Norfolk County, Massachusetts - Chapter 36: The Town of Wrentham, 1918

Chapter 36: The Town of Wrentham

The Town of Wrentham is situated in the southwestern part of Norfolk County. On the north it is bounded by Franklin and Norfolk ; on the east by Foxboro ; on the south by Plainville and the State of Rhode Island ; and on the west by the towns of Franklin and Bellingham. The surface is diversified. Lake Archer and Lake Pearl in the central part are two beautiful little bodies of water, frequented by large numbers of pleasure seekers, and Marsh Pond is on the line between Wrentham and Norfolk. There are a few small streams in the town, but no large ones.

Historical

Wrentham was included in the grant of 1636 to the Dedham proprietors, which grant embraced "all the land on the southerly and easterly side of the Charles River not formerly granted to any town or particular persons." About 1647 Jonn D wight and Francis dickering gave notice of indications of a mine near certain ponds, about thirteen miles from the settlement at Dedham. It is believed that the ponds referred to were within .the limits of the present Town of Wrentham. This report of Dwight and dickering is probably the first mention of this part of Norfolk County. Two years later, owing to a scarcity of grass in Dedham, the inhabitants of that settlement went to the meadows called by the Indians "Wollomonopoag" to obtain a supply of hay for their cattle. Wollomonopoag was the Indian name for what is now Wrentham.

The oldest record relating to a settlement in this part of Norfolk County is dated at Dedham, June 22, 1660, to wit : "At a meeting of the Select men there Lieut. Fisher, Sergt. Fuller, Richard Wheeler, Ensign Fisher, are Deputed to view the lands both Upland and Meddow near about the Ponds by George Indian's Wigwam & Make report of what they find to the Select men in the first Opportunity they can take."

This order of the selectmen and the appointment of the committee was in accordance with a desire expressed by the inhabitants "formerly in a Lecture day." The following December the selectmen reported that they had sent men to view the place, and that upon the report of the men thus deputed, which was encouraging, two men had been deputed by the selectmen "to endeavor to compound with such Indians as have a true Right there." The selectmen further expressed themselves in favor of establishing a plantation there, and recommended the appointment of a committee "to Explore the place further & to Consider what measures are propper in the Premises & propose them to the Town in some Publick Meeting to be Considered & Resolved as the Case -may require."

On March 27, 1661, at a general town meeting, the question was brought up as to whether there should be a plantation established at Wollomonopoag and a majority voted in the affirmative. The meeting also voted that the Indian title to the lands at the place intended for the new plantation should be extinguished by purchase, and a committee was appointed "to Settle and Determine such things as shall be mentioned need full for ye Plantation before named. First they shall Determine when men Present them selves for Entertainment there who are meet to be Accepted Second they shall proportion to each man his part of ye Six Hundred acres Third they shall Order the settling of ye Plantation in reference to Situation High wayes convenient Place for a Meeting House a lot or lotts for Church Officers with such other things Necessary as may hereafter be Proposed."

Later in the year the boundaries of the plantation were established at a general town meeting as follows : "It is ordered that ye bounds of the Plantation at Wollomonopoag shall be upon Stop River towards the East Beginning at Medfield bounds and so all along as the river lies up Stream until it comes about half a mile above the Falls in that river near about where ye Path to that Place at present lies & from thence Southward to Dorchester Line & the West Bounds shall be at or about the end of five miles from one of the Ponds in Wollomonopoage to be a line running Paralel with the line of at ye east end of ye Plantation Always provided that it Extend not to any lands but such as are at present our owne. And the South Bounds shall be Dorchester Line & ye North Bounds shall be Medfield bounds in Part and Charles River in Part."

Richard Ellis and Timothy Dwight were appointed agents to negotiate a purchase of the land from the Indians and in 1662 they reported that they made a treaty with Philip, sagamore of the Wampanoag tribe, for a tract of land six miles square at Wollomonopoag, for which they had obtained a deed. (See chapter on Indian History for a further account of this transaction.)

The Plantation Of Wollomonopoag

Pursuant to the action taken at the meeting of March 27, 1661, Anthony Fisher, Isaac Bullard, Robert Ware and Richard Ellis were appointed a committee to settle and determine "such things as shall be mentioned needful for ye Plantation," etc. At a meeting on January 12, 1662, they reported that ten men had been selected, or accepted, by them to go to Wollomonopoag, but that this number was not sufficient to "goe on with ye Plantation." The Town of Dedham evidently did not offer the expected encouragement to "goe on," and the first attempt at settlement failed. On March 2, 1663, the proprietors resolved by a unanimous vote that they "could not advise parties to proceed to make it a Plantation all things considered as they are now Circumstanced."

Three weeks later another meeting of the proprietors was held, at which it was agreed that those who had already made improvements there "might take the lotts they had subdued and Improved and not draw lotts with the rest of ye proprietors." The persons who were thus allowed to choose were Anthony Fisher, Jr., Job Farrington, Richard Ellis, Robert Ware, Joshua Kent, Samuel Parker, James Thorpe, Samuel Fisher and Isaac Bullard. These men were the first to breakland and begin a settlement within the limits of the six hundred acres alloted for the Wollomonopoag plantation, and were therefore the first settlers in Wrentham. Among those who drew lots on March 2$, 1663, were James Draper, Nathaniel Whiting and Ralph Freeman. Later in the year the selectmen of Dedham confirmed a highway from that town to the Wollomonopoag plantation, "at the request of ye persons who have drawn lotts there, ye highway to be at ye east end of sayed lotts."

The settlement was not a success. Says Samuel Warner : "Although an attempt to settle a colony at Wollomonopoag had failed in 1663. yet the idea was not absolutely abandoned. Proof of this is seen in the transactions had in the interim between that date and 1669. We instance the drawing of lots, the laying out of a highway, surveying of the meadows, the settling of lines of lots, the purchasing of proprietors' rights, and the second treaty with King Philip."

The second treaty with King Philip was concluded in the fall of 1669, and in December of that year the proprietors of Wollomonopoag, now independent of the Dedham proprietors, met at the house of Joshua Fisher (in Dedham) "to adopt some Rules as to the ordering & due management of ye said place for the furthering and settling a Plantation there." This was their first meeting, distinct from the proprietors of Dedham. Among the rules they -adopted were the following:

"1st - All rates &c for defraying public charges hereunder written Shall be and remayne in full Force to all ends intents & Purposes to all Proprietors there untill the intended Plantation become a Town.

''2d - Every Proprietor shall annualy pay towards the Maintenance of a Minister there is 6d for each cow comon right besides what he shall be Assessed upon improved land.

"3d - That the Libertie to call or invite a Minister to exercise to the People there is left to the Inhabitants there & Such of ye principal Proprietors as may be advised without Difficulty provided it be by ye Allowance & Consent of ye Rev. Mr. Allin of Dedham & ye Ruling Elder of ye Church there & Elea Lusher.

"4th - That a Convenient meeting house shall be built to which end 2s per cow common shall be paid whereof Mr Theo Deane Capt Willm Hudson & Mr Job Yiale promise to pay accordingly in money which is accepted John Thurston, Robert Ware & Sergt Fuller are appointed a Committee for ye ordering ye building & Finishing that Meeting house in convenient time."

The meeting house was not finished for several years, but on December 27. 1669, Rev. Samuel Man was invited to become the minister at the plantation. The letter of invitation was signed by thirty-nine persons.

Incorporation Of Wrentham

In October, 1673, the inhabitants, now grown to a considerable number, prepared the following petition, which was in due time presented to the General Court :

"The petition of ye Inhabitants of Wollomonopoage humbly sheweth that whereas it hath pleased God by His especial Providence to sett the place of habitation of divers of us in a place within the bounds of Dedham where some of us have lived Severall years conflicting with ye Difficultyes of a Wilderness state & being a long time without any to Dispense the word of God to us although at last it hath pleased God to send the Gospel amongst us dispensed by that faithful servant of his, Mr Samuel Man ; but not having power to assess or gather what have been engaged by reason divers live not Within the limits of the Town & the Constables of Dedham are not willing to gather what has been engaged neyther is that Engaged by Town power so the pay is not attayned but that work is like to fail & We perish for lack of Knoledge unless it please God to move your hearts who are the Fathers of the country to take care for us & not for us only but for the Interest of God here now being helpless and hopeless doe yet venture to spread our complaint before your Honours desiring you would put forth your power to Promote the ordinances of God here.

"That which we desire & humbly present to your pious consideration is that there may be a Committee appoynted & Impowered by this Hon Court to settle some way for the maintenance of the Ministrie which we doubt not but most of ye proprietors in Dedham & Elsewhere will readily grant yet some there are that have rights here seem only to be willing that we should labor under the Straights of a new Plantation so as to bring their land to a great Price which no other can regulate (that we understand) but yourselves. Therefore we fly to your wisdom & justice for help which no other under God can do The proprietors also having engaged but for so long as we remain under the power of Dedham & Dedham now advising us to be of our selves Declaring that they cannot act for us as is Necessary in divers cases they living so remote & if it shall please God so far to move you to help us in this distressed State we humbly further crave to be excused from paying any County rates for 7 or 8 years we being very Few and poor & far into the country & not considerable to the County which will oblige us to serve your Honours. We have herewith sent the Coppies of what the Proprietors did engage (which have caused us your Petitioners to Venture upon these Difricultyes expecting more would have come to us) which we desire may be ratifyed till they send Inhabitants suitable or what other way God may direct your wisdom to Determine which shall ever Oblige your poor supplyants to pray &c."

The selectmen of Dedham offered no objection to the plantation being incorporated as a separate town, but ventured the suggestion that "if the Court see meet to grant them town power that it may be called Wrentham." Upon the 15th day of October, 1673, trie act incorporating the Town of Wrrentham became a law. The name is taken from Wrentham in England, a small parish in the County of Suffolk, from which came John Thurston, Thomas Paine and a number of people who accompanied Rev. Mr. Phillips (or Philip) when he came to Dedham in 1638. He afterward returned to England and resumed his pastoral duties in his old parish.

Organizing The Town

John Thurston, Daniel Fisher, William Park and Hopestill Foster were appointed a committee by the General Court "for ordering the affairs of the Town

View Of The Square. Wrkxtham

"5th. That the order in Dedham Town Book referring to ye admitting of Inhabitants made June 1 '66 be transcribed in this Town Book to be an order for ye Town of Wrentham as to all intents & purposes therein Contayned.

The order referred to in the last paragraph related to "ye entertainment of persons privately," and provided "That no inhabitant of ye Towne or tenant of any house lands &c shall after due Publication hereof grant sell alienate lease assigne sett or to farme lett any house lands or parcels of land whatsoever within sayed Towne to any persons not formerly dwelling within our Towne nor shall hire any out of ye town person for a servant by the years or any apprentice for more than two months without leave of ye committee or select men without Securitie for ye Towne's indemnitie as sayed Committee or Select men shall accept. Notice shall be given of all such Contracts made or intended to be made to some one of ye Committee or Select men & if not forbidden within a month then the partie may proceed therein but if being forbidden he shall notwithstanding proceed to contract or entertain contrary to this Order or shall fail to give notice as above provided he shall for every month so continueing forfeit to the use of ye Towne twenty shillings to be levied upon his good by ye Constable by warrant from the Com'ttee or Select men or be recoverable by action at Law."

Such an order seems peculiar in these days, but the early settlers of Massachusetts were careful to protect themselves from the presence of undesirable citizens or sojourners, and regulations of this nature were adopted by practically every town in the colony.

Wrentham Vacated

King Philip inaugurated his war upon the white settlements by his attack upon Swanzey in June, 1675. At that time the inhabitants of Wrentham were few in number and occupied a somewhat isolated position. Furthermore their settlement lay directly in the trail from Mount Hope, where Philip had his headquarters, to Medfield and was in constant danger. In an old record of the town is found the following entry: "March ye 30, 1676, ye Inhabitants ware drawn of by rason of ye Endian worre." After they were gone the savages came' into the town and burned all the deserted dwellings but two, which, according to tradition, they

Permanent Settlement

In January, 1677, a meeting of the proprietors and those who were formerly inhabitants of Wrentham was held and the latter were asked if "they would go on to rebuild and inhabitt Wrentham.'' To this they replied with the following written obligation :

"We whose names are hereunto subscribed haveing formerly had our residence in Wrentham but by those sad and sollame dispensations of Gods Providence were removed yet desire a worke for the honour of God & the good and Comfort of our selves & ours might be again ingaged in and promotted att that Place. Therefore our purpose is to returne thither God willing But knowing our owne inability for so Great & Waytie a worke both in respectt of our insufficiency for the carrying on of new Plantation worke & the dainger that may yet be renewed upon us by ye heathins breaking out on us we thinke it not saffe for us to returne alone except other of ye proprietors joyne to go up along with us or sende Inhabitants to ingage in that worke with us. Subscribed by Elizear Metcalf Saml Fisher Daniell Haws William Macknah Daniel Wight Elizear Gay Samuell Man Cornelius Fisher Joseph Kingsbury Robert Ware John Aldis John Payne Benjn Rocket Nath Ware 'John Ware Michell Wilson Samuel Sheeres."

The proprietors gave a favorable answer to this appeal for a larger number ot inhabitants and agreed to sell their interests to actual settlers in good faith. The subscribers to the above document then returned to their homes, rebuilt their houses, and in a short time were "joyned by a goodly number." Wrentham was now permanently settled.

Some First Things

The first mill was authorized by the town in January, 1672, when it was ordered that a grant for "a corn mille be made upon that stream that comes out of ye ponde & runns into Charles River in the neerest convenient place to ye lower end of ye ponde in Wollomonopoage & made fitte for work & doe grinde corn as such a mille ought to doe before the first daye of Maye which shall be Anno 1673. & be soe kept & attended that ye Inhabitants there be supplyed with good meale from time to time of the corn they shall bring to mille."

A committee entered into a contract with Robert Crossman to build the mill, but before he had completed it King Philip's war came on, so that the work was delayed. In 1680 it was voted that if he did not speedily put his mill in repair the inhabitants "will see out for the procuring of another mill." In 1685 the grant formerly made to Crossman was conferred upon John Whiting.

The first school was taught the winter of 1701. The records show that "considering the scarceness of money &c it is proposed that for this winter time ye Select men & such others as will joyne in yt worke with them doe by them selves or som others in their behalfe take their turns by ye week to keepe a school to teach children & youth to read English & wright & cypher gratis & in hope that som of Our neighbors will joyn with us in yt worke we Intend God willing to begin next Monday." This record is dated December 19, 1701, and it is to be hoped that those who "joyned" in the work were better spellers than the clerk who made the above entry.

The Town Divided

When Wrentham was incorporated on October 15, 1673, it embraced all the present town of that name, the towns of Franklin and Plainville, and the greater portions of Foxboro and Norfolk. Franklin was cut off on March 2, 1778; Foxboro, on the 10th of June the same year; Norfolk, February 23, 1870; and Plainville, April 4, 1905, thus reducing Wrentham to its present dimensions.

On February 16, 1904, the governor of Massachusetts approved an act of the Legislature authorizing the Town of Wrentham to provide a supply of water for the inhabitants by driven, artesian or other wells, or to ''take by purchase or otherwise and hold the water of any pond, stream or spring, or artesian or driven well within the limits of said town," etc., and to borrow not exceeding $125,000, to be repaid in annual payments, beginning five years after the first issue of bonds, notes or scrip, the act to become effective when accepted by a vote of two-thirds of the legal voters at a meeting called for that purpose within three years, not more than two such meetings to be called in any one year.

The three years expired before the terms of the act had been accepted by the required vote, and on April 13, 1907, an act was passed extending the time for such acceptance to February 16, 1908. Not long after the passage of this act a meeting was called and the necessary two-thirds vote was obtained. A loan was effected and work was commenced upon the plant. The board of water commissioners made their first annual report in 1908.

According to the report of the commissioners in 1916, there were then a little over eleven miles of mains in use; total number of connections, 315; number of gallons of water pumped during the year, 38,486,250; receipts for the year, $5,991.32; operating expenses, $2,185.78; bonds outstanding on January 1, 1917, $50,700. Extensions and new connections have been made every year since the works were established, and with receipts more than double the operating expenses it is evident that Wrentham will soon own its water plant unencumbered by debt and its benefits will be extended to all parts of the town. The board of commissioners at the beginning of the year 191 7 was composed of Edward P. Bennett. Murray Winter and Dr. J. F. Jenckes.

Fire Department

At the close of the year 1916 the board of fire engineers was made up of Robert A. Wood, George P. Francis, Murray Winter and George H. E. Mayshaw.

The last named was also forest fire warden. In their annual report for the year they say: "The present equipment consists of one auto truck, one hose wagon, one combination chemical wagon, one hose reel, one hand tub, 1,800 feet of hose and one combination chemical wagon at Sheldonville."

The Pioneer Engine Company, located at Wrentham Village, numbers twentyfive men, and the company at Sheldonville, in the western part of the town, ten men. The cost of the department for the year was $1,422.76.

Town Hall

Samuel Warner, writing of Wrentham in 1883, says: "Some years since the town erected a large and convenient building in Wrentham Village for the accommodation of the high school and a grammar and primary school. It was also provided with a spacious and convenient hall for the transaction of its public business, and the town bade adieu to the vestry of the meeting house in which. and its predecessors, it had held its town meetings for more than one hundred and fifty years."

This building stands in a convenient location, facing the town common, and is well adapted to the wants of the town. It was completed about 1874 and is still in good condition.

On the common, diagonally across the street from the town hall, stands a granite monument surmounted by the figure of an infantry soldier "at rest." On the front of the pedestal is the inscription : "In memory of the brave men of the army and navy who answered their country's call," and on the die below the dates "1861-1865." On the reverse side of the pedestal is the simple statement: "Erected by the Monument Association, 1915."

The erection of the monument is due to the efforts of an association of Wrentham women, of which Mrs. Maria MacCorrison was president; Mrs. Cora Pratt, vice president; Mrs. Gertrude B. Bean, secretary; Mrs. Catherine Morse, treasurer. Through the efforts of these patriotic women and their associates, the funds were raised to pay for the monument, which was dedicated on May 22, 191 5. Charles Moore, commander of George H. Maintien Post No. 133, Grand Army of the Republic, presided at the dedication; music was furnished by the Norwood Band ; the dedicatory address was delivered by Gen. Alfred S. Roe ; and the monument was unveiled by Misses Edith Hittenger and Dorothy M. Pierce. George P. Willard, chairman of the board of selectmen, accepted the monument on behalf of the town in a few well chosen remarks. Addresses were also delivered by Gen. Elisha N. Rhodes, past senior vice commander-inchief of the Grand Army of the Republic, and Charles E. Reed, commander of the Sons of Veterans. Mrs. MacCorrison, president of the Monument Association, presented the monument to the town.

Modern Wrentham

Two hundred and forty years have passed since the first inhabitants of the Town of Wrentham were forced to give up their homes to the torch of the savage. Several volumes would be necessary to trace all the events that have happened in connection with the town history during these two hundred and forty years. Suffice it to say that the people of Wrentham no longer live in fear of the scalping-knife and tomahawk of the painted Indian. The war-whoop has given way to the hum of civilized industry; the Indian trail has broadened into the improved highway ; the scream of the factory or locomotive whistle tells the story of progress and development. Wrentham has a national bank, a number of manufacturing establishments, the streets are lighted by electricity, mercantile houses carry stocks of all lines of goods likely to be demanded by the citizens, Catholic, Baptist, Congregational, Universalist and Episcopal churches afford ample opportunities for the worship of God, and four public school buildings bear witness to the fact that the people believe in educating their children. In 1910 the population numbered 1.743, and in 1915 it had increased to 2,414, a gain of 671 in five years. According to the report of the board of assessors, the valuation of property in 1916 was $1,651,333.

Town Officers, I917

Following is a list of the principal town officials at the beginning of the year 1917: George P. Willard, Harrison V. Hall and George S. Sheldon, selectmen and overseers of the poor; David T. Stone, clerk; James E. Carpenter, treasurer; Wesley G. Dibble, tax collector ; Willard H. Bennett, George S. Sheldon and Albertus J. Whiting, assessors ; Charles L. Eldridge and William A. Morse, highway surveyors ; Ernest A. Hall, Edwin F. Wood and Oliver J. Goodspeed, school committee; Clarence A. Raymond, auditor; Fred L. Blatchford, Daniel S. Farrington and Hiram A. Cowell, park commissioners ; Edgar I. Blake, William A. Morse, George H. E. Mayshaw, Frank E. Snow and Joseph P. Quirk, constables.