newton street voted, 96; widened, 132.
New Town(e), resolve to build at, 17, 19, 20,
32, 36; palisade at, 28 ; people of very rich,
31 ; straitened for land, 34; desire to remove,
34; additional lands granted to, 35; congre-
gation move to Connecticut, 39, 40, roo.
Nichols, Henry, founder of the Familists, 32
Il. I,
Nixon: Col., 89; Capt. Joseph, 89, 91.
Noah, Winthrop's colonists like the family of,
I5 n. I.
Noddles Island, 12 n. 2.
Northfield burned by Indians, 61.
Nyantics aid the English, 43.
Old French War on Canadian frontier, soldiers
furnished for, 99.
Oldham, John, member of the Committee from
Watertown on raising of public moneys, 3o;
visits the Connecticut, 35, 36; at Plymouth,
36, 37; perverseness of, 37; banished from
Plymouth, 37, 38; returns to Nantasket, 38;
brought to penitence, 38; admitted freeman
at Watertown, 38; granted farm of 500 acres
in Waltham, 38; killed by the Pequot In-
dians, 40: his death avenged, 41.
Oldham Farm, 38, 93.
One-eyed John, 62.
Orchards filled with trees, 57.
Orders for new goods registered, 132.
Ordination, bill of fare for, 111 n. 3.
Our Lady's Chapel, 68.
Paddocks, Mrs. Winter's, 59
Paine, Wm., grant of land to, 95.
Palisade at Newton, 28
Panel picture in old Sanderson house; 98.
Paper-mill, Bemis’s, 125.
Andear.
Paper-mill, Gov. Gore's, 91 ; John Boies's, 92.
Paper money to silver as 75 to I, IoS:
Paper molds repaired by Jacob Mead, 125 n. 2.
Parker, Wm., paper-mill, 91, 93.
Parkhurst, George Samuel, house of 83.
Parmenter, J. W., 86.
Parsonage of Dr. Cushing, 96.
Parsonage of Rev. Warham Williams, 82, 96.
Parsons, Rev. Jas. C., pastor of Independent
Cong. Soc., 117.
Parsons, Chief Justice, 82 n. 1.
Passengers, a thousand, arrive before 1630, 12.
Pasturage, people cramped for room for; 31.
Patrick, Capt., 32; joins Mason with reinforce-
ments, 44; character of, 44 m 2, 58 m. I.
Patrols to be kept every night, 18.
Peacocke, Cuffe, a colored soldier, 99.
Peirce, Deac. Isaac, 71, Io9 n. 3.
Pembleton, Brian, one of the first three select-
men, 34.
Penalty for cutting down trees on common, 52.
Penn, William, 60. &
Pequot Indians offer lands in Connecticut, 35
n. 2; murder Stone and Norton, 4o ; harass
Connecticut settlers, 42 : capture of the
stronghold of, 43 ; exterminated, 44.
Pequusset the Indian name of Watertown, 16
Il, 2.
Pequusset common, 16 n. 2, 5o ; meadow, 5o.
Philips, Jonathan, 56.
Phillips house still standing, 45.
Phillips, Rev. George, minister at Watertown,
23, 24; residence of, 45; death of, 47; liberal
grants of land to, 47.
Pierce, Abraham, the farm of 92-3 ; 104.
Piety Corner, 97.
Pigeon Hill, 80.
Pigsgusset, a corruption of Pequusset, 16 n. 2.
Pilgrims, landing of, on Cape Cod, 9; struggles
and privations of, 9.
Pinkney, Wm., commissioner to England, 82.
Piscataway, settlement at, 16.
Plain, Further or Great, 51.
Plain, Hither or Little, 51.
Plan of Watertown made in 1640 burned in
Boston, 28.
Plantation at Watertown, 16.
Platinum retorts, 134, 141.
Plough (the), arrives, 31.
Plough or Ligonia patent, 31.
Plymouth, 2 : Pilgrims at, 9; 11, 35, 36, 42, 57.
Pocket-book found, 99.
Point Allerton, 1 1 n. 3.
Political altercation at Watertown, 28.
Pond End, 27, 97.
Poor-Farm, 93.
Population of Waltham and Watertown com-
pared, 138.
Potatoes, when introduced, 33.
Pound, a, built, 71.
Power loom, first successful, in America, 130.
Precincts, Eastern, Middle and Western, 54.
Prices, attempt to regulate, 31.
Priest, James, potter, 86, 104.
Prospect Hill, 60, 88, 14.1-2.
Prospect House, 88, 89.
Prosperity of settlers in 1642, 57.
Protestant Episcopal Church, 119.
I49
Provincial Congress, 1oo.
Provisions from Holland and Ireland, 19.
Provisions not to be had for money, 18; prices
of articles, 33.
Pumpkin pies give place to quince tarts, 57.
Puritans, Seventeenth century, 29.
Puritanism, fundamental idea of 23.
Pynchon, at Roxbury, has the Western ſever,
36; settles at Springfield, 4o.
Quinobequin not the original Indian name of
Charles River, 13 n. 4.
Quonehtacut, River, 35.
Qunnubbágge, 13 n. 4.
Rebellion, Waltham’s record in, I ro
Regiments at Waltham and Watertown, roo.
Regulator for water-wheel, 131.
Representative body established, 30.
Residences, earliest, at Trapolo, 78; on Main
St., in 1798, 86-7.
Revolution, Waltham in the, Ioo-ro8.
Revolutionary documents, 106-7.
Richmond, Va., 126.
Richard I., 67.
Ripley, Rev. Ezra, 1 Io.
Ripley, Rev. Samuel, 84; ordained over First
church, III ; resigns, 115, 116 ; associate
pastor Independent Cong. Society, 116; pre-
sents Independent Cong. Society a portrait,
118; administers the Ann Mills fund, 117-118;
author of “Description of Waltham,” 128 m. 1.
River Street laid out, 132.
Robbins, R. E., purchased watch factory, 136.
Roberts's paper mill, 93.
Rocksbury, first settlement at, 15, 17, 18.
Rogers, John, the famous, 45.
Rome, churches of 24.
Rooster weather-vane, 77.
Rossiter, Edward, arrives, 13 ; death of 16.
Roxbury, 2, 23, 36, 40, 62, 79.
Rum and cider at funerals, 72.
Rumford Building erected, 135; first lecture in
Hall, 135.
Rumford Institute organized, 134; incorporat-
ed., 135; name of celebrated lecturers before,
I35.
Sagadahock, 31.
Salem, 2: why so named, Io; first church in
Massachusetts organized at, 12 ; 14, 15, 18;
company sent from to Mishawum, 38.
Saltonstall: Gilbert; Richard, lord mayor of
London ; Samuel, 16 n. 1.
Saltonstall, Sir Richard, leader of plantation at
Watertown, 16; autograph, 16 n. 1 ; location
of his homestall, 19, 44; first member of the
church in Watertown, 22; provides a house
for Rev. Mr. Phillips, 23; fined for whipping
two persons, 23; children of 23 n. 2; return-
ed to England, 23, 25, 57 ; 79 n. 1.
Sanderson, Abner, 97 n. 2, 103, 104; Isaac, 8o ;
Deacon John, house of, 98; Jonathan, deacon,
72, 97; Nathan, I 17.
Sawgus, settlement upon the river of 15, 38 n. 2.
Sawin, Daniel, occupied “Phillips house,” 45.
Saybrook, Conn., 39.
School, a moving, ordered, 71.
School-buildings, number of, 139.
School-house, first, in Trapelo, 80–1.
School-houses, Grammar and High, 139.
I 50
School-girls raise money for Soldiers' Aid
Society, 111.
Scolds, treatment of, 58.
Screws, infinitesimal, 136.
Scurvy, many sick with, 15.
Sea Island cotton, 126.
Seal of Watertown, 63.
Second Congregational Church (Whitman’s,
1826) organized, 114.
Second Orthodox Church organized and dis-
solved, 114.
Second Religious Society (1812), Io9; rejoins
First Church, 11o.
Second Religious Society (1820) incorporated,
1 12; Rev. Sewall Harding ordained pastor,
113 ; dismissed, 113; meeting-houses of, 113,
II.4.
Second Religious Society (1826), Bernard
Whitman, pastor, 114; Warren Burton, pas-
tor, 114; meeting-house struck by lightning,
115; new church on the Common, 115; sold
to the Methodists, 115.
Selectmen, first use of the name, 34; first of
Watertown, 34.
Servants, full supply of, 59.
Settlements, earlier New England, 9.
Settlers, dispersion of the, 15; many deaths
among, 15; one hundred return, 16; priva-
tions and sufferings, 18; increase in numbers,
31 : scattered upon farms, 53.
Sever, Nicholas, tutor at Harvard College, 119.
Sewall, Judge, extract from diary of, 49.
Shade trees maſked, 52 n. 2 ; planted by Fac-
tory Co., 132 ; by Falmers’ Club, 14o.
Shattuck, Philip, funeral of 72.
Shays, Daniel (Shays's rebellion), 107.
Shedd, Geo. F., machine-shop of, 97.
Sheetings, extra wide, manufactured, 133.
Sherman, Capt. John, 61.
Sherman, John, Jr., killed, 61.
Sherman, Rev. John, preaches his first sermon,
45; removes to Weathersfield, 46; returns
and is ordained pastor, 48; autograph, 48 m.
r; lectures to Harvard students, 49.
Sherman's Pond, 27 n. 1; singular fatality to
fish in, 28.
Sickness among the settlers, 15; and mortality
at Charlestown, 22.
Simmons, Rev. George, installed over Indep.
Cong. Soc., 116.
Sir Loin of beef knighted, 66 n. 1.
Skelton, Samuel, pastor at Salem, 11.
Sleepers in church kept awake, 76.
Small lots, 39, 50.
Small-pox Hospital, 80, 91.
Smith: David built “Brick Tavern,” 89, 90 ;
Samuel built “Prospect House,” 89.
Snake Rock Hill, Ioč.
Soil rich in Trapelo, 81.
Soldiers' Aid Society, III.
Soldiers drafted for Indian war, 62.
Soldiers' monument, 110.
Somersetshire, colonists from 13.
Somerville, 38.
Southcot, Mr., a brave soldier, 14.
Southside, territory included in, 137.
Spirit of liberty in thought and action, 23.
Ander.
Sportsman’s paradise, 81.
Spring, Dr. Marshall, 82 n. 1.
Springfield settled, 4o.
Squadron lines, 51.
Squeb, Capt., a merciless man, 13; lands his
passengers on Nantasket Point, 13.
Steam-power introduced at factory, 133.
Stearns: Isaac, autograph, 79; 81, 1oo; Isak,
autograph, 79; Jonathan, 88; Phinehas, 79;
Samuel, 124.
Stearns, Rev. Dr., of Lincoln, 77.
Sterns, Widow, 53.
Stirling, Lord, received grant of Long Island,
etc., 46.
Stocks set up, 71.
Stone, Capt., 40, 42.
Stone rolling-dam, 127.
Stony Brook, 15 n. 2, 38; boundary of middle
precinct, 54; first mill at 93, 124.
Stoughton Hall, Harvard College, 44 n. 3.
Stoughton, Israel, assists in exterminating the
Pequots, 44; William, 44 n. 3.
Stove in church, 112.
Straight, Thomas, house of, 65, 78.
Students walk from Cambridge to Rev. John
Sherman’s lectures, 49.
Sudbury, 20, 47; attacked by Indians, 62.
Sudbury, Suffolk Co., England, 23 m. 1.
Suicide, first at Watertown, 63.
Sulphuric acid, manufacture of, 134.
Sumner, Dr. Enos, 125.
Sunday afternoon offerings, 58–9.
Supplies for the colony provided, 12.
Swanzey attacked by Indians, 60.
Swine, resolutions concerning, 33 ; allowed to
run at large, 73.
Taverns, number of, 9.0-1.
Taxation, Watertown resists, 29.
Tax list, first, of Waltham, 98.
Teams go South with goods, 126.
Tea-selling bachelor (a), 85.
Territory, earliest divisions of, 5o.
Thanksgiving, day of, 13.
Throstle filling frame, 131.
Timmins, Henry, 96,
Tin Horn, village of, 127.
Toothache remedy, 59.
Tovi, the Dane, founder of Waltham, Eng.,
Town, first use of the name, 33.
Town clerk, 34.
Town-meeting, fine for absence from, 52 ; first
in Waltham, 70.
Town Plot, 52.
Townsend, Col. David, 84.
Townsend: Cornet David, 84, 85, 87; Deacon
Samuel, 87.
Township, reservation for a, 51.
Trainings every Saturday, 18.
Tºº road first settled, 78-9; origin of name,
78 n. I.
Trimountaine, old name of Boston, 16 n. 2.
Trinitarian Congregational Church organized,
II2; present name taken, 113; meeting-house
of 113-114.
Trumbull, Col. Jonathan, commissioner to
England under Jay's treaty, 82.
Andez.
Turbine wheels introduced, 133.
Turner, Capt. Nathaniel, 41. -
Twisting machine built for Seth Bemis, 125.
Uncas, a Mohegan chief, joins Capt. Mason, 43.
Underhill, Capt. John, 41, 43, 44 m. 2.
TJnion League of Waltham, 11o.
United Colonies, support pledged to the, Ior.
Dniversalist Society, 121 ; Church on Lyman
street, 122; list of pastors, 122. -
Upham; Nathan, 88; and Amos built paper-
mill at Stony Brook, 93.
Valuation of the town, 98-9. -
Van Twilly, Gwalter, warned not to build at the
Connecticut, 36.
Vessels, number that came over before 1630, 12.
Village of Waltham in 1798, 86.
Virginia, appeal from ſor ministers, 46.
Wachusett Hill, lands at granted to Watertown,
2O, I42.
Wadsworth, Capt. Samuel of Milton, at Lan-
caster, 61 ; ambushed at Sudbury, 62.
Wages, excessive, 31.
Wahginnacut visits Winthrop, 35.
Wales, Elkanah, bill of, 1oz.
Walker, Theophilus W., 48.
Walford, Thomas, first white settler at Mishaum
or Charlestown, 1.4 n. 1.
Wall-paper, quaint old, 139.
Waltham: area of, 137; assessment upon, 1oo;
description of, 128 n. 1; in war of 1812, Io9 ;
named from Waltham-Abbey, 66; originally
part of Watertown, 9; population of, 138-9;
ronunciation of name, 69; the place “three
eagues up Charles River,” 15 n. 2; valuation
of, 139; 108.
Waltham-Abbey, 66–69.
Waltham Agricultural Library Association, 140.
Waltham Cotton and Wool Factory Co. incor-
porated, 92; description of, 128.
Waltham Improvement Co., 136.
Waltham plain, 26, 27, 38.
Waltham roads model roads, 51-52.
Wand, the constable's, 75.
War of 1812, Waltham in, Io9.
Ward, Caleb, house of, 65.
Warham, Rev. John, 13.
Warping and dressing machine, 130.
Warren: Daniel, IoI ; Eliphalet, 86; John, 82,
autograph, 94; Joshua, 94; Peter, 93, 94,
103 ; Phinehas, 94.
Warwick, Earl of, resigns grant of the New
England coast, 1o.
Washington, George, entertained in Waltham,
89; lodged at house of Widow Coolidge, 107;
visit to Eastern States, 108
Watch movements, grades of 137.
Watch Pivots, delicate measurement of, 137.
Watches manufactured by machinery, 135;
superiority of 137.
Water-mill at Watertown, 21.
Water-works, 141.
Watertown, 2 : towns originally included in, 9;
first landing at, 14 ; first settlement at, 15;
Indian name of 16 n. 2; why so named, 16;
date of incorporation, 17; bounds between
Newtown and, 19; limits long undefined, 19;
curtailment of territory, 20; lands granted to,
I5 I
20 ; fisheries, 21–2; plan of in 1640 burned'
28; resists a levy, 29; first entry in records,
33; inhabitants granted leave to remove, 36 :
too many inhabitants in, 40; population, 138;
£assume 20-44, 60–65, 1oo, Io&.
Wear at Watertown, 19; location of, 20; why
built, 21 n. 1; built by permission of Gov.
Winthrop, 21 ; Indians want to buy, 21 ;
bought by the town, 21 ; granted land on
south side of Charles River, 21.
Weathersfield settled by explorers from Water-
town, 36; attacked by Indians, 42 ; 46.
Wellington family, remarkable longevity of, IoS.
Wellington: Samuel, residence, 84; Seth, 88;
Thomas, Jr., bought old church, 75 n. 2,
tavern-keeper, 82; William, selectman, 81,
IO iſ .
Wellington's grove, 81.
Wellman Stephen, 84,85.
Welsh, John, fine residence of, 84.
Welsteed, Wm., 118; Rev. Wm. declines a
call, 118; librarian at Harvard College, 119.
Wessaguscus shore, 38.
Wesson, Capt. Zachary, builder of the “Green
Tavern,” 89.
Western fever raging, 36.
Weston: originally part of Watertown, 9 : gets
and sells its portion of lands granted at Wa-
chusett Hill, 20ſ; 52 ; Ioo; incorporated, 55;
barn in burned by Indians, 62; 79, IoS.
Westward growth of the town, 53.
Whipcutt, 26 n. 3.
Whipping as a means of punishment, 18.
White Mountains, 141 n. 1, 142.
Whitman, Rev. Bernard (Unitarian), pastor of
Second Cong. Ch. (1826), 114; death of, I 15.
Whitney: Joseph, 56; Nathaniel, 78; Sarah,
6
50.
Whitney’s Hill, 53.
Whittemore, Rev. Thomas, 121.
Widow (the) Brick, 69.
Widow Coolidge’s Tavern, 107.
Wigwams: turned into Wiśuilt houses, 57 ;
dwellings in place of huts and, 57.
Wilderness, this, goes beyond England in food,
57.
Willard, Maj., goes to relieve Groton, 61.
William the Conqueror, 67.
Williams, Rev. Elisha, preaches for Second
Religious Society (1812), 109.
Williams, Rev. John, of Deerfield, 56 n. 3.
Williams, Dr. Leonard, 91, 96, Ioo.
Williams, Roger, prevents an alliance between
the Pequots and Narragansetts, 42.
Williams, Rev. Warham ordained, 56; salary,
73; wants town to buy him a negro boy, 98;
death of, 74.
Willow near cotton factory, 130 n. 1.
Willows in front of Fiske house, 139.
Wilson, Mr., pastor at Boston, 23, 32.
Windsor, 22; Plymouth people build house at,
35; sends 30 men against the Pequots, 42.
Wine and sugar in plenty, 57.
Winnesemet, 23.
Winslow, Edward, visits Boston with John
Bradford, 35.
Winter of 1630 very sharp in New England, 18.
I 52 Index.
Winthrop, Adam, 26.
Winthrop, John, chosen governor of Mass. Bay
Company, 12 ; letter to his wife, 12 ; searches
up the Bay for a place at which to settle, 14 ;
prudence of, 19; grants permission to build
Watertown wear, 21 ; provides a house for
Rev. Mr. Wilson, 23; goes up Charles River
and names several localities in Waltham, 26;
removes liquors from his table, 33; visited by
Wahginnacut, 35.
(9
Winthrop, John, jun., arrives, 39 ; letter to
Benj. Franklin, 77.
Wiswall, Enoch, 91.
Wolfe-pen, 52.
Wolves: bounty offered for, 52 ; howling of, 18.
Women of Waltham, loyalty of, 111.
Women pitifully tooth-shaken, 59.
Wooden-ware factory of Moses Mead, 81.
Worcester, Rev. Thomas, residence of 98.
Wyeth, Widow, funeral of 72.

*—”
+=3; <-->
E. R. R. A. T.A.
Page 39, in note 1, supply “1,” and in note 2 add “swarm out,” at the end.
Page 50, in eighth line from the top, omit the words “father and.”
Page 89, in seventeenth line from the bottom, for “Leonard Smith ” read “Samuel Smith.”
Page 130, in note 1, line four, read “previously ” for “frequently ” in a few copies.

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