Bristol County, Massachusetts - Chapter 58, 1883

Taunton

[Prefatory Note. - No one can be more sensible than myself of the incompleteness of the following sketch. It is not claimed to be a history; at the best.it is but a contribution towards a history. But, imperfect as it is, it has extended much further than was contemplated when I consented to write something concerning the early planting of the town and its first settlers. No history of Taunton has yet been written. Mr. Baylies furnished much interesting and important matter relating to its history for the first fifty years, and Kev. Mr. Emery, in his " Ministry of Taunton," gave a great deal more, covering a much longer period, which is of great value. Sketches, reminiscences, and single items have from time to time been given to the public, but all this has necessarily been fragmentary and, of course, unsatisfactory.

In what is here presented it has been my object, so far as possible, to let the fathers speak for themselves, and therefore original papers, to a greater extent perhaps than some will approve, have been given in their integrity. Some of the more important laws of the colonial period, defining the duties of town officers, have also been given in full rather than abstracts from them, for it was a characteristic of the early legislation to give the reasons for particular enactments in the enactments themselves in ample and explicit phrase, so that from these laws a truer and more graphic picture of the period can be obtained than from almost any other source. " The reason of the law is the life of the law." For the same reason the orders of the General Court and the votes of the proprietors are in most instances given at length. An abstract or paraphrase might be more brief, but the original flavor would be gone.

It has been a personal satisfaction to commune for a time with the fathers and founders of our ancient town and the earlier generations of their successors. A higher appreciation of their sturdy manhood and integrity has thus been gained. If it shall have this effect in any degree upon those who may read what is here written, my best expectations will be realized.

The city of Taunton lies in the northeasterly part of Bristol County, and is bounded on the northwest by Norton, on the northeast by Easton, on the east by Raynham, Middleborough, and Lakeville, on the south by Berkley and Dighton, and on the west by Rehoboth. In its greatest length, from northwest to southeast, it measures rather over ten miles ; its greatest breadth, being across its northwesterly portion, from northeast to southwest, is nine miles, while across its central portion, between Raynham and Berkley, it is less than two miles. Its present outline is extremely irregular and awkward, the result of setting off several new towns from the original territory, in which more regard seems to have been had for the symmetry of the parts thus taken than of the part that remained.

half miles north of City Square, is one hundred and seventy-five feet above City Square, and is the highest point within the city limits. At its southerly base lies Prospect Hill Pond, a beautiful sheet of water, i surrounded by high land, except on the southerly side, from which a small outlet flows easterly into the Fowling Pond in Raynham. Still farther northwesterly are Scadding's and Watson's Ponds, which are connected by an outlet from the latter, Scadding's also receiving a small stream flowing from Winnicunnett Pond, which lies just across the northwesterly boundary in Norton. Mill River is the outlet of Scadding's Pond, and flows in a southerly direction through the manufacturing villages of Whittenton, Britanniaville, and Hopewell, affording water-power to each, and also to several manufactories in the centre, and empties into Taunton River at the Neck of Land.

Three-Mile River, formed by the junction of Rumford and Wading Rivers in Norton, flows through the villages of Oakland and Westville, in the westerly part of the city, to the village of North Dighton, which is partly in Taunton, and from there it forms the boundary between Taunton and Dighton for a distance of a mile and a half, until it empties into Taunton River. It furnishes valuable water-power in each of the villages named.

The principal stream is Taunton River, called by the inhabitants the Great River, to distinguish it from Mill River, which is commonly called the Little River. It has its sources in several small streams in Plymouth County, forms the boundary between Raynham and Middleborough, Taunton and Middleborough, and the southerly boundary between Raynham and Taunton. At East Taunton there is a dam which furnishes a head of water for the Old Colony Iron Company, located there. The tide ebbs and flows to this point, and tugs and scows ascend thus far with freight. The head of navigation for sailing vessels is at Weir village, which has a large and important trade in iron, coal, and grain. Some seventeen miles below this place, at Fall River, it empties into Mount Hope Bay.

In the easterly part of the city there are several ponds, known as Furnace Pond, Robinson & King's Pond, Dean Factory Pond, and Bear-Hole Pond, which afford by their outlets water-power for several saw-mills.

There are forests of considerable extent in the outlying districts, the largest being the Great Cedar Swamp, several miles in extent, which covers the northeasterly corner of the territory. Apart from this the prevailing growth is white-pine, although there are large oak and maple forests, interspersed with chestnut, beech, ash, and other hard-wood trees, and pitch-pine is found to some extent.

On the first Monday of January, 1865, two hundred and twenty-eight years, at least, after the first settlement of Cohannet, and two hundred and twenty-five years after receiving the name of Taunton, a city organization was inaugurated, and the territory was divided into eight wards. The population at that time was 10,005. In 1765 the number of families in the town was 493, and the population was 2745; in 1800 the population was 3860; in 1810, 3907; in 1820, 4520. Since the organization of the city the population has increased as follows: 1870, 18,629; 1875, 20,445; 1880, 21,213.