SANDWICH-BY-THE-SEA UCSB LIBRARY Y- SANDWICH-BY-THE-SEA HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE FAMOUS OLD TOWN PUBLISHED BY The Sandwich Historical SOCIETY 1914 First Parish Church. INTRODUCTORY ERE in a winding glacial valley, with its streets shaded by great elms, lies Sandwich, by-th-sea. Back from the village streets are great rolling hills with their crests topped with the green of oak and pine and threaded with quiet, shady woodland roads. From these hills one may look down into the twin lakes of Shawme, set like crystal gems in the landscape. Stretching forth frcm the eastern borders of the town are the marshlands breathing their salty, life-giving flavor. Beyond these are the white sand dunes and the blue sea, dotted with the white sails of fishing boats. SANDWICH-BY-THE-SEA !, 1637, ten men of Saugus, were given liberty by the Court at Plymouth "to view a place to sit down and have sufficient lands for three score families." These men with Edmund Fi'eeman as leader, founded the town of Sandwich. In June, the bal- ance of the families arrived and the town containing about one hundred square miles, was afterwards incorporated in 1639. By an act of the legislature in 1884, the western half of the town was set off as a separate town, called Bourne. The old way from Plymouth to Sandwich followed the shore and came through Scussett, now Sagamore. On this road the first house erected in Sandwich was the Tupper House in 1637, which is still standing. Coming arovmd by Town Neck, a neck of land held in common by pix>prietors, since the settlement of the town for pasturage, we pass on the right, the Brick house, built in the early part of 1800, made of brick manufactured on Town Neck, and occupied by Parson Goodwin; later it became a Nye house, and is still owned by a descend- ant. Near the Green School House, so called, was the old Ship Yard and where, within the memory of some of our towns- people, ships were built and launched on Mill River Creek. The site of the old Town Pound, instituted when the town was first settled, is near the turn of the road, that bi'ings in full view, the First Parish church. This church was organized in 1633, when a thatch covered meeting house and pastor's house were built, as shown in a pen and ink drawing executed about this time, reprepresenting the Tupper House in the back ground. This edifice was called old in 1644, and the town voted to repair it. Town Meetings were held in this church and the buildings which succeeded it, through all the years, until 1834, when the Town Hall was built. Shear jashub Bourn, son of Richard, the renowned Indian missionary, gave a silver communion set to this church which is now preserved in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. His son, Meletiah Bourn, built a house for his bride in 1692 which is still in excellent repair. This house stands on the embank- ment to the left as we turn west from the church, and after a lapse of two hundred and twenty years, the original clapboards and chimney are in good condition. Next comes the Congregational Chm-ch which society was formed by a large proportion of the First Parish Church, agreeing with their pastor Rev. Jonathan Burr and with him making a new society, incorporated by the legislature in 1814 as the Calvinistic Congregational Society. The Deacon Eldred House near the pond on the right, was built as early as 1756. while on the opposite side of the street, a little fai-ther on, is a much older house, now owned by the widow of Col. Charles Ledgard Norton, a man well known in the military and literary world. Standing on an eminence facing the street and pond on the right, is the Lake House, a popular summer home for our city friends, once the famous Sandwich Academy. Parson Burr was ths first master after its completion in 1804. Bet 1 in Smith was a famous teacher for many years, and lived in the boi ?e back from the Academy, which was one of .the earliest houses. On the left, stands a dignified old dwelling called ''The Lindens." from the grand old trees in the front, owned for many years by a famoxis surveyor of the times, Jesse Boy- den, owned in recent years by the late Rev. J. J. Roberts, D. D. of New York. The Tobey house across on the right is one of our attractive old hcmes which has always been kept in gccd repair, now owned and occupied by a noted lawyer of Brooklyn, who is a grandson of Thomas Tobey. whose home it was. We find another Tobey House on the same side of the road after climbing the hill, quaint and beautiful, with its present owner a New York lady, who keeps everything as nearly as possible, like the old days. Leaving this road we take one to the right called Shawme, which leads above the two beautiful lakes and down to the head of Grove Street near the Catholic- Cemetery. The cottages on this road are occupied only in summer and then by prominent men. busy the rest of the year in musical and literary pursuits. Passing the cemetery with its many imposing monuments we come to the entrance of two old houses, built by Wings, one of which still remains in the family. Between these two estates the Wing family of America has placed a tablet on a granite marker. In 1811, "leave was granted by the town to Samuel Wing ard others, to erect a dam and works of a cotton factory in the stream between the upper and lower ponds in Sandwich village at a place near Wolf-trap Neck, so called. " This plant was later used to manufacture tacks and fater still as a braid factory. Following our way back toward the center of the village, we pass the old Town Cemetery, the land for which was ap- propriated by an order of the Town in July 1663. Here lie buried, the makers of our town, the men and women who built their homes here, reared their families and lived their lives, leaving an impression, for good or evil, upon the later generations. We note among the prominent epitaphs, that of Titus Winchester, minister William's slave, who, when at the death of his master, was given his freedom and a sum of money, began to save his little wealth, adding to it by industry and frugal- ity. When his will was read, he had given the First Parish a clock and a sum of money, the income of which is still used as he desired, toward the maintenance of the church. This was in 1808 and the clock was used until the present one was given to replace it by a prominent native of the town, Hon. Jonathan Bourne. We find the headstone of Capt. Peter Adolph whose widow gave to the church a bell in 1702, because of her gratitude to the men of Sandwich who found her husband's body cast a- shore from a wreck and gave it burial in this cemetery. This bell was used on all public occasions untill 1763, when a larger one was bought after repairs to the church. The Adolph bell was sold to the Justices of the Court of Sessions at Barnstable, the county seat. Here it was used until the Court House was burned in 1324, then on the building occupied by the Probate and Register of Deeds offices until now, in the new Court House, it hangs in state in the office of the Clerk of Courts, perfectly preserved, with the latin inscription and date 1675 perfectly legible, cast in the metal. Others we would mention here are the ministers, Benj. Fessenden, Abraham Williams and Ezra Goodwin also the doc-tors Eldad Tupper, Benj. Fessenden, Nathaniel Freeman and Thomas Smith of the old days and only a few years ago was here laid to rest in a beautiful spot of his own choosing, looking toward the head of the pond, our young and talented Dr. Robei-t H. Faunce. Famous in military affairs of the town we note the inscriptions of Capt. Richard Bourn, Col. Silas Bourn, Lieut. Benj. Freeman, Stephen Nye, Col. Obed Nye. Joseph Nye Esq., Brig. Gen. Freeman, Col. Abram Williams. Col. William Basset t and many others of the earlier wars, while near the north entrance lies a Civil War veteran, Lieut. James Atherton. On the hill above and beyond these graves the Historical Society has placed a granite block to mark the site, where, in 1768, the powder house was built, of brick. In this was stored the powder, in great iron kettles, the other ammunition and the guns. Going down Grove St., following the pond, we pass old houses, built before 1700 and others of a later date, the most recent of which is W. R. Procter's. Then the old Newcomb home, formerly a prominent inn, where illustrious men, in Colonial times were registered as guests. At the top of the hill stands the High School, the land for it was given by a townsman, and the building was erected with funds of the old Academy trustees. At the foot of the Mill Pond stood Dexter's Grist Mill, where now the Tag Shop stands. The supply of water to turn the wheel came from never-failing springs in the upper pond, for nearly three hundred years. It is of interest to know that within the borders of Sandwich are twenty-five lakes and ponds, attractive alike to tourists, artists and fishermen. Wakeby Lake is the most beautiful and by many is called a minature Winnepesaukee. The Town Hall is just north of this spot, built in 1834, until which time all Town Meetings had been held in the church. In the square near by stands a soldier's monument of gran- ite, presented to the town by William Eaton in memory of his father, and nearly across the street, stands the Nye Boulder, erected by the Nye Family Association, in memory of common ancestors. Benjamin Nye and Katherine Tupper. his wife. On the opposite corner is the site acquired by the Sandwich Historical Society, Inc. on which to erect a building. This Society of more than a hundred members has already a valu- able collection, now kept in the room used for its meetings, in the Town Hall. From here, following Main St. to the west, we pass three summer residences of prominent men and several houses built two hundred years ago. New comes the Faunce Demonstar- tion Farm. This was a gift to the town from one of the old families. Its purpose is to encourage and promote agriculture, better living and better homes. The executive power is vested in a board of trustees, named by the donor and its superin- tendent is connected with the Extension Service of the Mass. Agr. College at Amherst. Going still farther to the west we approach the Bay View Cemetery and near the first entrance stands the simple toulder with its beautiful epitaph, "in memory of the renowned actor, Joseph Jefferson." He chcse this spot for his last resting place because of his love for Sandwich. Charles Jeffer- son, his son who owned a home in town for several years is buried near by. Above the western entrance stands a granite memorial to Bishop Mallalieu, whose wife was a native of this town. On the opposite side of the street is the Freeman Ceme- tery, and here lie buried many prominent citizens, among them Major Charles Chipman who fell in the Civil War, and at whose grave taps are sounded by a bugler durirg the service at the mound for the unknown dead, on Memorial Day. After passing Bay View, back on the hills to the right, formerly stood the residence of the Cape Cod Historian. Rev. Frederick Freeman. Here he kept a boarding school with the chapel beside the road. A half mile further on, where the Main St. meets the old Plymouth way, up in the field to the right, are found the Sad- dle and Pillion Rocks, indicating the last resting place of Ed- mund Freeman and his wife, Elizabeth, placed there at her death, Feb. 1676 and upon which their descendants have recent- ly placed a tablet . Coming back to the First Church and turning east we pass, on the right, the Weston Memorial Library, bequeathed to the town by Mr. and Mrs. Weston, natives of the town, represent- ing the savings of a life time. On the opposite side of the street, stood for years what was known as Boyden's Block. This with an adjoining stable was burned, Dec. 23, 1913. An up-to-date fire-proof building has been built on the old site by J. R. Holway. The Central House, next was a celebrated hostelry in the early days. One time called Fessenden's Inn. And has num- bered among its guests many renowned men of the country. One room which was often occupied by Daniel Webster, is con- tinued to be called the Webster Room. Post Office Square, where a band stand stood for many years, has recently been improved, by grading and seeding a circle about the stately elm, surrounding it \v ith a curbing. Sandwich is noted for its beautiful trees, of which, according to our tree warden, there are over twelve hundred, three fourths of which are elms. The St. Johns Episcopal Church is on the left and further on is the Methodist Church. It has lately been remodelled and added greatly to its property by acquiring the conrer lot at Main and Liberty Streets. Going down Jarves St., on the right, are the offices of the Canal Construction Co. which began work on the Cape Cod Canal in 1909, and bought this Burgess House. Next is the Corpus Christi Catholic Rectory and Church. The old Tobey House at the corner of Cross St. was the first dwelling on the street. Below the railroad crossing is the property formerly owned by the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company, which made its fii'st glass July 4, 1825. Glass in uncounted varieties, forms and colors was manufactured continuously until 1883, when a few men instigated a strike and the factory closed. The pro- perty changed hands several times and several atempts were made to revive the industry but each in turn failed. Only one of the buildings is used now and in that has been started a Freezer and Cold Storage plant. The old Cape Cod Factory further up the railroad was later used for the manufacture of wood veneers but is now standing idle. The Glass Cutting Establishment of N. Packwood and Co. on the left, was built for a tack factory. Back to the corner of Main and Liberty Sts. we pass, after a quarter of a mile, the road which leads to the State Trout Hatchery, then on down to Spring Hill River where there was a grist mill away back in 1640. when Benj. Nye brought his bride here from the Tupper House. Later there was a fulling mill and in 1825 a saw mill, to furnish barrel staves for the Sandwich Glass Works. Now the power is used for a small glass cutting shop. Going around Spring Hilll, we pass sites of two famous institutions of learning. Paul Wing's School for both boys and girls and Eliza Gould Wings Applegrove Seminary, for young ladies. Beyond these, the last of the old fort houses, the Stephen Wing House, built in 1641, with one room stoned up, to be used as a garrison in case of an Indian attack. The Friends, or Quaker Meeting house is an interesting building. The present edifice was built in 1812. Near by is its cemetery with the plain headstones, and beyond, on th ^ right is the one-half acre of land deeded by the town in 1695 to "our neighbors called Quakers, for a burial place, above Canal Swamp on the hill Ix^tween the ways" there are no headstones, but it is surronded by a substantial wall. Going on down, crossing the railroad at Great Pond we climb a hill and at its foot find the Jonathan Nye house, built in 16 35. and near it. across the brook is the Grange Hall. On this mill-steam has been a grist mill, fulling mill, carding machine, and later a jewelry shop. Now the State owns it. with a large trout hatchery adjoining. Next to this estate. was the one where lived in 1656. Edward Perry, the ancestor of August Belmont. the New York financier, whose money has built the Cape Cod Canal. This interesting inland water- way, the tourist must visit before leaving Sandwich.