Georgetown Town (part 1 of 3)

By Henry M. Nelson Introductory And Topographical

The town of Georgetown, the twenty-seventh in the sisterhood of Essex County, and numbering three hundred and three in the line of date of incorpora tion of the towns then existing within the limits of the State, has for its natal day April 21, 1838. Two municipalities besides Georgetown were at that session of the General Court granted permission "to be." One, a poor, feeble child of the commonwealth, on the extreme western border, was, just a week before, in exquisite raillery it would seem, ushered into the family as Boston Corner, and then, after a few brief years, with its square mile of territory and seventythree inhabitants, was quietly or otherwise disposed of to our New York neighbors. The other, known originally as " Erving's Grant," became the town of Erving, in Franklin County. That town has had a moderate growth in a fairly, fertile agricultural district, and to-day continues with but slight increase from one census point to another. Georgetown is located about six miles northerly of the geographical centre of the county, and on the southern border of the Merrimac towns. It has an outline of five sides known as quinquangular, having that number of rather unequal sides, but bounded, however, by four towns only, viz : Boxford, extending along the west and south; Rowley on the southeast; Newbury on the east; Groveland along the entire north; and without any marked change of boundary line, exists to-day as when set off from Rowley, the mother-territory, nearly a half-century ago. Its greatest length is from west-northwest to east-southeast, nearly five and three-fourths miles. This is from the angle north of the house of Mrs. Edward Poor, on West Street, to a point about one-half mile southeast of the new cemetery in Byfield, and its extreme width, three and one-half miles, is from just north of the Thurlow estate, on Thurlow Street, to the noted boundary-mark where Rowley, Boxford and Georgetown lines diverge a large red oak tree of which the charred stump now remains, known from early times as the " Three Sisters." A Sunday raccoon hunt by some of our local sportsmen is understood to tell the story of its destruction, a score or more of years ago.

The seventy-first deg'ree west, Greenwich, at the Boxford boundary is just west of the B. & M. R. R., across which the railroad diverges to the west of the line near the residence of H. P. Chaplin, Esq., crossing Georgetown village very nearly where the First Congregational Church stands and Main Street a few rods northwest of the centre, having the eastern corner of Groveland and the villages of West Newbury and Merrimac on the same line at the north. Directly south is the most westerly section of Lynn, East Saugus, West Peabody, Middleton and Boxford village. Located within the latitude of 42° 42' to 45', this town has exactly on the western line the city of Lawrence, the denser part of Methuen, the river side of North Andover, West Boxford, and eastwardly the entire town of Rowley, the Great Neck district of Ipswich, and along the ocean all that part of Plum Island within Rowley and Ipswich. The nearest point to the open Atlantic, from the village centre on the air line, is across Hog Isl'and and just south of the division on Plum Island between Rowley and Ipswich, about ten and one-half miles. The entrance to Ipswich River, the same distance. In favoring conditions of wind and atmosphere, the beating of the surf on Plum Island, after or during a gale, and Ipswich beach before the storm is upon us, is distinctly heard in this town. The nearest point to Merrimac river, is at the boundary between Bradford and Groveland, distance three and one-fifth miles. Direct line to Haverhill bridge railroad station five and one-half miles. Nearest point to State line, a point about midway of Plaistow, N. H., just north of Kenoza Lake, six and three-fourths miles. City of Lawrence eight and one-half miles ; and the factory bells are heard frequently and very clearly. The tide-water at Byfield not quite four miles distant.

The topographical features of the town are first, the Baldpate as the most prominent elevation, extending in its foot hills nearly to Central Street on its western side, and includes the entire southwestern section of the town. It attains at its highest altitude about four hundred feet above the sea, with a broad, level tract at its northeast base, terminating sharply at Rock Pond. This hill was known as Baldpate (or including the hill in Boxford near by, known as Shaven-crown) as the Bald hills from early times. The divisional line between Baldpate and its neighbor is distinctly defined, extending over the town limits just beyond the boundary line. This is a well-watered country, Lake Raynorand a small pond at the head of Raynor with a swampy margin, both in Boxford, absorbing all of the several streams, coursing down the southern slope. The eastern water-shed is into the westerly branch of Pen Brook, while the northwestern flowing into Half-Moon Meadow reaches Parker River just westerly of Scrag Pond. The Uptake district, in the northwest, has its southern side only in Georgetown, quite precipitous and ragged. This district is principally in Groveland. Another hilly section west uf Pen Brook and east of Elm Street, separated from the Baldpate district by the plain at South Georgetown called in early times Fair-face, extends from a gentle upland at the northern end of this section, threefourths of a mile southerly, to an abrupt and peculiar termination, just in the rear of the residence of S. K. Herrick, anciently the home of Capt. Benj. Adams, designated formerly as "Tanner Adams." This is the " Red Shanks " locality, and has been known as such for at least one hundred and sixty years ; why it bears this name is difficult to conjecture, although it may have been from the color of the rock formation. East Street traverses a natural notch up the western slope of this district. This tract at its highest point is not far from two hundred feet above the ocean, and has such singular features, that experienced travellers and scientists as Profs. C. H. Hitchcock and J. H. Huntington have noticed and remarked its peculiarities.

Old Californians have claimed, that this, with the moraines and broken country on the opposite side of Fair-face Plains, had striking resemblances to the mineral districts, with which they were femiliar, and as evidences are apparent, mineral deposits have been sought for. The water-shed is toward Pen Brook on the one side, and the branch of Pen Brook which flows west of Elm Street, on the other. Still another elevated locality in this town was designated as the Rocky Hills, from the earliest period, showing that familiarity with the peculiar natural features of the place, which results in a characteristic name. Along the base of this rocky front, may have been an Indian trail, travelled by them while on their inland journeys, and from the southern margin of this ragged ledge, our fathers no doubt first saw the country beyond. From this point, just in the rear of the house of E. S. Sherburne, begins an extended tract of upland of varied character, moderate elevation and of peculiar features, u'^like any others in town, more especially in the northern section, or in that part known in modern times as Atwood's Hill. Here is a sharp ascent of perhaps one hundred feet, rising quite abruptly from the narrow intervale of Pen Brook below. The country eastwardly is broken and undulating, rising, however, on the south at the Searl place, to a sufficient height to give an attractive prospect. This upland region extends to Tenney Street on the southeast, with a descent on the northeast, to the indentation known as Spruce swamp, encircling a diminutive pond of the same name. The water-shed from this tract, embracing the country from North Street to Marlborough, oi Elders Plain, as formerly called, and Tenney Street, is into Pen Brook along' the southwest to the northwest side, and on the northern side into Parker River and also into the brook,

In the east the waters take a new channel, seekingtheir level at a branch of Muddy Brook, one of the main feeders of Mill River, that prominent feature in the topography and history of the mother town of Rowley. This same brook also receives the waters of the southerly slope of Long Hill, an elevation having an altitude of two hundred and thirty-three feet, the summit of which is in Georgetown, with its easterly side in Rowley. Here again the water fall of the north is into Parker River, through Wheeler's Brook, and one or two of its branches ; but further to the eastward into Great Swamp Brook, another of the numerous feeders of Mill River. Between the eastern branch of Wheeler's Brook (a stream which enters Parker River in Newbury, about one-half mile from the town boundary) and Great Swamp Brook, is a considerable part of the Byfield district, of slight elevation, most of the area being a plain of light soil, known on its eastern side as " Rye Plain," from a very early date.

In tracing the brooks and streams of the towii, Parker River naturally becomes the central object. It flows along the northern boundary, at some points so near, as if with an eagerness to cross, and at none of its windings, hardly three-fourths of a mile within the town. Its head waters are but a short distance from Great Pond in Andover, fed by a small pond, and a few streams in West Boxford. Entering Georgetown its first course is through Haselltine's meadow, absorbing the brook from Half-moon meadow, then taking Scrag Pond in its course, now a mere quagmire of bushes, it reaches Rock Pond, a fine sheet ot pure water of forty or more acres, and hurrying on by the outlet at its northern end, it enters by a northerly curve, at about eighty rods distance. Lake Pentucket, of perhaps one hundred acres, and passes out at its southeastern margin. At this point, in volume, it begins to show its powers as the servant of the coming man. The Englishman who, on his return home, wrote such a glowing account of Parker River, which he claimed to have explored a score or two of miles into the interior, enlarging upon its great width, making it in resource almost a rival to the Thames, drew on his imagination like a true Munchausen or a modern speculator in Western and Florida lands, and no doubt had a satisfactory sale, for a history so marvelous and entertaining.

One-half mile beyond the outlet, a vigorous brook, it receives through Pen Brook, all the surplus of Lake Raynor and the adjacent country, the watershed of an area of not less than two thousand acres ,* this grand tribute added, after receiving a slight stream from the north, and the Spruce Pond Brook near the Hilliard tannery, at a mile beyond, it reaches the territory of our northern neighbor.

tween Scrag Pond and Eock Pond was named " the brook that runneth from Scrag Pond," simply, that part of Parker River which connects Rock and Pentuckets Ponds was " Rock Pond Brook," and "that which issueth out of Peutucket Pond " was, when designated, recorded as Crane Brook.

Aside from the limited Long Hill section, which is a supply through Muddy Brook for Mill River, wholly a Rowley stream, until in the salt marshes northeast of the ox-pasture it unites with the Parker, and together they journey to the sea ; the whole rainfall of this town, besides that which falls on two or three thousand acres of land in West Boxford and North Andover with that along Lake Raynor, seeking its natural level, enters Parker River, either before crossing into Groveland or even after reaching Newbury.

These brooks and streams - seven in number, and their branches, which are of themselves permanent brooks - are bounded by meadows of varying width, in places a mere fringe of intervale, but mostly of a width of many rods, of peaty soil, aggregating not liess than five hundred acress. This meadow-land of itself was a prize in the eyes of the first settlers. These brooks, bordered by such extensive natural clearings, had a value then that to-day we can scarcely realize. Rowley had none of these fresh meadows at or near the town. The " large accommodations" offered by the General Court of Massachusetts Bay to Mr. Ezekiel Rogers and his company in the winter of 1638 included these especially valuable lands in the territory now known as Georgetown. The location was accepted, however, without any definite knowledge of the land of the interior. Neighbors near enough for aid and assistance when needed, with land sufficient for the support of the plantation, was one requisite ; another was water communication with Boston. Both were included in the offered grant. All the seaboard in the vicinity of Boston had been already occupied.

Between Newbury, a compact little village of four or five years' growth, not far from the entrance to the river Parker, and Ipswich, already a plant of strength and vigor, having watchful friends at court, was a nearly level tract of three or more miles in width, and at Boston was probably not under.-tood to be included in the privileges of the already-established towns. So near the doors of both towns this pleasant locality became familiar to those who journeyed from Ipswich to Newbury to and fro ; and as the limits of the two towns may. not have been very carefully drawn, a few settlers, more adventurous or selfish than their associates, had opened up their little clearings, and it is probable had settled here.

The winter of 1638 and 1639, the first winter of Mr. Rogers and his twenty families in New England, was spent in Salem, and was one of suspense and uncertainty. The original company numbered perhaps one hundred persons. One hundred and twenty passengers was the limit at this time by colonial law for a vessel of two hundred tons burden.

Mr. Rogers, according to Johnson, had given Messrs. Eaton and Davenport encouragement, and perhaps a partial promise, that he would join them in the Connecticut colony, and some of the company having relatives there, as Matthew Boyes it is known had, a party were sent around to investigate and report.

A disturbed feeling having for some time existed in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, at the widespread movement toward emigration to Connecticut, by planters already settled in Watertown and other places, the officials were led to make strenuous efforts to retain the new arrivals, and special inducements were offered.

Mr. Rogers was well known to the Puritans, both here and in England, as a man of marked ability and high moral worth, and to secure him and his company, some of whom were men of education and perhaps of fortune, and all of the best material for the building of the State, was a work which promised good returns. Those who were already settled in these infant colonies were anxiously looking for emigrants. Men and women of any rank or station were welcomed, who, to maintain a pure faith, were ready to forswear all that England, with the ease and pomp of the State Church, could offer. More than once had the General Court ordered public thanksgiving for the "arrival of persons of special use and quality," and for "safe arrival of ships and many passengers." No mere adventurers were wanted; no schismatics; these were returned from whence they came, and shipmasters warned, under penalty, not to repeat the offence.

Some rivalry is manifest toward Connecticut, probably of a fairly friendly nature ; but as regards Mr. Rogers and his company with that colony, the inducements to remain were presented so forcibly that on the return of the party sent for investigation, a definite settlement was made, and the location for the plantation fixed. Another moving cause for the intense pressure used to keep them within the limits of the Massachusetts Colony, was the knowledge that this little company were but the pioneers of a grand exodus of " many persons of quality in England, who depended on Mr. Rogers to choose a fit place for them." The privations of the earlier settlers had in a degree parsed ; the country in the vicinity of Boston, as has been said, was occupied and gradually becoming cleared ; roads opened from one town to another ; the foundations of a college laid, and a permanent occupation of the country assured. Mr. Rogers had confidential relations with families of influence in England ; he came here as their trusted agent, and, in consequence, these especially " large accommodations" were granted him, with the fond anticipation that at an early day many others would follow. These families of wealth and quality, whoever they wei'e, will perhaps never be known by us, and their names are now locked in oblivion. Late researches in England by Mr. Waters, of Salem, however, show intimate personal relations between the family of Oliver Cromwell and the immediate family of Mr. Rogers, and possibly they might be traced from this distinguished point.

The conflict between the Cavalier and Roundhead soon raged madly, and thoughts of a voluntary exile to New England, for peace of conscience, gave place to hymns of triumph at home. The rise of the Commons, - the people ; a change of a kind such as the world never saw before; a king at the tribunal of the people. Like the image seen in vision by the Eastern monarch, unfortunately part was of iron and part clay ; yet truly a mighty work was accomplished, which the world will never forget. All this stopped emigration, as in a moment; and "Mr. Ezekiel Rogers' plantation" is believed to have closed the period by which emigrants came here for settlement, as an organized body, before leaving England.

In the spring of 1639, Mr. Rogers and the new planters, their jiinnace laden with the household beginnings of a new republic, anchored at the place designated for the plantation. Eight hundred pounds wei'e expended to buy the claims of the few who had preceded them. Thomas Nelson, the deputy, surveyor, road locator, and the agent of the Colonial government in settling boundary lines, gave of his wealth to establish the plantation, and in his will, nine years later, dated in England, where he was at the time, perhaps there to receive the estate of an elder brother, killed at Marston Moor, refers to " goodman Seatchwell" (Shatswell of Ipswich), to whom he " payd eleven pounds & seventeen pounds" for " his fferme," probably one of the settlers who preceded them.

Clearing land, seed-sowing, the erection of a meeting-house, and also several common houses for shelter, occupied their first year. These common houses were the homes of the two hundred or more settlers for perhaps three years. The lands were held and cultivated in commonalty, for at least that length of time.

Now begins the struggle for the means of living. The dependence on the yearly harvest for existence, until the crops of the next season were gathered, is an impressive feature, both of colonial and town legislation. Rarely any surplus carried over, the pressing need of husbanding all their resources, is seen from the beginning of the history of this plantation ; and this was but a type of every other.

The General Court passed a law requiring the inspection of corn, to see that none of a quality fit for human food is heedlessly fed to animals. Here at the outset, with a wise foresight, a community-system was established, where careful watch-care could be had, the true spirit of socialism made imperative, and all waste and selfishness prevented.

and lot-laying, with a care and exactness such as but few, if any, other town in New England had. Without change or alteration, those streets exist to-day, and the same careful system of lot-laying was inherited bj^ the descendants of the first settlers, as will be seen in all town action on the division of lots, down to a late day.

In the fall of 1639, the plantation was incorporated, and "M^Ezechi: Rogers' plantation shalbee called Rowley." No controversy or war of words, as in this day ; but positive, immediate action. Having a limited harvest that year, the General Court granted exemption from taxation in 1640, because, says the statute, "of their hindrance in planting."

When they forsook their common houses, it was to occupy humble family homes, but located so near each other that close communal relations must for some time have continued to prevail.

With roofs covered with thatch, there was at all times great danger from fire, and one early town ordinance called for ladders of a certain length for every house. But it is with the backwoods with which we have to do.

When the first explorations of their territory in the interior took place, it is of course impossible to tell. Naturally, on arrival, curiosity would be awakened to know what the country eight miles from the settlement had that was of immediate value to them. It was theirs, of that they were assured by a satisfactory title, a grant from the Government of Englishmen. No sagamore had as yet asserted his claim, as was done at a later day. The Indians who were here were evidently a dwindling race, and so little regarded that probably because of the annoyance, at about this time, the sagamore of Agawam was forbidden by Colonial law, to enter a white man's house. Curiosity would, of course, be excited by a tramp through the dense woodgrowth up the hill now called Prospect, and from the summit of that hill, on seeing the delightful and unlooked-for view, one would then very naturally give to the hill the name it has always borne, and then looking westward, see our Georgetown hill, with its top cleared and barren of trees. Conspicuous as it must have been, encircled everywhere by forest, how naturally would the word Baldpate spring to the lips, and ever after this hill bear this peculiar name.

Besides these first attempts to get a clue to the secrets of the wilderness came eager questionings of their Newbury and Ipswich neighbors. Dummer and Spencer, of Newbury, had gone up Parker River to the falls in 1635, and had the right granted to erect a mill. Two years later the attention at Boston was turned toward " Shaweshin, to see whether or not it be a fitt jjlace for a plantacon." This settlement was not granted, however, until 1641, and then to the town of Cambridge on certain conditions.

may have been those who were bound to know for themselves whether " Shaweshin was fitt for habitation," and Newbury men crossed what is now Georgetown. The opening of roads is always an important work in new countries. Most of the towns were summoned by the General Court, once and again, for their delinquencies in the neglect of the highways.

The first roads for Rowley to attend to were with Newbury and Ipswich, and the law required highways to be opened, of six, eight and ten rods width, to avoid marsh and miry spots. Early in the year 1640 the need of accurate knowledge of their grant led to a sufficiently careful survey of the western boundary, now the Bradford and Boxford lines, to show that the eight miles in a direct line from the meetinghouse in Rowley would not reach for two or more miles, the boundary line between Rowley and Cochitawick, that Mr. Rogers claimed he and his plantation were entitled to. Mr. Rogers pressed his claim for this land " upon Merrimack, near Cochitawick," with such tenacity, that, after some hesitation, his wishes were granted, and the first step was taken for a corrected line between Rowley and Andover, that fixed the boundary quite eleven miles from the centre of the village at Rowley. This action of the court was at the October session of that year.

The survey and running of the eight mile direct line from the meeting-house towards the western bounds, if carefully done, must have led directly across the central part of the tract now Geoi'getown.

The experience of Thomas Nelson would probably designate him for the work, and yet inaccurate, perhaps, at the best, for complaints of defects in the running of town lines were constantly coming before the General Court. These defects are explained when we consider that the lines ran through forest and bog rough and untraveled. Compensation for a prior grant of five hundred and fifty acres to Governor Endicott, and found to be within the limits of the grant to Mr. Rogers, was one cause of a change of boundary, beyond the eight mile limit into the interior. Besides, the original grant of May 13, 1640, declared the bounds in the other direction to be a " cross-line diameter from Ipswich Ryver to Merrimack Ryver."

Had this been adhered to it would have included most of the New Meadows, now Tojjsfield, and perhaps also the country of the Wills-hill men, in Middleton, a district which seems to have been conceded to these settlements without controversy, at an early date. Perhaps, with Eadicott, they could also lay claim to prior grants. The concession of all this tract, bordering on the " Ipswich Ryver," when the boundaries of the grant were so definitely and clearly stated, was also compensated for by this extension westward.

Most of the grants of that day, private or corporate, were loosely drawn, with but a vague and indefinite idea of the geographical situation of the locality, and disputes in consequence were rife for a long time afterward. Salem had as its grant all the country, from Ipswich River to the sea on one side, Rowley, all between this river and Merrimack on the other. In 1639 these were adjoining towns by Colonial action, but how few in Essex County realize it to-day. This Rowley territory, thus parting Ipswich and Newbury, turned both at the right and left, a few miles from the sea, effectually closing to both towns any extension of growth in the interior, and doubled in area both of those towns combined. At the rapidity with which emigrants had been flocking here for years, and towns becoming incorporated at that time, such " large accommodations " were unquestionably given to the Rowley grantees, to be held in reserve for the large number who were expected to follow Mr. Rogers.

Chapter Li Earliest Land-Grants And Pioneer Settlements

Twelve years after the readjustment of the western boundary, Francis Parrot, the town clerk of Rowley, entered in the book of records, under date 1652, this town action, viz. : Thomas Mighill has granted " twenty-three Akers at the place called the pen, where young cattell were formerly kept." The land was said to adjoin Mr. Humphrey Rainers' land, perhaps not attached, but near by. This was stated, evidently to make the record clear. Also laid out " Fifteen Akers meadow commonly called Spruce meadow, and formerly in the possession of John Brocklebank."

Thomas Mighill, who began at this early day, to show his intentions of making a permanent settlement in this part of the town, was very prominent in the affairs of the church and the town of Rowley from the beginning, and was elected deacon in December, 1639. He was a man' of considerable wealth for the time, had many household furnishings brought from England, of which one heavy, leather-seated chair, now owned by some of his descendants in the family of the writer, is said to be a part. Mr. Mighill in everything pertaining to the interests of the town, was active and useful. His death was untimely, occurring March 14, 1664-65. Had he lived, he would probably have made an extensive clearing here at an early day. His will in the possession of Chas. P. Mighill, of Rowley, is an interesting document. Mr. C. P. Mighill and brother, who are direct descendants through Stephen, the youngest son of Thomas (as are all of the name or lineage in this vicinity), own and reside, upon the original lot on Wethersfield Street in Rowley, laid out to Mighill in 1643, nearly two hundred and fifty years ago. Another fact worthy of mention, is, that this lot in Georgetown at the pen land, has been in the family of the present owner, Mr. Humphrey Nelson (a lineal descendant through a great-granddaughter of Stephen), for many years. Not long after it was laid out, a part of it was fenced, and styled a field. This was done either by the first grantee, or Thomas, the eldest son. In this record, is the first mention of the herding of the young cattle on this common land. Pen Brook constantly referred to, in the land conveyances and allotments of the first hundred years, was the westerly bounds of one piece of meadow, laid out at this time. This is near Union Cemetery. The pasturing of the young stock in these upper commons, began, no doubt, some years before, and had become the established practice. Herdsmen were sent to give the care necessary for the j^rotection of the cattle and sheep. A little later, in a descriptive record, is this, 1661 : "Adjoyning vnto the s'' Land at the end where the pen house stood."

There was, it is probable, good pasturage here, for while the country generally was heavily timbered, no doubt, much of the area was free from shrub growth and underbrush, the result of the fires set by the Indians, when grasses, of course, would start up abundantly. This firing of the weeds and valueless growth continued later on.

In the list of the charges for the town of Rowley for the year 1666, is this: " Left. Samuel Brocklebank for burning ye young cattle walk, 5 shillings." This is the first record for town labor in Georgetown.

The pen house had been moved further up. The land spoken of was sold in 1661, " to John Brocklebank, by the men appointed to sell Land, to pay the Legacy to Ipswich Rogers," the record rather curtly says. One of the conditions of Mr. Ezekiel Roger's will was, that the church and town of Rowley, on the receipt of the bulk of his property, were to pay eightscore pounds in country pay, to his nephew, Ezekiel Rogers, of Ijiswich, two years after the testator's death. Mr. Rogers died January 23, 1661, and this land was by order of the town sold soon after. This same John Brocklebank, was the youngest son of Jane, a widow, who with her two sons, Samuel the eldest being a boy of eight, were among the original Rowley company.

The Spruce meadow may have been at what is now known as such, south of the Hilliard place on North Street, and yet it seems a question whether at that early period, any land in that locality had been entered.

One fact seems api:)arent, that the earliest movement for a settlement of Georgetown, was east of Pen Brook, on Mr. Humphrey Nelson's farm, and in that locality on East Main Street. The upland along the Rocky hills, with the meadows southerly, was the first to be laid out. That extensive tract of meadow along Pen Brook to its source, had been explored at as early a date as cattle had been herded, and at some time prior to 1652, a grant was made to Elder Humphrey Rainer, of at least, most of the land from Lake Raynor for some distance down, and possibly nearly to the pen-land. All the deeds given in what is now South Georgetown as late as seventy-five years afterwards, which have as a boundary' these meadows along Pen Brook, describe these pieces of meadow as the " Elder's," or " Elder Rainer " meadow. It can be safely said that this worthy member of a family, noted in the early church annals of New England, was the first landholder in South Georgetown, and probably in the town.

In describing the land laid out to Mighill, it seems to have been well understood at the time where the Rainer meadows were. It was comparatively easy to secure pasturage and protection for the farmer's herds through the summer, but with so little uncleared land and the entire human food-supply of all dependent on the harvest from the land they had slowly and laboriously cleared, the hay from the Rainer meadows was carefully secured and carted to Rowley. The improvement of their highways began to be necessary; in 1661, says the record, of a ten acre lot of land laid out to John Brocklebank; that, " The Town hath secured a sufficient, and convenient highway for driving cattle and carts, as they may have occasion to make use of it." The value of the hay from the salt marshes, tradition says was not understood by the Rowley people, until a bull lost from the settlement in the autumn was caught in the spring after a winter of grazing on the mai'sh grasses in such fine condition, that ever after, these lands were regarded as their most valuable treasure.

The land, both upland and meadow, now owned by S. K. Herrick, has by the elderly people until lately, been called the Rainer land or meadow. The pond in Boxford, at the foot of Baldpate Hill, had the name of "Elders" in the documents of the early period, but later as " Elders, or Baldpate," finally as "Baldpate." It seems, however, like nothing more than justice to an honored name in the early history of Rowley, one who served as deputy in 1649, and especially in the fact, that he was the original owner of the lands bordering this brook, so noted a locality in the early history of Georgetown, to perpetuate his name here by giving this pond the permanent name of Lake Raynor. The earliest name the plain now known as " Marlborough " had, was " Elders Plain," named for this same Humphrey Rainer. It disappears as a Rowley name early in the eighteenth century, and except to a few who make local history a study, has become unknown and as though it had never existed there. A very sad and pathetic story is revealed, where Jachin Rayner, a nephew, about the year 1700, petitions for right to convey land in the interest of a son, who as a confirmed invalid, needed support. This land thus deeded was in the middle commons, at some point west of Muddy Brook. Jachin was a Rowley tanner and figures prominently for a time. Rev. John Rayner, a brother of Elder Humphrey, educated at Cambridge, England, was the second minister of Plymouth, Mass., dying in Dover, N. H. He and Matthew Boyes, of Rowley, married sisters. They were Ladies from a family of distinction in England.

From a grant of land to Samuel Brocklebank of seventy-five acres in 1661, there were fifty, the record states, which was purchased of William Hobsou's widow, who before marriage was Anne Raiiier, a daughter of Humphrey Rainer; the balance was his own lot and land previously belonging to Matthew Boyes, who was as we have seen also connected with the Rainor family.

These records show the influence of the Rainers in the earliest times, and the intimate connection, which the family in its various branches had with the earliest history of Georgetown.

This piece of upland so early secured by Samuel Brocklebank, was situated easterly of Elm Street, extending southerly nearly to South Georgetown, the locality known at a later day as Fairface plain. The record says this land was bounded on the north by a highway, where cattle used to go over the brook to the pen land, laid out to Thomas Mighill ; the westerly side of the tract adjoined a highway leading to Andover; Pen Brook along the east, and extending unto Mr. H. Rainer's land. This Andover road was unquestionably at that time the way for Newbury and Rowley settlers to visit the Rowley Village (now Boxford) people, also the settlement on the Shawshin, then Andover.

Several families had already settled in Boxford ; a road by order of the General Court, had been opened from Ipswich to Andover several years before, and to connect with that along Elm Street, the earliest road opened through what is now part of Georgetown.

East Main Street, from Marlborough Village to Elm Street, was as at present. There was some change at Elm Street, the record referring to a highway now in use, and where it is to run, but probably essentially the same. Leaving Elm, this old way passed along Brook Street, crossing Central, into Chaplin's Court, and over Fairface plain to Mrs. W. M. Shutes' on Nelson Street (known years after as Fairface highway), and along Nelson Street, to the residence of Messrs. Patton and Metcalf, in Boxford. About thirtj' years later Thomas Palmer, had land set off to him, described as extending on one side, from " Elders pond to ye old high way from Andover to Newbury, on ye south side of ye bald hills ; which was a continuation of this ancient road, and crossed the Patton and Metcalf farm to connect with the Ipswich and Andover road. This seventy-five acres of laud of Samuel Brocklebank's, also included the present homestead of Melvin G. Spoflbrd, upon which a house was built soon after.

The present mansion-like dwelling-house of Mr. Spofford is, in part, at least, unquestionably veiy ancient, and tradition has it that some portion of the original house, probably the westerly front, is included in this.

In Humphrey Rainer, Thomas Mighill, Samuel and John Brocklebank, we have the pioneers who opened for settlement, the town of Georgetown. At about this time, the country west of the Pen Brook, including all that territory which in 1685 was incorporated as Boxford, was known as "Village lands." Not long before, in 1649, measures had been taken for a settlement, in that part of Rowley situated on the Merrimac River. These lands became at once known as "Merrimac lands," and the division made between what was later known as the Village lands. The settlement had the name of " Rowley Village on the Merrimac," for a time, but in 1675, was incorporated as Bradford.

Boxford for some time had been known simply as Rowley Village, and so continued, even after it had received its corporate name. Zaccheus Gould, of Topsfield, the ancestor of all the Goulds originating in this locality, comes prominently before us in connection with Georgetown's early history, at a period soon after 1650. From the vast land grants which he held, it would seem as if he had something of the spirit of a land speculator and grabber. By some unknown parties he had been employed as an agent to purchase lands, and an extensive tract of not less than three thousand acres, including nearly all of Georgetown west of Pen Brook, was for some consideration, secured to him. Circumstances preventing its disposal, to the parties for whom it was intended, it was sold to Joseph Jewett, of Rowley, as a deed on record says, " for eighty od pounds." It further says, that this was " one sixt part of village land belonging to Rowley, which the sayd Gould bought of Jewett." Carelessly estimated, this evidently was the tract previously named. Gould adds to the above, " As alsoe, the one half of village land, which I, the sayd Zaccheus Gould, bought of M^ Ezekiel Rogers & Matthew Boyes." This was dated July 2, 1661, and Mr. Jewett had died February 26th of the same year. Jewett had doubtless been the representative of the town of Rowley, in confirming the grants of Village lands.

There are several deeds on record, of these original grants to Peabody, Bigsbye, Stiles, Gould, Dorman and others, bearing dates from May to July, 1661, and in each the grantors are Philip Nelson and others, as the executors of Mr. Jewett, who probably died suddenly, as the wording of each is, " he having departed this life before a legal assurance was made."

It was necessary that this claim, which Gould had upon what is now Georgetown, should be closed, and on the same date, July 2, 1661, we find Jewett's executors, doubtless by authority of the town of Rowley, selling Gould two-sixths parts village land in Box- ford; the previous day Stiles and Eeddington having had their lands conveyed. From the action of the town of Rowley December 20, 1658, more than two years before, it would seem that Jewett had a claim upon this three thousand acre tract at that time. As a persuasive to yield his claim,

" It was Agreed and Voated at a general and LeaguU towne meeting, that Mr. .Joseph Jewit, Should have a thousand Acres of Land in yo North, beyond ye Haseltines part of ye thousand, in exchange of Three thousand Acres of Land, which is to be laid out as conveniently as can bee, for ye Town of Kowley, in ye village land about ye bald hills, and he to have forty Acres of Medow, as conveniently as can bee with yo towns land."

This town action towards liquidating Mr. Jewett'^ claim (however his claim was founded), began to look like an attempt for a settlement. It is doubtful whether this proposition was accepted at the time ; ii it was, then the action of Gould with the executors, the .July after Jewett's death, was in the form of aij acquittance to any claim' he had on this famous tract, so tossed about in shuttlecock fashion. Ferhap.s, in tho-'e early days, having hopes that a more speedy settlement of the wilderness would follow, special privileges were granted to such as Jewett and Gould, that they might be encouraged to stimulate and hasten emigration. In the villages along the sea, there was doubtless a fixed timorousness, from fear of prowling Indians ; and settlers in the interior gave a sense of protection, and were, to a certain extent, a safeguard.

The colonial laws forbidding persons journeying alone, receiving Indians into the houses of the colonists, and similar enactments, whether from a troubled conscience, because of known wrong in dealing with the Indian, or whatever the cause, all show a sense of lurking danger. To the herdsmen in their loneliness at the pen-house on the rocky hills, there must have been fear in a special manner continually with them, not probably from their aboriginal neighbors of Pentucket and Agawam, but from the unsubjected tribes of the wilderness beyond. Wild and ferocious beasts, and possibly savage men, made every sense alert, and their life here certainly was no holiday task. The nights may not have altogether been spent here, but the days most assuredly were.

While harvesting the hay on the Rainer meadow one can imagine their watchfulness and their thoughts of probaljle danger. The frequent stories of frontier life are of death from the Indian arrow or bullet, while at work haying in the meadows. When the men of every household were ordered to have their muskets with them while in the meeting-house on the Lord's or lecture days, there was fear of a subtle enemy, and how numerous and powerful they had no possible means of knowing. We, to-day, know that they were but comparatively few in number, but their methods of warfare were such that imagination vastly magnified the numbers of the foe and greatly increased the timorousness and alarm. Besides, in spite of continual colonial restriction against supplying 50^ the Indians with arms or ammunition, there were from the first, those who withdrawing from the settlements, defied the law, and living apart from the white man, fraternized with the Indian to the Englishman's fear and often injury.

At the time the young cattle of theRowley planters were first herded above Pen Brook, on this tract, which was .sometimes called the " Upper Commons," only the few families which were then located at each of the plantations, Pentucket and Cochicowick (Haverhill and Andover), shut off the frontier. All beyond, both north and west, was an untraversed wilderness.

At a later day both of these towns were raided, once and again by Indians, bringing dismay and death to many a peaceful home. The locality, now Georgetown, was doubtless a favorite Indian fishing ground, often visited. Many of the rude Indian household utensils have been turned up by the plough near the brooks and Parker River, and also at a distance from them ; by the shores of the ponds ; and in Byfield, near Warren Street, quite a large storehouse of cutting instruments and stone points has been uncovered. Perhaps more prolific fields for these coveted relics of a buried past than any other are Parker River, in the vicinity of the woolen-mill, and the southeasterly slope of the foot-hills of Baldpate.

On the warm sunny hillsides near Baldpate, which are sheltered from the driving blasts of winter, the race who got the start and came before us had their frequent camping-ground.

The Indian became extinct in this immediate locality about a century ago ; the last representatives were Papahana, a man who died in Groveland, and another who died at Captain George Jewett's, in Rowley.

When our fathers first saw them they were shrunken from their former condition; perhaps they would have rallied and evolved a partial civilization like their New York neighbors, but it was not to be. Another race doubtless preceded them, leaving only faint traces behind.

Professor Putnam, the anthropologist and archaeologist, if we mistake not, places the period of the stone age, to which the triangular stones found buried deeply in the gravel belong, as pre-historic and the work of a prior race ; the labor of man just beginning to realize his position, his relations to the animal world around him, and his undeveloped power. These peculiar stones are occasionally found here, and of various sizes, but having similar outlines. A furore for collecting Indian curios was awakened here some years ago, and intensified by the Georgetown Advocate, through its junior editor, H. N. Harriman, Esq., who is himself an ardent investigator and enthusiastic collector.

Returning to the early land grants, it is recorded that March 23, 1651, Anthony Crosbie had seven hundred acres laid out ; the deed says near Elder's Pond, whether in Georgetown or Boxford it is impossible to say ; but in 1672 he had seventy acres laid out in Georgetown, located somewhere between North Street and Marlborough, and recorded in the Rowley book as " Crosbie's farm," adjoining land of Francis Parrot, also Reedy Meadow, and Deacon Thomas Mighill's land. A part of this land was in the right of Philip Nelson.

This Crosbie was the first i^hysician in Rowley and probably a son of Cushins Crosbie, one of the first settlers of Rowley. Perhaps his death or the Indian war of three or four years later prevented his settlement, as there is no record of any occupancy.

In 1661, besides the Brocklebank grant east of Pen Brook, was an allotment of land, near and on the west side of Pentucket Pond, to Mary, the widow of Mr. Ezekiel Rogers. This lot was bounded on the east end by a highway leading to Andover, and as this highway was probably the Andover Street of today, the lot must have reached the town centre, and included the land between the two ponds, eastward to the centre. Those who settled on Mrs. Rogers' land, more than half a century afterward, had farms at several points on this very tract, from above Pond Street westward to beyond Main Street. On the south and west it was bounded by common land. This was a grant in the interest of Thomas Barker (the first husband of Mrs. Rogers), who died in 1650. It was to make his lot proportionable to the lower lots, and a large lot at this distance from the town would not exceed in value a small area there.

January 22, 1663-64, another tract, containing three hundred and seventy acres, was laid out to Mrs. Rogers, also in the right of Thomas Barker. This was situated on the north side of the pond known as Pentucket, and also on the north side of the brook running in and out of the pond, westerly to the great rock, and extending easterly to a marked tree, to the brook which " issueth out of the pond runneth into the Crane meadow, so-called."

At this early day these meadows and Parker River were known as Crane Meadows and Crane Brook. Probably the lot previously laid out extended to the south side of Rock Pond Brook.

In 1666 or 1667 the " Three thousand acre " tract, made public domain once more by the clearance of all private claims, was laid out to the town of Rowley.

John Pickard and Ezekiel Northend, appointed by Rowley for this important work, also laid out, as carefully as their appliances and the wildness of the territory traversed permitted, the balance of the "Village land to citizens of Rowley and Rowley Village. This covered all of the town of Boxford, excepting the land already settled upon. The system of divisional grants to individuals was based on the size of the house lots as laid out to the first settlers at Rowley. In this village land allotment some of the larger grants covered land previously laid out to individuals, as, for instance, Mr. Philip Nelson's two thousand acres included the meadow previously

As Mr. Nelson's first wife was of the Jewett family, perhaps no difficulty arose. Gould received a large tract in one corner of the territory, and any special claims he may have had were, no doubt, satisfactorily cancelled. The action by the executors of .Joseph Jewett in 1661, as shown by the deeds on record at Salem, were of at least one-half of the entire territory, confirmed to Francis Peabody, Thomas Dorman, Robert Stiles, Joseph Bigsbye, Abraham Reddington, William Foster and Zaccheus Gould. That these deeds were recognized as having at least a partial validity can be seen by examining the list of grantees at this final division, for each of these parties are recorded as having a large grant. These parties had probably been buying for years the rights that families at Rowley had in the village lands; so that when the time came to grant private ownership of what the Henry Georges of to-day contend should never be held as private property - the land, all there was for them to do was to show that they had purchased these rights, and these large allotments were secured. There is no other way to account for the striking disparity in these divisions.

One thing to-day is beginning to be recognized, that as from the land all existence is principally maintained, monopoly in land should be condemned, and no man or family, even in the infancy of a settlement, be permitted to mark oft' or fence in more than may be cultivated or cared for. A part of a lot south of Lake Raynor, laid out by Ezekiel Northend for himself at that time, was through one of his female descendants, owned by the family for about two hundred years.

At about this period the permanent settlement of Georgetown begins. This westerly part of the town, from the centre across Baldpate Hill, to where, twenty years afterwards, the boundary line between Rowley and Boxford was run, was at last unincumbered, and the Rowley people were discussing earnestly the wisest course to take in the encouragement of a settlement.

Northend and Pickard having completed their work, probably in 1667 (a thankless task no doubt, as for many years afterward it was difficult to get men to serve as lot-layers, many positively refusing to serve), a meeting of the town of Rowley was therefore accordingly called for February 23d, 1667-68. At this date " It was agreed and voted that there should be a small farms laide out in the three thousand Acres of Land that was exchanged for the land at the necke, and the rent of the saide farme it is agreed that it shall be for ever for the use of the ministry or the towne's use." Directly beneath this record, apparently written by another hand, and at a later date, is found this, - ^"Samnell Brocklebank that no line convenient will give Leas on." The principal busi- nessof the meeting seems to have been matters pertaining to this " farme," as the next record is "Chose John Pickard, John pearson and Ezekiel Northend, to bee Added to tlie select men, to make a bargon with any who should appeare to take the saide ferme, provided that they Let not above thirty Acres of meddow, or halfe of the meddow belonging to the thre Thousand Acres, provided allso that they put the towne to no charges, provided allso that they lay not out above thre-score Akres of upland to the saide farme." The same parties were made the committee, to lay out the " saide farme," which was done that year.

A partial " bargon " had been made with John Spafford, an original settler in the town of Rowley. He was a Yorkshireman, whose family was one of the twenty who were among the first comers, having a house-lot on Bradford, near Wethersfiekl Street, and not long before his acceptance of the agreement with the town, had leased and occupied the farm of Samuel Bellingham, of Boston, styled gent ; and was living on it at the time of its sale to Joseph Jewett, clothier. This farm in Rowley was a legacy to Samuel from William Bellingham, and probably included the house-lot on Holmes Street, adjoining Mr. Thomas Nelson's. March 17th, 1668, is this record: "Seventeenth day of March, in the year one Thousand six hundred sixty-eight, it was agreed and voated, that John Spoflbrth, if he would goe to the farme that was granted to be laide out in the thre Thousand Akers, that he should have the benefit of penninge the cattell, for the terme of seven years, he keepinge the herde of the younger eattel as carefully and as cheape, as any other should doe."

So carefully had the surveyors supposed they had examined and classified the land, that the thirty acres of meadow was said to be one-half of this class of land, found within the three thousand acre tract. Their meadow land was our bog of to-day, and thirty years ago was free from trees and bushy growth, but much that was at that time familiar to us as cleared meadow, was in ihe early days, covered no doubt, in patches at least, with a dense growth of maple, birch, pine and other trees. "March 19, 1668-69, John Spotibrth took a Lease of this farm, laid out for the vse of the ministry," in a specific document drawn up at considei-able length, and signed in the presence of witnesses by " John Spofard, his mark."

" Twenty and one yeares it extended, without rent or rates for the first five, exceptings three hundred oi good white oake two inch planke, some time within two yeares, to be delivered at the meeting-house," the secular as well as the religious centre of the town, and " after five years, ten pounds yearly for the saide land and meddow, and thirty shillings for all stocke and land that he shall improve yearly," not in money payment, either, but with a tenderness which might sometimes be extended to the farmer in our day, its value in farm commodities, as " oue-ha

November, 1665, to his death, April 7, 1668, at the early age of twenty-seven years. He left one sou, an orphan, the mother dying about two months before the father. The town voted in January, 1672, the before-named grant to the Shepard boy, then past three years old, provided "it did live unto the age of twenty-one years," but March 13th, on re-consideration, it was granted without conditions, probably on the remonstrance of the boy's grandmother, Mrs. Margery Hoar, widow of Rev. Henry Flint, first minister of the old church in Quincy, then in Braintree. Mrs. Flint, then sole executor of the will of her son-in-law, Mr. Shepard, and the education of young Samuel Shepard, the son of her daughter Dorothy, devolving upon her, wrote, like a strong-minded woman, a sharp letter to the town of Rowley, which no doubt brought about definite action. The tombstone of Mrs. Flint informs us that for many years she was noted as an instructress of young gentlewomen, many being sent to her, especially from Boston. This "Shepard farm," as it was named, for many years was quite noted as a boundary point in deeds. Young Shepard was graduated from Harvard College in 1685, at the age of eighteen, and this land continued to be held by him until 1694. August 2Sth, of that year, he, while living in Lynn, probably with his uncle Jeremiah Shepard, pastor of the first church in that town, sold his " ferme" to Joseph and Jonathan Plummer.

This famous Shepard land was doubtless located on the southerly side of North Street, but, perhaps, included both sides of the street, from Pen Brook at the present causeway, to the residence of S. S. Hardy, then eastwardly for some distance at the south of the street, including what was afterwards known as the " Baptist Parsonage Farm." It is said in the deed to be "on the south side of ye old path called Andover path." At about the same time as this Shejiard grant, land was laid out to Mr. Francis Parrot, In the vicinity of what is now known as the Searl place, on the hill. This Parrot was town clerk of Rowley for several years, and is said to have returned to England, and died there. If this is correct, this grant was a freehold to his heirs. It adjoined Anthony Crosbies' land, and was near Reedy meadow and also the Shepard farm. In the farm purchase is the first mention of the Plumer name in Georgetown. Originally a Newbury family, the name of Benjamin Plumer first appears as a Rowley resident in 1678.

Returning to 1665, we find from all the records of the town of Rowley, an eagerness for land-grants in the commons. There were, at least, three divisions prior to the year 1700, the first division being made soon after the establishment of the settlement. In the year 1667 the three thousand acres were surveyed. This tract seems to have been nearly preserved intact, the only diminishing of the town commons being the setting oft' of the parish farm the following year. Dec. 30th of the same year, with perhaps accusation of favoritism, and complaints of an assumption of authority floating about "the Lot-layers were ordered by the town not to Lay out any Lands with in the Township of Rowley, but by notis of some Express grant in writing, both for plan and quantity." Envy and detraction were doing its work, and as has been previously said, it was becoming difl5cult to find men who would perform the duty with the certainty that fault-finding was sure to follow.

The death of King Philip giving a relief from the anxiety of the two years preceding, and renewed courage in back-woods life, it was voted by the town, January 22, 1677 :

"That those appoynted to Returnp Land or cases, to wit, the old Select men, and the lottlajerB of both ends of the tewne, Shoulde also Examine the right that men have to freeholds they lay claim to, that they may be Recorded."

Human nature is alike grasping, within the narrow limits of Rowley, as on the broad prairies of the West. In 1679 the town went further and chose a committee at the meeting March 27th, to consider the situation, and endeavor to reconcile energy and ambition, with equity and fair-dealing, a problem equally diflicult to solve, then, as well as now.

It is to be hoped that they partially succeeded, for the " men chosen to joyne with the Select men, to consider of questions that may arise about the Division of the Comons, and are to Returne their thoughts about them," were men of the prominence of "thomas lambert, John pickard, I\Ir. (Philip) Nelson, leonard harriman, John tod and thomas leaver. Junior."

May 20, 1685, "At a Leaguel Towue meeting, it was Agreed and voted, that corporal northend, daniel wicam, Ezekiel Mighill, John pickard and Johnson, be a committee to fixe the bounds of the three thousand akers, comonly so-called." Considerable interest began to be felt in rokds and other improvements here, and some were considering a possible settlement. It seems to have been feared that this tract might be encroached ujion, it having been evidently reserved for a general and careful distribution, and, therefore, this renewed survey was ordered.

For years, the hay on the meadow laud, where accessible, had been cut, being the only product of this common land, but at the time of this survey Rock Pond Meadow had been granted temporarily. The meadows were still ap])reciated so highly, that when Bradford appealed to Rowley in a pathetic letter, dated March, 1680-81 (now in the Rowley records), for an additional grant of land, or aid of some kind, Rowley, a few days later replies, that they cannot grant more territory, but will "give Rev. Mr. Symmes Liberty for Six or Siven Loads of Hay yearly, of that meddow called Rock Pond Meddow, till the towne Shall Se Cause to order it otherwise." It was poor satisfaction for Bradford to ask for a change of boundary, and only get a few loads of meadow hay, with the privilege of cutting it themselves.

Before 1687, land was laid out on Long Hill, to John Acie, probably a son of William, who was an original settler of Rowley. This land was inherited by a daughter, who married a Burbank. Acie continued to have land there, as late as 1701. This name seems to be an anomaly among Essex County names. In 1691 Sarah, the widow of John Brocklebank, sold land to a Boynton, probably Joseph. She had been a widow for more than twenty-five years, her husband dying a few years after his grant near Pen Brook, in 1661, perhaps in 1663. The heirs bought some of the Thomas Mighill land. This Brocklebank family had all this land east of the brook, extending to Marlborough, and it is thought, only held it for one generation, when it was probably sold to the Boyntons, perhaps to Ebenezer. What became of them is not known ; all of the name in this vicinity are descendants of Capt. Samuel's, eldest and youngest sons. Another name of an early date, is that of David Wheeler, found on a deed of date 1691, on a transfer of land to Nathaniel Browne. He was probably the first to settle in the vicinity of the Goodrich house on North Street. Was the father of Jonathan Wheeler, who a few years later rose to especial prominence. David Wheeler had removed, or was not living in town in 1701, as his name is not found on the list of Rowley men in that locality, petitioning for an abatement of minister rates. He sold June 6, 1693, thirty acres of land to John Spofford, said to adjoin Behj. Goodrich's land.

August 24, 1693, he deeded about twenty acres of upland and meadow, lying near Crane Pond, said to have been bought previously of Philip Nelson, to the next heirs of the late Benjamin Guttridge ((Toodrich), the former deed sujjposed to have been burnt in the house. This land was granted to Wheeler by the town of Rowley.

" John Spawford's " land was on the northwest ; bought the same year of the Brownes. Nathaniel BrownesoldSpoffordfifty-fouracres, his brother, Ebenezer twelve, making with that sold Spofibrd by Wheeler a tract of ninety-six acres. This land was on or near Thurlow Street, then known as Bradford highway, by which it was bounded, also by the brook (Parker River), and owners of Ox-pasture Hill. The house and land of John Brown is mentioned in David Wheeler's deed ; where it was, it is not possible perhaps to tell at this day.

Cornet Parsons' land is said to be on the southwest of the land deeded by Jonathan Wheeler to the Goodrich heirs, and " Three logg bridge " named, was the bridge over Parker River, on Thurlow Street. These three Brownes, John, Ebenezer and Nathaniel, were on the list of parish petitioners in 1701. Nathaniel soon after removed to Groton, Conn. While there, January 8, 1708, he sold for four pounds a freehold in Row lev to Daniel Wood, of Boxford. Ebenezer probably remained ; twenty years later land was known by his name. The mention in Wheeler's deed of the former deed being burned in the house of Goodrich, reveals of itself nothing but a barren fact. We have the story, however. It was the year previous to this just act of Wheeler's when the tragedy we are now to relate occurred.

October 23, 1692, was the Lord's day. Mr. Goodrich living in this locality, in a house of small dimensions, doubtless such as were common on the frontier at that time, was at evening prayer with his family, when the house wassuddenly attacked by a small band of Indians, and Mr. Goodrich, his wife and several children were killed. One daughter, a girl of seven, is said to have been carried off a captive, but redeemed at the expense of the Province the spring following.

The house, after being sacked, was at least partially Ijurned. It was a common occurrence for the Indians to destroy in wantones.s what plunder they could not carry away, and if time would warrant also, to burn the house raided. This family were living here in fancied security, but tor some time before there had been frequent Indian raids on the frontier, especially at the eastward. In 1688 the former enmity incited by the French in Canada was renewed, and the expedition of Sir William Phipps against Canada, in 1690, having proved the most disastrous failure New England had ever known, the Indians became daring, and for two years after were busy with carnage.

This tragedy seems to have been an unpremeditated act by a roving band, and tradition says they were so angered at not accomplishing the object of their raid, the death of some one in Newbury, against whom they had a long standing grudge, that accidentally approaching this house, the unprotected inmates were made the mark for their malice and wrath. As one thinks of it the incident seems hardly credible, and that it could have occurred miles from the border and the raiders escape with iheir captives and booty. We can imagine the horror felt by the Brownes on the Bradford road, by the Wheelers, Plumers, Poors, and especially so by Deacon Brocklebank's family up l)y Pen Brook, and the Spoffords on the hill, as guided by the burning house, they hastened, only to find a family silent in death, mangled and bloody, with their house-dog howling his agony over his slain friends and playmates. Whether the house was entii'ely or partially burned may be a matter of controversy and an open question. In 1840, when Gage's "History of Rowley " was written, a wood-cut of the Lull house, then standing a few rods west of the residence of G. D. Tenney, Esq., was inserted as the house where the massacre occurred, and the window pointed out through which the Indians fired. That the burning was at least partially accomplished, perhaps all the interior, is from the deed of Wheeler made almost a certainty, and that by the efforts of the neighbors the fire was extinguished and a jiart of the house saved. From this saved part, east of the front door, extensions were made at different times until the spacious mansion we knew as the old Lull house was the result. It seems that such an event would have been so impressed upon the occupants of the Lull house, from one generation to another, that they could not possibly have been entirely in error when the story was brought down from sire to son, that in this room and through that window the Goodrich family were shot. The one grave in which they were buried is near by, unmarked, however, by any memorial. It should be a pleasing duty for those bearing the name to place something there in recognition oi their sad fate. It is doubtful whether they had lived there above a year or two.

December 1, 1693, Henry Poor bought twenty-eight acres of land of John Pierson, of Rowley. "Miller" Pierson owned the old Nelson Mill on Mill River. This was a part of Pierson's common land in the third division. John Bayley, probably of Boston, owned land near by. The other boundary points named in the deed were " the meadow laid out to Samuel Shepard (not the Shepard farm), Bradford highway, also southwest of Whet^ler's and Goodrich land." Perhaps Poor built on the north side of Thurlow Street. The laud extended to " Three logg bridge brook,'' which must then have been the name of Parker River, at the point where Thurluw Street crosses it.

About thirty years later, Henry Poor and his sou Benjamin, in a deed to Benjamin Plumer, sold a corner of the land on which (the deed states), "we now dwell," indicating a change of residence in the meantime. Poor was Newbury born. Benjamin, the eldest son, was married about the time of the change of house.

Very early deeds imply that Crane Pond was, for some years after the incorporation of Bradford, included in Rowley. Crane Pond, and the meadows near, were known by the present name, as early, it is thought, as 1670. Many of the earlier grants and transfers were of Crane Pond lands, and the records of the locality refer to an old grant, and a new grant ; the former line is supposed to have run north and the latter south of the pond. There are deeds ou record from John Wallingford, to his brother-in-law, Jonathan Look, of land near Pond Brook (this pond must have been Crane Pond, for Pentucket and Rock were always designated by their names), also Jonathan Wheeler is said to have had a division with the above on the south side of the pond in Rowley. Without the pond being named, it seems to show an apparent knowledge of but one pond, and from the names of the parties, Wallingford, Look and Wheeler, it is conclusive that the pond was Crane Pond, and was then (1604), within the limits of Rowley. Look probably lived in the neighborhood of these Crane meadows. Seven years later he signed the parish petition with the others. His name disappeared from Rowley history soon after.

These owners of lands in Rowley were under the old grant. The new grant was made not long after. It will be recalled that in 1681, a request came to Rowley from Bradford, for an enlargement of their territory, and perhaps after many appeals, the town of Rowley, April 7, 1699, appointed a committee, " to meet with the Bradford Committee, when there may be a convenient opportunity, to settle thelinebetween Rowley and Bradford, and what they shall do (says the record), shall be a valid act." Probably the convenient time did not arrive, for in 1701, nothing apparently having been done, Bradford petitioned the General Court to interfere. Rowley, then forced to definite action, chose on September 22, 1701, a committee " to meet a Bradford committee, at the house of Samuel Hale, and to come to some agreement if possible, but if they could not agree, then to refer it for a settlement by arbitration."

Doubtless a satisfactory agreement was reached at that meeting, and the new line run at the south of Crane Pond, as before stated, making it essentially the line between Georgetown and Groveland, as it exists to this day. About the time that the Wheelers, Brownes, Goodrich, Look, Plumer and Henry Poor were taking the first steps toward clearing the land and establishing homes along what is now Thurlow, North and Jewett Streets, complaints were rife of trespassing on the undivided land, to the injury of those who might follow them.

We have seen Goodrich and his family, by one sharp blow taken from this little band of hardy axemen and pioneers, but this did not deter the others ; they held the ground gained, but sometimes, no doubt, entertained bitter thoughts against the Rowley men at the village, that they should fret and fume, over the cutting of a little wood and fencing stuff. These were braving all the danger of opening up the wilderness, while their Rowley neighbors were living in peace and security, and one can imagine that a sense of injustice, sometimes impelled them to a degree of lawlessness. However, in spite of any consciousness of freedom, these few families may have felt, the town saw fit to vote, January 14, 1694-95, for an appointment " of a Committee to prosecute any persons, and especially Benjamin Plumer and Henry Poor, that have trespassed by falling or carting away timber." The forest was preserved with jealous care from the first, one town ordinance following another in quick succession, and making the laws operative over the whole territory, from Merrimac to the sea. The peat-bogs were as yet unopened, although right at their feet. The coal-fields were waiting for the transportation by steam as the motive power, and the vast lumber districts, were practically almost as far away as if in the moon.

This severe ordinance not proving effectual, and the clamors of some of the people still demanding action, an evidently annoyed citizen, at a meeting March 19, 1699-1700, moved, and it was

" Agreed & Voated, that if any person or persons shall fall, top, or Carry away any tree or trees, or part of any of sd tree, from of any part of the Town's Comon, called the three Thousand Acres, for any use whatsoever, without liberty from the Select men, being niett together, <fe in writing under hands, they Shall pay for every tree fallen, lopped, or carried away, nineteen Shillings, Six pounds & tree (threepence), the one-halfe of sd penalty to the Informer, the other half to the use of the Towne."

This seemes like a kind of half-waggery, and yet it may be that there was a desperation at seeing one of their dearest laws set at naught, "ffeb. 6, 169-1-5, Committee chosen to Issue a Controversie Between the Town and Beniamin Plumer," about some land that it was thought Plumer had fenced in, supposed to belong to the town.

He rebutted the charges of encroachment, by calling the attention of the town to a highway through his farm. Plumer declared himself ready to submit his case to the committee named. There seems to have been no definite settlement reached for many years, for the next record informs us, of date January 2, 1712-13, that Benjamin Plumer is satisfied about the road across his farm. Probably the question of the land encroachment was also settled.

The roads in this locality were becoming more of a question to consider at the meetings of the town. April 12, 1699, the importance of one road at the northwestern corner of the town resulted in this action : " Rock brook meddow to be leased to Robert Haseltine, Thomas Carleton, Jona. Platts (all jDerhaps, of Bradford) and John Spofford, of Rowley, for seven years, they to maintain the bridge called Haseltines, and in addition, to pay three shillings yearly. This was the bridge near the Edward Poor place, on West Street. Nothing looking toward a settlement in South Georgetown had as yet been done. There were a few land grants, however."

At about 1683 or '84, Thomas Palmer had fifty-six acres laid out near Lake Raynor, and at the westerly end, bounded by the old Newbury and Andover road, on the southerly side of the Bald hills. Others, with acreage not stated, were Deacon William Tenney, Thomas Stickney, John Burbank aud Samuel Cooj^er. Some of these lots, as laid out, are said to have bordered " on the path now used from Samuel Spofford to Jacob Pearly." Spofford was then married, and may have built the house that very anciently was built, on what is now the northwesterly limits of the farm on Baldpate Street, now owned by Henry ^Keunett. It is possible, however, that this house was built at a later day by Richard Dole.

Not far from this time, Thomas Nelson, of Rowley, and John Rolfe, of Newbury, sold this Samuel Spofford two hundred and fifty acres near Shaving Crown hill, which was one-fourth part of Mrs. Rogers' one thousand acre grant. This immense tract came into the hands of Gershom Lambert, as a gift from Mrs, Rogers. Lambert was a brother of Thomas Nelson's first wife, and uncle of the wife of Rolfe, and presented this land to Mrs. Rolfe with the other children of Thomas Nelson, that it might be sold for their benefit.

In 1712 another fourth part was sold to Moses Tyler. Gershom Lambert was a resident of Salem for some time, but as early as 1691 had removed to New London, Conn.

Cooper, Stickney, and Palmer probably about to be dispossessed of their grants for some unknown cause, perhaps because they were laid out on the reserved tract, petitioned the town of Rowley, March 18, 1700-01, to relieve them, and find them some common land, belonging to the town, on the southerly side of the line, between Rowley and Boxford. All these lots had evidently been laid out north of and near Lake Raynor. Cooper seems finally to have secured his grant, for in 1727 a long narrow tract in Boxford, north of the lake, from the shore to the town line, was sold by a Samuel Cooper, to Nathaniel Perkins and Jacob Pearley. May 22, 1704, Captain John Spoflbrd, had sixty acres laid out to him, also on this north shore of the lake. This was a grant to his father, John Spofford, then deceased. It adjoined Palmer's land.

To return for a brief sj^ace to another part of the Byfield district, from that already described, we find just as the seventeenth century was closing the name of Benjamin Stickney, as another of the earlier settlers, and who was a brother of Andrew Stickney, who is supposed to have lived near the Rowley line by the Ewell place. This Benjamin is said to have built a log house on the summit of Long Hill, at as early a date as 1699.

In 1700 a framed-house was erected by him, which as late as 1870 was occupied by Mayor Ira Stickney, a direct descendant in the sixth generation. Some few years later it was accidentally burned to the ground. In 1713 the road over Long Hill and past his house was opened. In the great snow of 1717 he kept a path open by drawing a log every day. A bear is said to have once taken a pig from his pen in the night ; he arose, caught a whip and chasing the animal, lashed him until he dropped the pig, when he secured it and returned to the house. Mr. Stickney was never known to be sick until he had passed his eightieth birthday.

Prior To 17.30

At the dawning of the eighteenth century, the question of the validity of the Indian title, to the territory within the original limits of Rowley, began to cause something of a ferment. About 1700 three Indians, who claimed to be grandsons of Musquonomonet, the former Sagamore of Agawam, and were then probably living in this or some town near by, were encouraged by parties, to assert their claim to the territory, on the ground that the aboriginal title had never been extinguished. This claim, if based on precedents, was undoubtedly correct. Many towns had apparently recognized at an early period of their settlement the Indian ownership, and by the payment of some trifle in money or goods, had gone through the farce of a purchase. Rowley, unlike many of her neighbors, had done nothing, however, simply from neglect. At that time, after seventy years of settlement, the claim was made by these Indians, with many precedents in their favor. Late in the year 1700, a committee was appointed by the town, *'to treat with the Gentlom Improved and Impowered as Attorneys for the Indians, which make a Demand of our Lands, & Labour to cleare up our Title to s'^ Lands.''

Soon after, by the payment of nine pounds to Samuel English, Joseph English and John Umpee, the title to the territory now included in the towns ol Georgetown and Rowley, was made good, to the acknowledged satisfaction of these three claimants. These upper commons were still but a slight remove from the ancient solitude.

In 1705 John Holmes, then of Newbury, and connected in some way with Bartholomew Pearson, deeded fifteen acres wf st of Rock Pond, to Eldad Cheney, oi Bradford, and Nicholas Cheney, of Newbury. The highway now known as Bailey Lane was crossed, and the lot touched on Crag (Scrag) and Rock Pond Brooks. Holmes perhaps permanently settled near the Bradford line about 1731. It is thought that he was living in Byfield in 1730, as his name was not on the list of parish petitioners, but it appears in 1732, as dismissed from the church in Byfield, to the church in the west parish in November of that year. We find him in 1722 deeding land to Jonathan Harriman, and again to Harriman in 1725 several lots on range H, in the vicinity of Rock Pond, and at the same time one-eighth part of the iron works, said to be on the south side of Rock Brook, and the deed adds, " with what provision is now made, and the privilege of the yard and stream, for nineteen years from date." These iron works had probably been opened but a few years at the longest. Gage records that they were worked in 1739, and that a Samuel Barrett lived near by, who it is thought carried them on. Besides the bog ore which was dug near the yard, the farmers carted the ore to be worked at the yard from other bogs in the town.

Dr. Jeremiah Spofford, of Groveland, at a late day, could show places on his father's farm on West Street, where this iron ore had been dug. The remains of these iron works, not far from the embankment of the Georgetown and Haverhill Railroad, were plainly traceable a few years ago.

In 1707, Benjatnin Plumer, styled clothier in 1718, who had made so much trouble for the town by his trespassing some years before, bought of Mark Prime one-half of the Mrs. Rogers or Lambert farm, for two hundred pounds. Plumer had regained the confidence of the town, for in 1702-3, he was made overseer (the English term) of all the highways in Rowley, above and including " Ry plain bridge" (the bridge near the Georgetown Town farm). This Lambert farm was to a slight extent improved by him, while he is supposed to have been living at the time in the vicinity of Thurlow or Jewett Street, for, in 1713, he bought forty-two acres of land of Jonathan Spofford, where, the deed states, " my house now is." This laud, John Spoftbrd, the father of Jonathan, bought of the Browues in 1G93. Joseph and Jonathan Plumer, who had purchased the Shepard farm in 1694, were perhaps brothers of Benjamin, but probably never lived here.

The name of Jonathan Bradstreet is seen on the record at about this date, appearing first as an owner of land near Crane pond and brook. This land in Rowley was held in partnership with David Wheeler, John and Ebeuezer Browne. Nathaniel Browne, the former owner, had removed to Connecticut. About 1710 or '11, Bradstreet bought of Jonathan Wheeler sixty acres, or a part of the Payson farm. This farm was a special grant of the town of Rowley to Rev. Edward Payson, their fourth minister, and was in harmony with the land-allotment to all the previous ministers. Wheeler had bought this farm not long before this partial sale. The word farm, as used at that time, was misleading, it being in anticipation. The farming operations of the Rowley ministers did not contemplate agriculture in the wilderness, and this grant to Mr. Payson was the last of its class. This land was located near Elder's plain (now Marlboro' district), but on the hilly tract at the north and northeast.

The Bradstreet house may have been that which, for three-fourths of a century, was known as the Kezar house, and was demolished by Dr. David Mighill about 1850. The material was used in enlargement of the Mighill house on Baldpate. The family, in 1739, removed to Lunenburg, Mass. Jonathan Bradstreet, then known as Captain, with his wife, Sarah, and Dorcas Spofford, the wife of his son Sam-

At the same period when Bradstreet settled, the names of several Boyntons frequently occur. Mention has already been made of Captain Joseph and Richard Boynton, as owners of the Swan lands, extending from Pen Brook north and east of Pen Brook avenue.

Ebenezer Boynfoti, who may have been a cousin or brother of Joseph, was an early landholder, and owned the house in " Marlboro'," now the property of Mrs. Jacob F. Jewett. The name of this Boynton is found as early as 1714, as the owner of land near that belonging to Samuel Brocklebank.

In 1725, he sold his house and thirty acres of land situated on Elder's plain, to Joseph Nelson, for one hundred and forty-three pounds. This farm was a part of the original Elder Humphrey Raynor grant, from which the plain took its name. By inheritance it came to Humphrey Hobson, a grandson, who deeded, in 1709, sixty-two acres to Edward Hazen, said to be an exchange. Hazen, who sold to BoyntoTi, may have built here, intending it for his home. It is suj>posed, however, that, after selling here, he was the builder and occupant for many years of the ancient house in Boxford, on the Salem road, lately demolished by Thomas B. Masury, upon the site of which the present house stands.

Joseph Nelson, the first of this surname to locate in Georgetown, bought in 1707, the year after his marriage to Hannah, the daughter of Deacon Samuel Brocklebank, the Jonathan Harriman place on Bradford Street, Rowley, and probably lived there until his removal here. There is reason to believe that a part of this house was built by Boynton or Hazen, as early as 1715. Boynton, perhaps, intended after selling to build for himself more to the westward, but was prevented, for we find him selling, the next year, thirty acres more to Mr. Nelson, with a barn upon it. This tract adjoined land he had previously sold to John, the eldest son of Deacon Brocklebank. He also sold Richard Boynton nine lots on range T, in the "Three thousand acres." Nelson had been an owner of land for years in this same Elders plain, buying of Jonathan Boynton and his father-in-law. Deacon Brocklebank.

This Jonathan Boynton was, we think, a son of Captain Joseph, and figures prominently in our early history. In 1710 or 1711 Joseph deeds to Jonathan one hundred and twenty acres, located on the east side of the above-named tract of land, then belonging to Hazen. This ran back to the south, reaching the town commons. Doubtless he built on this land ; perhaps it included the Tenney estate, on Tenney Street, and that the house occupied by three generations of that name was built by him, Boynton was the first parish clerk, and in oflSce until 1740. A Boynton family removed toTewksbury from this town about 1738, and a Jonathan Boynton to Lunenburg in 1758. Jonathan

Boynton and wife, Elizabeth, were dismissed in June to the church in that town. It is not known whether this was the parish clerk, or a Jonathan Boynton of a later generation. Others of this surname who were not residents, were Caleb, a land-holder in South Georgetown, and Benoni, who married a sister of Nathaniel Mighill, and had a freehold in this part of the town. It is a curious fact, not generally known, that Sir William Phips at one time bought or rented a Boynton house in Rowley and perhaps resided there.

In the spring of 1714 Deacon Samuel Brocklebank, the son of the captain, who was killed by the Indians deeded to his son John for £60, to be paid to his eldest son, Samuel S., (then probably deceased), three daughters £20 to each when they come of age, or marriage, which may come first, all the land " then belonging to this farm, west of the brook, which runs midway of the present Elm and Central Streets, known to the present generation as the Brocklebank house, recently taken down by Mrs. G. W. Boynton, and upon the site of which her present house stands. Its demolition removed a distinguishing time-mark from the central village.

At the time this land was deeded to John Brocklebank, Main Street, from his father's house, now M. G. Spofford's, to the present centre, was not opened. There is no reference to a highway or a path even, and the land as deeded beginning in the rear of the Chaplin shoe factories, had the brook for a boundary until it came " unto ye great brook " with that for a bounds until the angle is reached, and from that bend across the wooded upland to the " Andover road," now North Street, at some point east of the Baptist Church. The land of Richard Boynton bounded on the east. The course was then westward, with Andover road as the bounds, until near the house of Miss M. A. Sawyer, on Andover Street. " It (says the deed), come to Land that I had allowed for my highway Through my farm." This old proprietors' way, the westerly bounds of this ancient farm, not far from the railroad, is visible to this day, a lane south of the residence of D. C. Smith, on Central Street, being, perhaps, its southern terminus. This road was used by the farmers on Spoffords' hill, until the opening of Central Street from the Brocklebank house to Chaplinville, which was laid out about midway of this farm. The sandy knoll, now Harmony Cemetery, had for some years a watch or block-house on its highest point, built to guard against raids from the Indians. In 1720 Deacon Brocklebank deeded the remaining half of his farm ("where I now dwell," says the deed) to his youngest son Francis Brocklebank. The conditions were specified sums, to daughters Elizabeth (Pingry) and Hannah (Nelson), and several granddaughters, with care for himself and wife through life, and Christian burial. The father was living in 1722, and aided in correcting the boundary line west of Baldpate hill.

Rowley to Joseph Nelson, bought of Thomas Lambert, one-half of the Rogers or Lambert farm, near Pentucket Pond. The other half, it will be remembered, Benjamin Plumer, had been in possession of, since 1707. This extensive tract of six hundred acres or more, not having been divided, a division was then made by Harriman and Plumer. One Bayley had land near this farm. Perhaps the Bailey road was named for him. On the southwesterly side of the pond, it was agreed, that Harriman should have the easterly, and Plumer the westerly part of the farm.

On the northeasterly side, a line was run at some distance from the pond, Harriman to have the laud at north of this line, and Thomas riumer, a son of Benjamin, on the southerly side, or nearest the pond. This part of the Harriman land, must have crossed the boundary into Bradford, but when granted to Mrs. Rogers, before the new line between Rowley and Bradford was run, was all within Rowley limits. Such a division seems to have been philosophical and harmonious. In its primitive aspects, it reminds one of the Orient, and recalls the story of Abram and Lot.

The brook above Pentucket was equally divided between Benjamin Plumer and Harriman, both having seen a mill privilege on the brook, and Harriman included in the division agreement, liberty to " Digg rocks and Gravel to make a Damm, and a convenient yard for a Mill."

This deed to Thomas Plumer from Benjamin, was given on the same day as Harriman's from Ijambert, and was for one hundred and forty acres. At about this date (1715), was doubtless the erection of the Plumer house on Mill Street, now occupied by Mrs. J. C. Hoyt and Wra. Day. This house on the end toward the lake, has a facing of brick, and is said to have been so built, as a protection against Indians, and on this end only, because of its nearness to the lake, and that in approaching the house for attack, the builders supposed, the Indians would come along the lake in their canoes. This land of Thomas Plumer, all lay at the left of Parker River, as one descends the stream.

No highways are mentioned, therefore Mill Street, the Jacobs Road and North Street, to its junction with Tliurlow Street, at Hale's corner in Groveland, were as yet, unopened. Jonathan Harriman, in 1721, then styled Sergt., deeds to his son Leonard, forty acres of the Lambert farm, and one-eighteenth part of the saw-mill. Afterwards, perhaps on the same day, an equal area, with an eighteenth part of the saw-mill to his son Nathaniel. John Harriman, another son it is supposed, built the house now owned by Flint Weston. He was the ancestor of H. N. Harriman, town clerk and publisher of the Georgetown Advocate. At a later date a son of his of the same name, built near by. The house of the father, is said to have been on the north side of the upper end of Pentucket Pond.

on the south by land of John Adams. This land of Adams had been bought of Benjamin Plumer, the year before the Harriman purchase, and included, what has been known, since about 1800, as the Jacobs farm. The last of the name to occupy the Jacobs house, supposed to have been built by John Adams, was Israel Adams, known in the parish as "Pond Israel." Mr. Benjamin Jacobs, of Maine, then became the purchaser and lived here. Moses Tenney, the father of State Treasurer Tenney, once lived here.