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Medford Historical
Register
Vol. XXXIII, 1930
PUBLISHED BY THE
MEDFORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Medford, Mass.
'lc\ £.ei
FT 4
MEDFORD
J. C. MILLER, JR., PRINTER
CONTENTS.
Nos. 1 and 2.
Preface — Medford's Tercentenary Observances. Editor.
The Pageant of the Mystic. Ruth Dame Coolidge.
No. 3.
Page
Pageant Grounds ...... Frontispiece
The Pageant of the Mystic. Wilson Fiske . . 7
The Early History of Medforo. Alfred C. Lane and
Robert L . Nichols 11
The Ministers and Meeting-Houses of the First
Parish in Medford. Clara T. Guild . . .16
Understanding Italy. Mary Lillian Novelline . . 22
Ships of Medford. Edward J. Gaffey ... 24
Indians of Medford. Ruth Dame Coolidge . . 26
Old Ships and Ship- Building Days of Medford.
Hall Gleason ........ 28
CONTENTS
Residence of Governor Brooks
No. 4.
Page
Fontispiece
Matthew Cradock and the Charter of the
Massachusetts Bay Company. Harry E. Walker. 31
Reminiscences from Upper Medford. Samuel S.
Symmes ......... 44
Tercentenary Year. Editor ..... 46
Our Illustration. Editor ...... 47
Officers for the Year 1931 . . . . .48
Old Ships and Ship-Building Days of Medford.
Hall Gleason
48
Vol. XXXIII.
[Nos. 1 and 2
PUBLISHED BY THE.
HEDfORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY
MEDFOROMASSAOIUSETK
"7^^
CONTENTS.
Preface —
MEDFORD'S TERCENTENARY OBSERVANCES. . Editor
THE PAGEANT OF THE MYSTIC. . . Ruth Dame Coolidge,
Entered as second-class matter, under the act of July 16, 1894,
Medford Station, Boston, Massachusetts.
Meetings of the Society at the Society's home, 10 Governors
Avenue, on third Mondays at 8.00 P.M., from
October to May inclusive.
MEDFORD HISTORICAL REGISTER.
Published quarterly (March, June, September, and December)
BY THE
Medford Historical Society,
AT
No. 10 Qovernors Avenue, Medford, Mass.
Sabscription price, &1.50 a year, postpaid. Single copies, 40 cents.
For gale at the Society Rooms and by the Treasurer.
Publication Committee.
HARRY E. WALKER, JOSEPH C. MILLER, MOSES W. MANN.
Editor, MOSES W. MANN.
Associate Editors, HARRY E. WALKER,
MISS KATHARINE H. STONE.
Exchange list in charge of Geo. S. T. Fuller, 15 George Street.
Advertising Manager, Miss E. R. ORNE.
FORM OF BEQUEST.
I give and bequeath to the Medford Historical Society, in
tlie city of Medford, Mass., tiie sum of Dollars for
the general use and purposes of said Society.
( Signed)
J. C, MILLER, JR., PRINTER, MEDFORD.
The Medford Historical Register.
Vol. XXXIII. MARCH, JUNE, 1930. Nos. Iand2,
MEDFORD'S TERCENTENARY OBSERVANCES.
IN observance of the Massachusetts Tercentenary, our
Historical Society planned a special issue of its
Register early in June and to precede the coming
pageant. Its production was placed in charge of a
special committee and was to appear as Vol. XXXIII,
Nos. I and 2. This was mentioned in editorial of our
last issue and also by a slip attached by a clip to its
cover.
By the above action the venerable editor had a six
months' vacation and now, at the call and desire of that
committee, he prepares these prefacing lines for their
special issue.
Having been in labors abundant in the various obser-
vances, the committee finds the June days have passed
without the Register's appearance. Instead of abstracts
and reprints of a previous time, the committee is sending
the text of " The Pageant of the Mystic," with its valu-
able notes, foreword, and names of the participants, with
the hope that it will be favorably received, preserved and
reread in the future.
The first of the Tercentenary observance we are else-
where noting. Next was Patriots' Day exercises, to which
were added those at the old cemetery on Salem street.
The city had reconstructed the enclosing wall of brick
and concrete with granite cap, with a well-designed iron
gate at the entrance on Salem street. Bronze tablets
had been placed upon its pillars.
A bronze tablet reproducing the old inscription had
been placed upon the Governor Brooks monument, and
a memorial flagstaff erected in the corner of the grounds
2 MEDFO RD' S TER CENTENA RY OBSERVA NCES. [ M a r. , j u n e ,
near River street. Suitable dedicatory exercises were
held in relation to these by city authorities and were
observed by a large company of interested people.
The bronze tablets at the gate bear the following
inscriptions: —
Y^ OLDE
MEDFORD
BURYING GROUND
IN USE PRIOR TO
1683
THIS TABLET DEDICATED
APRIL 19, 1930
IN MEDFORD'S
TERCENTENARY YEAR
HERE LIE
EARLY SETTLERS OF MEDFORD
GOVERNOR JOHN BROOKS
CAPTAIN ISAAC HALL
HONORABLE PETER TUFTS
SARAH BRADLEE FULTON
PATRIOTS OF THE REVOLUTION
WHO FOUGHT AT LEXINGTON
AND BUNKER HILL
AND OTHERS WHOSE VIRTUES
THIS TABLET COMMEMORATES
DEDICATED
APRIL 19, 1930
And in June came the pageant. Just before this, how-
ever, through the enterprise of our business men, there
were printed fifteen thousand copies of a four-page paper
called Ye Town Crier. This was printed in blue ink, its
opening page advertising " The Pageant of the Mystic,"
its particular feature being an Indian chief overlooking
the river's course and the ship-building on its bank.
This was inscribed the " Official Poster of the Pageant."
The Crier was distributed throughout the city by the
troops of the Boy and Girl Scouts. Among the writers
contributing to it were Mayor Larkin, who wrote upon
"The Celebration's Benefits;" and former Mayor Cool-
idge, who wrote upon " The Brooks Estate," the scene
of the pageant's enacting.
The cavalcade from Salem to Boston made its course
through High and Main streets stopping at the Royall
House. The three floats representing the Arbella,
Guarding the Treasure, and Winthrop Transferring the
1930.] MEDFORiy S TERCENTENARY OBSERVANCES. 3
Charter, preceded by mounted musicians, were met by
our city officials and escorted thither, where suitable
exercises of reception were held.
Next morning the cavalcade finished the last stage of
the journey to Boston. Though in 1630 Governor Win-
throp did not carry the charter through the woods over-
land from Naumkeeke to Mishawum with so much pomp,
pride and circumstance, this portrayal was viewed by
many along its four-day journey with interest, and in
Medford it advertised the pageant, which was attended
by over sixteen thousand people. Remarkably favorable
were the weather conditions. The clouds of the second
afternoon were somewhat ominous, ending in a slight
shower at eight o'clock, reducing the attendance to nine
hundred and ninety-nine.
After the three days' intermission it appeared that
Medford knew a good thing when they saw it, for there
reassembled twenty-nine hundred and eight.
But what shall we say of the pageant itself and its
enacting by a cast of twelve hundred people, entering so
heartily into its spirit, working harmoniously for its suc-
cess, patiently and perseveringly through rehearsals and
to its close? This voices it: as we walked amid the
dense throng to take the bus-ride home we repeatedly
heard "Wasn't it wonderful?" and that expression seems
to be in people's thoughts and on their tongues, using
the word wonderful in preference to the many words
that might be used. We have heard but one adverse
criticism ; we are giving that for what it is worth for the
benefit of the one who will have the pageant in charge
one hundred years from now — "There was no splash in
the water when the ship was launched." And the wonder-
ful setting for it, its use so kindly allowed by the present
resident owner, Mrs. Shepherd Brooks, the historic
ground over which the first white men came to Med-
ford! Language fails us. We will not try to say more,
other than this — those that missed seeing the pageant
missed an opportunity of a lifetime.
4 MEDFORD'S TERCENTENARY OBSERVANCES. [Mar., June,
In the Meeting-house of the First Parish in Medford,
fifth edifice in succession to shelter the rehgious services
of the old Parish, and the third upon the same site, was
held on Sunday, February 23d, a church service after
the manner of the seventeenth century, so far as the
Parish found it practicable to reproduce in its modern
home the setting and conditions of that period.
At early candle-light the parishioners gathered in an
auditorium lighted only by candles. The women on one
side of the center, the men on the other. The pulpit
had been removed and on the platform stood two tables
and three chairs. Ordinary white candles in old-fash-
ioned candlesticks stood on the tables and were ranged
along the sides of the room.
Entering from the vestry, the minister, the Rev. Louis
C. Dethlefs, in gown and band, seated himself at the
table in the center of the platform, while the teacher,
Mr. Wilson Fiske, took his place at the table to the
minister's right. In the chair at the minister's left sat
Mr. A. W. Stockwell, tithing-man, with his staff of office.
Below the platform and facing the congregation sat the
ruling elder, Mr. E. W. Stone, with pitch-pipe and psalm
book at hand. Teacher, tithing-man and elder were in
the conventional Puritan garb.
On the minister's table stood an hour-glass, which the
tithing-man took occasion to reverse during the sermon.
Opening the services, the minister made a short ad-
dress of explanation, followed by a prayer. The ruling
elder rose, announced the One-hundredth Psalm, gave
the pitch, and lined the psalm for the congregational
singing. Following this the teacher read from the seven-
teenth chapter of Proverbs and interpreted to the con-
gregation the scripture passage read. After a second
psalm (the Seventy-eighth), led by the ruling elder as
before, the minister read a portion of an ancient sermon
on " Pleasures, True and False," delivered originally in
1 77 1 by Rev. William Dodd. Then followed the third
Psalm and the benediction.
1930.] MEDFORUS TERCENTENARY OBSERVANCES. 5
The congregational singing was remarkable for spirit
and effectiveness.
The customs of the clay were followed so far as to in-
stall the pewter contribution platter at the front, to which
the congregation made pilgrimage to deposit their offer-
ings under the eyes of the tithing-man, by whom they
were summoned to contribute in proportion as they had
prospered.
The church was filled to its capacity.
After the services the rather extensive and unique col-
lection of church silver, mostly Colonial, belonging to
the Parish, was on exhibition in the vestry, together with
some of the ancient records and literature, the property
of the Parish.
Prov^erbs XVII.
1. Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than a house
full of sacrifices, with strife.
2. A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame,
and shall have part of tiie inheritance among the brethren.
3. The fining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold ; but the
Lord trieth the hearts.
4. A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth
ear to a naughty tongue.
5. Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his maker; and he
that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.
6. Children's children are the crown of old men ; and the glory
of children are their fathers.
"And the Glory of Children are Their Fathers ! "
So have we said, looking back upon the rugged constancy and
faith which animated 02ir fathers in their bitter struggle to establish
themselves and theirs and their institutions in a new and bleak and
inhospitable land ; upon their perfect conviction that they were for-
warding the will and the work of their God by loosing the bonds
which they found hampering to their souls, and by building a new-
made freedom upon foundations as firm as their own granite hills.
We glory in their unfeigned enthusiasm therein, in their splendid
devotion to their task and in their generous self-immolation in its
execution. We turn us to their example for that inspiration to high
thoughts and great deeds which shall make us worthy to wear their
mantles.
6 MEDFORirS TERCENTENARY. [Mar., June, 1930.]
" As he was to the fathers, so be the Lord to us." Thus speaks
the motto upon the seal of our MetropoHtan city. It is ours so to
bear our parts that the heritage may be nowise dimmed, but rather
brightened, passing on to our children's children. li we cannot
share all the sternness and perhaps the gloom of our fathers' faith,
yet may we emulate their steadfastness, in the faith that is ours,
faltering not in the pursuit of that righteousness unto which all
other good shall be added.
" So live the fathers in their sons.
Their sturdy faith be ours,
And ours the love that overruns
Its rocky strength with flowers."
Nor is this constancy in the faith our whole duty, the confidence
in this reward our only, perhaps not our highest, expectation.
"Children's children are the crown of old men." So, whether
we will or not, we do bring something into the world; and we
shall be known by what we leave after us.
How else shall one live on, save in the offspring of his brain, his
hand, his heart .'' If his brain prove barren or perverse, shall not
its creatures be dead things, or worse than dead.'' And if hand
and heart work not together for good, what shall they bring forth
but ashes.'' He shall be judged by his fruits. These shall fashion
his crown, shall show it forth tarnished or bright, shall build the
furnace wherein to try its metal. Most surely of all shall they be
found in his most precious contribution — his descendants unto all
generations.
Heaven send we may so number our days that our children's
children shall rise up to call us blessed, shall find in us that joy and
inspiration we have found in the fathers ; shall fare strong and wise
and able, to perform without fear and without reproach the work
they may be called to do. Then shall they look upon their fathers'
labors and the structure they have built and sing of us with pious
reverence :
" The leaves they knew
Are gone these many summers, and the winds
Have scattered them all harshly thro' the years
But still, in calm and venerable strength.
The old stem lifts its burthen up to heaven.
And the new leaves, to the same gentle tune.
Drink in the light, and strengthen, and grow fair."
Uift pageant of tlye iUysttt
A PAGEANT
in celebration of the
Tercentenary of the Settlement
of Medford
1630
1930
Written by
EUTH DAME COOLIDGE
for the
TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION
Produced and Performed by the People of Medford
June 23, 24, 25, 30, July 1 and 2
8:30 o'clock
BROOKS ESTATE WEST MEDFORD
MASTER OF THE PAGEANT
Leslie R. Carey
STAFF
Assistant Pageant Director Edwin F. Pidgeon
Stage Matmger George J. Hackett
Assistant 8>tage Man-ager John G. Fortune
Assistant Stage Manager Frederick A. Kom Lost
Assistant Stage Manager Thomas M. Connell
Miisic Director Elmer H. Wilson
Choral Director Dr. Charles W. McPherson
Dancing Director Mrs. Frederick A. Russell
(2
CHAIRMEN MEDFORD TERCENTENARY
COMMITTEE
Hon. Edward H. Larkin, Mayor of Medford
Honorary Chairman
Frank D. Neill, Chairman
Charles T. Daly, Secretary
CHAIRMEN OF PAGEANT COMMITTEES
Frank D. Neill, Executive Chairman
Charles T. Dalt, Secretary
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Maj. John J. Carew Hon. Lewis H. Lovering
Mr. Charles W. Collins Mr. Anthony F. R. Novelline
Hon. Richard B. Coolidge Mr. Michael E. O'Brien
Mr. Andrew F. Curtin Mr. Milton D. Riley
Mr. John G. Fortune Mr. Henry Risman
Mr. Edward J. Gaffey Mr. Alwyne E. Ritchie
Mr. George J. Hackett Hon. Charles S. Taylor
Mr. Samuel C. L. Haskell Mr. John J. Ward
CAST
Mr. John G. Fortune
COSTUMES
Mrs. Hollis E. Gray
DANCE
Mrs. Frederick A. Russell
FIRE PROTECTION
Chief Thomas A. Qualey
GROUNDS AND CONSTRUCTION
William F. Lacey, Jr.
(3)
LIGHTING AND PROPERTIES
Mr. George J. Hackett
MAKEUP
Mrs. George B. Quinby
MUSIC
Mr. Hubert C. Shedd
POLICING
Lieut. Charles H. Ewell
PUBLICITY
Mr. Philip G. Desmond
PURCHASE AND SUPPLIES
Joseph L. Fitzpatriek
TICKETS
Mr. Alwyne E. Ritchie
TRANSPORTATION
Mr. Andrew S. Scott
USHERS
Maj. John J. Carew
RECEPTION
Michael E. O'Brien
PAGEANT BOOK
Hon. Richard B. Coolidge
(4)
Music by Medford Tercentenary Orchestra.
Chorus by Medford Tercentenary Choristers.
Costumes and Wigs by Ware, Costumer Inc., Boston.
Mass.
Poster by Miss Norma E. Casano.
Amplification by Radio Installation & Service Co., Med-
ford, Mass.
Lighting' by J. M. Maxwell & Son.
Scenery designed and constructed by Frederick A. Kom-
Losy, Maiden, Mass.
Seats by Maurice M. Devine.
Printing Pageant Book, Mercury Printing Company.
Chorus Accompanist, Mrs. William J. Reilly.
Dance Accompanist, Miss Doris Brown.
Pageant Book Secretary, Miss Louise P. Taylor.
Assistant Pageant Book Secretary, Miss Mildred A>
Jacobus.
(5)
"I haue great cause to acknowledge God's goodness
& mercy to me in inabling me to under goe what I haue
& doe suffer hy New England, & if my heart deceyve me
not, I joye more in the expectation of that good shall come
to others there when I shal hee dead and gone, than I greyue
for my owne losses, though they have beene verry heavy &
great e."
Mathewe Cradock to the Court of
Assistants, February 1640.
FOREWORD
From the days wheu the Indians paddled their
canoes up the Missituk, — "great tidal river," — to their
homes by the spreading lakes, the Mystic has been the
pulsing heart of Medford's life. The earliest settlers made
the winding stream a highway to Cradock 's plantation.
The "Blessing of the Bay," launched by Governor "Win-
throp as early as 1631, was the forerunner of a later fleet
that went down the river to all the corners of the seven
seas. Across Matthew Cradock 's toll bridge labored the
land traffic of colonial days toward the settlements to the
north, and under it crept the slow "lighters" which bore
the products of forest, farm, and brickyard to the markets
of the seaport. Today the Mystic, no longer hemmed in
by the "uncouth wilderness," carries its salt tide only to
the site of the bridge. But the open valley runs on to
the lakes while, skirting its banks, the parkways of today
bring beauty and vision to the crowded pressure of city
life.
In this pageant I have attempted to picture signifi-
cant events in the life story of the town that grew up along
the Mystic. Sometimes imagination has necessarily added
to the scenes that embody, however, as far as possible the
recorded words of the past actors. I have not tried to
go beyond the boundaries of Medford, except to follow
back to England Matthew Cradock, who, though founder
of the city, never saw his grant of two thousand acres.
(6)
I have tried to make Medford live again as patriot souls
stirred her into action, for Medford knew Governor Win-
throp, Paul Revere, and General Washington. She had,
too, her own patriot sons and daughters who contributed
to the upbuilding of the commonwealth and the republic.
From their day the colonial town by rapid growth through
these later years has become a large city in which still
stand sentinels of the olden times, cherished in a living
present.
Into Medford, as if with the flood of the tide, have
poured the men and wealth of lands across the sea. In
her three hundred years of existence Medford has created
a new world from the old, and as the ebb tide of her river
returns to the sea, so she has given again to the world
her men and her wealth in grateful appreciation.
I am indebted to many, among others to Miss Helen
T. Wilde and Mr. Moses W. Mann, accurate historians
of the city, to Mrs. Leo R. Lewis, who has composed the
music of the choruses, to Mrs. Shepherd Brooks, who made
her estate the pageant ground, to Mr. Leslie A. Carey,
Director of the Pageant, whose dramatic experience has
enriched the text and who has shown the finest spirit of
co-operation, and to all the various committees and the
cast who have made the production possible.
Ruth Dame Coolidge.
i (
OUTLINE OF THE PAGEANT
Prologue — The Mystic River with the Ebb and Flood
Tides.
Episode I — Colonization.
Scene 1. The First White Men in Medford, Septem-
ber 21, 1621.
Scene 2. The Granting of the Charter, March 4,
1629.
Scene 3. Cradock and the Charter, July 28, 1629.
Scene 4. "Went up Mystic Six Miles," June 17,
1630.
Scene 5. The Death of Sagamore John.
Episode II— Colonial Life, 1630-1770.
Episode III — The Revolution.
Scene 1. After the Boston Tea Party, December 16,
1773.
Scene 2. Isaac Royall's Decision, 1775.
Scene 3. The Nineteenth of April — Morning, 1775.
Scene 4. The Nineteenth of April — Evening, 1775.
iScene 5. Washington inspects the troops at Medford,
March, 1776.
Tableau — The Outcome of the Revolution.
Interlude — Song Chorus.
Episode IV — Commercial Development.
Scene 1. The first adventure in Transportation — the
Middlesex Canal, 1793.
Scene 2. The second adventure — the Boston & Lowell
Railroad, June 24, 1835.
Scene 3. The Launching of the Ship, 1856.
Scene 4. The second Paul Revere, April 18, 1861.
Epilogue— The City of Medford, the Flood and Ebb Tides.
(8)
m^t pageant of tlje Mastic
PROLOGUE
(Before the pageant opens, the Indians are already
on the scene. The men are in canoes fishing, the
women making baskets and pottery. Boys are build-
ing a fire. Kettles and clay pots stand by the fire
where women are cooking. Before the Indian wigwam
is stretched a drying skin; fish are drying on a flat
trellis.)
Indian Dance
Song Chorus
From the shining lakes between the hills
The Missituck come I,
Winding my pathway through the vale,
Where the broad marshes lie.
A hundred streams in the shady Fells,
And sunny brooks a score,
Have loved and lavished at my feet
Their swift and sparkling store.
Swelling with love I bear their gifts
A treasure to the sea,
And then with grateful heart turn back —
The salt tide as my fee.
Ever the flood tide brings with me
The wealth of seas unknown.
And ever my grateful ebb tide bears
The wealth that the woodlands loan.
To all who dwell beside my shore
I give my blessings twain,
The bounty to take of land and sea
And the heart to give back again.
(9)
(Sound of music. Enter Mystic, with Flood and
Ebb tides, two women, each with a train of dancers
dressed to represent the varying shades of the water.
A dance of the spirits follows symbolizing the wind-
ing of the river, and its ebb and flow. The River
takes a position in the foreground and the music
changes to an Indian melody.)
EPISODE I— Colonization
SCENE 1.
The First White Men in Medford
(The Indian men disperse as for hunting, leaving
the women and a few boys in the settlement. In the
distance approach by water Miles Standish nine
companions and four Indians. They leave their
shallop drawn up on the shore with two armed men
on guard and march forward. An Indian runner in
the foreground gives warning of the coming whites
and all withdraw in terror before the Pilgrims land.
Squanto and Obbatinewat enter and call to them.
The women come slowly back as the Pilgrims come
forward gesturing courteously.)
STANDISH
Assure them, Squanto, that we mean but peace.
(Indian boys approach and look at the color of the
'white men and touch their beards wonderingly.
Squanto talks with the women.)
STANDISH
Which of them is the Squa Sachem?
(Squanto interprets. The women shake their
heads.)
She not here.
SQUANTO
(10)
STANDISH
Not here! 'Tis unfortunate after all these
miles of weary travel. Not here.— Where is
she?
SQUANTO
(After much talk)
She not here.
STANDISH
strange, a squaw to reign over these people!
Was their sachem, Nanepashemit, swept away
in the recent plague, Squanto?
SQUANTO
They say Nanepashemit killed by enemy on top
hill, right there.
(As Squanto interprets the women point to the hill
behind the pageant ground.)
STANDISH
Where are their men? Go you
(to a runner)
with one of these boys, find them and bring
them thither.
(Exeunt the runner and a boy)
WINSLOW
I confess myself hungry. Yon kettle has a
pleasant odor.
SQUANTO
They say, they give food pale faces.
( 11 )
(The Pilgrims move up with alacrity as squaws pre-
pare food.)
WINSLOW
They have cooked, methinks, some of the fish
with which this Missituk river abounds.
STANDISH
I never knew fish with more bones.
WINSLOW
What though it be more bony than our cod, we
must thank them, nevertheless, for their hos-
pitality.
STANDISH
Give them thanks, Squanto.
(As they finish the runner returns with a small
timid Indian who registers fear whenever the Pilgrims
advance toward him and takes refuge at times behind
the stoical women.)
STANDISH
Is this the only envoy of a great tribe? Well,
Squanto, tell him we would make a treaty
with the Squa Sachem and trade with them
for skins.
(Squanto interprets and the men make a display of
wampum, knives and red cloth.)
BREWSTER
This country we have seen is most fertile, with
excellent harbors and running waters.
Would we had landed here instead of Ply-
mouth.
(12)
WINSLOW
Nay, the Lord who assigns to all men their
habitations hath appointed it for other use.
BREWSTER
Surely the Lord hath been with us in our out-
goings and incomings, for which His holy
name have praise evermore.
(During this dialogue Squanto attempts to wrest a
beaver skin from the small Indian, who finally gets
help from the women.)
STANDISH
Yea, truly Elder Brewster, but we must even
help ourselves now in our outgoings. We
cannot find the Squa Sachem or any men
save this poor fellow with whom to trade.
SQUANTO
(creeping up and speaking scornfully with sweep of
his arm.)
All Squaws. Take skins and food. Enemies!
Say they fight you. Take their things.
STANDISH
Out on you, Tisquantum. Were they never so
bad we would not wrong them or give them
any just occasion against us.
WINSLOW
Perchance the women would trade with us,
good captain.
(He takes hold of a skin hanging about the shoulders
of one of the women and offers her some beads. Brisk
(13)
trading follows. The Pilgrims start toward the boat,
well laden, the women following them.)
TISQUANTUM
They say they will save skms for you. He
(pointing to the Indian)
trade, too.
STANDISH
Back now to the boat and our return home. We
have not seen the Squa Sachem but somewhat
we have done toward a knowledge of this new
land.
BREWSTER
I cannot but wish "we had been ther seated."
(Exeunt)
Note. Two powerful tribes of Indians held sway in this
vicinity when the first settlers came, — the Massachuset and the
Pawtuckets. The sachem of the Pawtuckets was Nanepashe-
mit. He came from Lynn in 1615 and took up his abode on
Rock Hill where he could best watch canoes on the river. He
was killed in 1619, apparently about on the hill behind the
pageant ground. His widow, the Squa Sachem, succeeded him,
though his three sons, called by the English Sagamores John,
George, and James, ruled over the Indians of Medford, Salem,
and Lynn.
This scene is based on Mourt's Relation, which narrates
in detail the trip made by an exploring party of ten pilgrims
with Indian guides in September, 1621. On September 21 they
marched inland to the Mystic Lakes and found a palisaded
Indian village deserted. Further on they came upon the In-
dian women: "with much fear . . . they entertained us at
first, but seeing our gentle carriage toward them, they took
heart and entertained us in the best manner they could, boil-
ing cod and such things as they had for us."
(14)
INTERLUDE
(The Flood tides run toward the East, listening
and exulting, while the faint refrain of an English
chanty rises.)
EBB TIDE
Beyond the sea wherein my waters flow,
A distant call. Flood tide, what hearest thou?
FLOOD TIDE
Twice every day I bear unto thy heart
The fresh salt tides from ocean's farthest
shores.
EBB TIDE
What new gift doth old ocean bear to me ?
FLOOD TIDE
Soon, soon shall come to thee across the foam,
From England's brave and noble hearted isle,
A ship of hardy and godfearing men, —
Like to yon Pilgrims who adventured here —
To found a city on thy winding stream.
EBB TIDE
What king doth send them here?
FLOOD TIDE
No king
But their own conscience. Yet a merchant
prince.
Whose argosies have floated down the Thames
And sailed to all the seas, will send them forth.
(15)
EBB TIDE
And his name, my Flood Tide?
FLOOD TIDE
Good Matthew Cradoek, born in London town,
A generous, fair, f arsighted man.
Who dreams of new worlds sprung from old
and acts
To make his dreams come true. E'en now, be-
hold,
He and the friends of Massachusetts Bay-
Have wrested from King Charles a mighty
grant
Of all these shores to found a Commonwealth.
(16)
SCENE 2.
The Granting of the Charter
(A canopy is borne in, followed by a train of nobles,
Cradock among them. King Charles takes his seat
beneath the canopy. His chancellor brings to him the
charter of the "Governor and Company of the Mas-
sachusetts Bay in New England." March 4, 1629.)
KING CHARLES
(to his Chancellor)
Affix we now the seal.
(The great seal is brought in and impressed upon
the charter.)
Mr. Craclock, I grant to you, as the first and
present Governor, the charter of the Governor
and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in
New England. May you build a New Eng-
land across the seas !
CRADOCK
(Kneeling and kissing his hand)
Most gracious sovereign, we will build a new
world from our old.
(He takes the charter. Exeunt Royal train.)
Note. Matthew Cradock, the founder of Medford, was a
distinguished merchant of London, prominent under two kings,
and the personal friend of John Winthrop. To him belongs
the credit of taking the initiative in the transfer of the charter
to the new world. Though Cradock never came to the planta-
tion he founded, he guided the infant settlement, gave wise
directions as to the treatment of the Indians and built the
first toll bridge across the Mystic in about 1636. However
heavy was the loss in his financial investment, he never failed
to succor and develop his struggling plantation. In his vision,
his wisdom and in his generosity Medford recognizes him as
the ideal father of the city.
(17)
SCENE 3
Cradock and the Charter
(During the exit of the royal train, a long table
and several chairs are brought in by attendants. Enter
twenty-three members, present on the recorded date
of the business meeting at which the transfer of the
charter was first introduced, July 28, 1629, at the
home of the Deputy Governor, Mr. Thomas Goffe in
London.
Among those present at this meeting and at the
meeting of August 29, 1629, when the motion was
carried to transfer the charter to New England were:
"Mr. Matthew Cradock, Gov., Mr. Thomas Goffe,
Dept., Mr. Thomas Adams, Mr. Nathaniell Wright,
Mr. Theophilus Eaton, Sir Richard Saltonstall, Mr.
Increase Nowell, Mr. Samuel Vassall, Mr. Jos. Brad-
shawe, Mr. Willyam Pinch on, and others.)
CRADOCK
The matter of the purchase of ships is, then,
arranged. We will now turn to the final and
most important matter of business. Gentle-
men! Know you this?
(He holds aloft the charter)
ALL
The charter! The charter!
CRADOCK
Aye. The charter !
GOFFE
Ay! The head of his majesty, King Charles
himself !
CRADOCK
And his royal seal affixed.
(18)
SALTONSTALL
Your name, Governor Cradock, heads the list.
CRADOCK
So! This much have we won from his High-
ness, King Charles, — a grant for our colony
of Massachusetts Bay ; a start to a new home
in the wilderness.
SALTONSTALL
But why the charter here today, Mr. Cradock?
CRADOCK
Members of the Council, we need men of worth
and quality, resourceful men to cope with
hardships, and men with property of their
own to carve new worlds out of old.
SALTONSTALL
Aye.
CRADOCK
But such men are unwilling to risk their all in
such a venture without assurance and guaran-
tee of certain freedom.
GOFFE
You speak in riddles !
CRADOCK
I will be brief. I propose that the government
of the plantation be transferred to those who
shall inhabit there, and not to continue the
same in subordination to the Company here.
(19)
SALTONSTALL
You propose —
CRADOCK
I propose that the charter be transferred to the
plantation.
SALTONSTALL
The charter to be taken overseas !
GOFFE
His Majesty will never consent.
CRADOCK
Then it shall be transplanted without his con-
sent.
NOWELL
Is this treason?
GOFFE
But the company is ours — we have invested our
money.
CRADOCK
They invest their lives.
GOFFE
But the company will be out of hand.
VASSALL
Three thousand miles beyond our reach. Fare-
well, money.
CRADOCK
Our money against their lives !
(20)
GOFFE
But we offer them more.
NOWELL
Ay, much more.
SALTONSTALL
Is freedom from oppression of no value ?
CRADOCK
What freedom is there if they are to be ruled
by Parliament?
VASSALL
Treason !
CRADOCK
Treason or tyranny?
ALL
Tyranny !
SALTONSTALL
Governor, methinks I am with you! Let them
as Englishmen have their charter,
NOWELL
Never, as long as I have breath to protest and
the power to vote.
CRADOCK
But this very power of vote in affairs is what
they are to be denied. And you with so little
at stake !
(21)
GOFPE
Is our money nothing ?
CRADOCK
Exactly that — if the right of voice in its expen-
diture be removed.
VASSALL
Cradock, I, too, am with you. There is weight
in your words.
NO WELL
Not one penny of my money without assurance.
CRADOCK
Not one once of their blood without protection.
SALTONSTALL
Governor, I propose a vote on the proposition
that you made. Will you read it once more.
CRADOCK
(reading from paper)
"I do propose that for the advancement of
the plantation, the inducing and encouraging
persons of worth and qualitie to transplant
themselves and families thither and for other
weighty reasons that the government of the
plantation shall be transferred to those that
shall inhabit there and not to continue the
same in subordination to the company here,
as now it is."*
*This motion was not passed until August 29, 1629, but for the
sake of dramatic presentation, the two scenes have been com-
bined.
(22)
NOWELL
Second the motion.
CRADOCK
You have heard the proposition. Those in fa-
vor will say ay, and those opposed nay.
(The vote is close, winning by one or two)
It is voted. I have faith to prophesy that the
Charter of our Massachusetts Bay Company
with the seal of our gracious majesty affixed,
will, in accordance with that vote, be the first
to cross the Atlantic. We shall plant a free
commonwealth in a free land.
ALL
(Visibly moved)
Amen, so be it.
CRADOCK
If there be no further business we are ad-
journed.
(Cradock lingers after others have gone)
Now whatsoever King or Parliament may do,
I joy in the expectation of that good shall
come to my settlement at Mystick.
(23)
SCENE 4
"Went Up Mystick River Six Miles"
John Winthrop's Journal June 17, 1630
(Refrain from old English chantey)
(A boat appears carrying sailors from the Arbella
and three colonists with Winthrop in command. As
the clearing in the woods comes in view, they rest
on their oars. Pantomine discussions.)
WINTHROP
Rest on the oars !
(They take sounding)
SAILORS
(They rest on their oars and are instantly on guard)
What's abroad?
WINTHROP
There's a landing point. Put about! Let's
ashore !
(Slowly the boat comes to shore. Cautiously the
company disembarks.)
WINTHROP
(Suddenly raises voice)
Hold!
(Every man attentive and cautious.)
SAILOR
What's toward?
WINTHROP
A trail !
(24)
SAILOR
Aye.
WINTHROP
Forward, men, and cautiously. Here is sign of
humans. Watchful !
SAILOR
The trail divides yonder.
WINTHROP
So. Do you, Sirs,
(indicating two men)
return to the ford and stand guard over the
boat. You, men,
(indicating others)
take the trail to the left. Mark you keep
within gun signal. We will to the right.
Cradock did say they planted their farm near
where the Indian trail did cross the river.
SAILOR
But if we find no—
WINTHROP
No colony? Then it must appear the Indians
have done their work. Wait! Look you!
(indicating right)
Some one comes. To cover, men, and spare
your powder.
(They instantly drop to crouching positions. From
over the knoll to the right appear white men. They
have seen the disembarking group and stand for an
instant on guard. Then they recognize the dress of
Englishmen and rush forward exultantly.)
(25)
MAYHEW
(one of the Mystick men)
Englishmen !
(His men together shout: Englishmen! They meet
Winthrop's unit and, half crazed with joy, embrace
them man to man.)
WINTHROP
My good men. You, — are you of Cradock's
plantation at Mystick?
MAYHEW
Ay. The same! Thrice welcome. Thrice wel-
come. 'Tis over a year now since we have
heard any English voice save our own. Oh,
the loneliness of these forests !
DAVISON
Three brothers by the name of Sprague with
four comrades did venture across the wilder-
ness from Gov. Endicott's colony at Neham-
keeke last summer ; they alone have found us.
MAYHEW
How came you? By what boat? How many are
you? What of England?
WINTHROP
Greetings from Mathewe Cradock, your pro-
prietor !
MAYHEW
Governor Cradock!
(26)
WINTHROP
Nay, sir. I have now the honor to be the Gov-
ernor of the Massachusetts Bay Company.
MAYHEV^
You, Sir? The governor! And here?
WINTHROP
The same. The charter and the Governor be
now on these shores. Cradock has willed it.
MAYHEW
And we be now ruled by your charter here in
New England?
WINTHROP
Ay. The first ever to be taken from the old
world to the new.
SETTLER
(Timidly)
Has your ship yet returned to England?
WINTHROP
Nay. The Arbella yet rides at anchor in Massa-
chusetts Bay well stocked with merchandise
and supplies for your needs.
SETTLER
When— when— sails she for dear old England ?
WINTHROP
Within the fortnight.
(27)
FIKST SETTLER
I would go back with her.
SECOND SETTLER
And I, sir.
THIRD SETTLER
And!
WINTHROP
What is this?
SECOND SETTLER
Oh, sir, I've endured, suffered until sometimes
it seems I'd go mad with loneliness and —
THIRD SETTLER
Three of our members have already— (indicates
death)
FIRST SETTLER
I want no more of it.
WINTHROP
stop! Is this mutiny?
MAYHEW
If so, 'tis not the first.
WINTHROP
Have you not food ?
MAYHEW
Enough with care. The waters abound in ale-
wives and the woods be full of —
(28)
THIRD SETTLER
Indians that hourly seek our pelt.
WINTHROP
Is that true ?
MAYHEW
The Indians in the main are friendly and have
brought us much aid. Dark fears.
(He touches his head significantly)
WINTHROP
What of shelter?
MAYHEW
These woods have yielded substance for shelter
and ships, and game for food. Substance
aplenty for hardy souls !
WINTHROP
(Turning on the recalcitrant group)
And you prate of suffering?
COLONIST
I say, Governor, let them sail those blooming
waters as we did. Suffering ! 'Ods Bodkins !
(He seizes his stomach)
WINTHROP
Enough of this. There is no room here for lily-
livered souls. Get you to boat and sail for
England and when you are once more with
them who were wont to call you men say that
(29)
here be scant harbor for hearts with infirm
purpose; say that here be little shelter for
such as tremble at imaginary shadows and
the sickly fears of children ; say that here are
broad fields, mighty forests and potent
rivers, boundless opportunities for those
whose lips are firm and whose courage is
fixed. Here we are carving new worlds out
of old, sturdy enterprise calling for men who
falter not nor count the sacrifice. If you are
the stuff of which colonies must be made, I
would to God this venture were already
ended.
FIRST SETTLER
(with head bowed)
Sir, you shame me as I deserve. I beg to stay.
SECOND AND THIRD SETTLERS
And I.
WINTHROP
'Tis well ! I salute you as Englishmen.
Come, the tide has changed. Let us to our boat.
I doubt not that many others will return to
this fair settlement. I ask for nothing better,
myself, than to settle by this fair river and
build ships for new ventures. Farewell.
(Winthrop and his men go to the boat as the other
group stands and waves adieu. Again is heard the
sound of the chantey as the boat rows away.)
Note. This scene is based on an entry in Winthrop's
Journal, June 17, 1630. "Went up Mystick River six miles,"
(30)
and one in the Charlestown Records that the Sprague brothers
and three others travelling overland from Salem in 1628 or
1629 found Cradock's men on the Mystic. The meeting is un-
founded by actual record but is entirely probable. The first
authoritative record of Medford is on September 28, 1630, when
the Court of Assistants, under Governor Winthrop, levied a
tax on the several plantations for instructing the colonists in
military tactics, among others, "Meadford, three pounds."
Winthrop, the first governor of the colony in Massachu-
setts, early explored Medford and received a grant of six
hundred acres, including that part of Medford now south of
the River. He launched on July 4, 1631, "The Blessing of the
Bay," one of the first ships built in the new world.
(31)
SCENE 5
The Death of Sagamore John
(Conspicuous among settlers about a camp fire are
Winthrop, Davison, Mayhew, John Noyes, George Felt,
and the Eeverend John Wilson.)
WINTHROP
Look you, gentlemen, something's amiss.
(A score of canoes enter bearing Indians across the
pond about to land)
MAYHEW
Sagamore John and his followers !
FELT
'Tis another warning of attack by the Tarren-
tines.
(The canoes land. The Indians beckon the settlers
excitedly and they rush to the shore. Sagamore John
is lifted from canoe and half carried to the camp
fire. The canoes withdraw.)
WINTHROP
What is it, John ?
(John settles to the ground with a cry of relief.
All surround him.)
INDIAN
Chief bad. No eat, no sleep, always lay down
so.
JOHN
Water.
(They raise and give him water.)
(32)
JOHN
Ah ! Good ! Master Wilson.
WILSON
Here, John.
JOHN
(Seizing his hand)
I-come-to-give-white-man-thank. Good-much
good.
WINTHROP
Quick ! Give him rum !
JOHN
No! Not more! Red chief -go-soon-see-Great
Spirit!
MAYHEW
How long has he been thus?
INDIAN
For many sun he bad.
NO YES
Is he — is this the end ?
WINTHROP
I fear it.
JOHN
See, Great Spirit angry ! It grow dark !
WILSON
No, John, there is no anger. All is well.
(33)
JOHN
Where Papoose?
(They bring an Indian boy to his side. John
readies forward and grasps the arm of the boy.)
Master Wilson! You take Papoose-boy-make-
him-like-good-white-man. Sometime him be
big chief like Gov'nor John.
(He again turns his head to Winthrop)
Make Papoose good man — learn know white
man God !
WILSON
Be assured, brave chief, he shall be watched
after. And you, John, think you that now
you know the white man's God !
JOHN
Red Chief-think-he-know. Red Chief love —
(weaker)
It grow dark - Papoose - boy - come - near -
Papoose-Big-Chief-It grow dark-dark-dark —
(He dies)
(Winthrop and his men remove their hats: Rev-
erently they draw the blanket over the body of Saga-
more John. Soft Indian dirge rises as Winthrop
speaks final lines.)
WINTHROP
Into the land of the setting sun he goes. So
passes the spirit of those who first learned
and loved the hidden mysteries of these
(34)
shores and who freely shared of their patri-
mony that those who follow might prosper.
(Indians embark in the canoes and paddle silently
away, in a wide circle.)
(The rest of the Indians walk slowly in single file
toward the setting sun. The River dancers surge in
from each side waving farewell until finally all ex-
eunt. )
(35)
EPISODE II— Colonial Life
This time of uneventful peace in Medfiord's history-
is represented by characteristic pictures of the religious,
civil, and social life.
The settlers go to church,* and the sound of their
psalm rises by the river. Women enter with quilting
frames and girls and boys for a husking bee. Many Co-
lonial activities are represented. A man is placed in the
stocks and endures the scorn and jesting of all who pass,
of children on their way to school (t), of men and boys
bearing corn to the mill (t), of women on their way to
market. Peter Tufts rides by on his way to Boston as
Medford's first representative. His son Peter, eleven
years old, bids his father farewell (§). A trial also takes
place before a judge and the protesting culprit is borne
away to the ducking stool (*t). Meanwhile the river
dancers encircle the whole, as the river itself was literally
a way of life to the early settlers (*t).
*The first meeting house in Medford was erected in 1696
on High Street, just above High Street Place, and was 30 feet
long, 27 feet wide and 16 feet high. Rev. Benjamin Wood-
bridge was the first minister. He called it "candlestick by
the ford and a light set up in it." The Town of Medford
hired a horse for his journey hither, insisting that it be well
shod.
The second meeting house was near Meetinghouse Brook,
1727 and was 52 feet long, 38 feet wide and 33 feet posts,
about twice the size of the first one. The third was built in
1770 on the site of the present Unitarian Church with a "tower
from the ground, two porches and leads and pulleys in the
windows."
fThe first schoolhouse in Medford built May, 1734, 20 by
24 feet near Meetinghouse Brook. Before this by 1719 a
writing school was established with "Mr. Henery Davison" as
teacher who was allowed "the sum of Three Pound money for
keepin school the time aboue Sd and also to diet him for Ye
(36)
term aboue Sd." The third schoolhouse stood very near the
street opposite the Episcopal Church. It was from this church
that the children flocked to see President Washington after
he breakfasted next door with Governor Brooks.
Jin 1698 a Petition stated that "your Petitioners have
hitherto been necessitated for want of a gristmill in Sd towne
to carry their corne to be ground as far as Charlestowne or
Watertowne and sometimes as far as Boston and Noddle's
Island. Wliereby many times before they can get their meal
home, it costs them as much as the corne was worth ....
There was a mill later near Harvard Avenue, West Medford,
and there was a saw mill as early as 1689 on "Marble's or
Meetinghouse Brook, in land recently taken for the Fells where
the mill dam is still clearly marked. There was a large tide-
mill on the river on the site of Miles lumber yard (1746) and
other smaller mills.
§It is now believed by many that the so-called Cradock
house was built by Peter Tufts about 1670. Medford had been
up to 1684 a "peculiar" or local district, not set off into a
town, but from this date it became a town. Peter Tufts to
reach Boston by horseback must have gone via Cambridge and
West Roxbury. He may have ferried at Charlestown or at
Penny Ferry (Wellington Bridge) or even have gone by boat
from his home on the river to the city.
*tThe ducking stool, though there is no court record of
its use in Medford, was a common Puritan method of pun-
ishment for women or men.
*JSome of Medford's earliest trade was in bricks and rum
and the river was the highway for farmers' produce from all
the surrounding country. There were many landing places.
The passage down the river was aided by tide, sail, and oar,
and the long haul around Labor-in-vain was early found so
difficult that a passage was cut through. These broad sloops
were built in Medford along the river.
(37)
Interlude
(Enter Mystic River accompanied by the Flood
and Ebb Tides.)
MYSTIC
A tiny hamlet, steeped in busy peace, —
Ploughing the fertile meadows, planting corn,
Hewing the mighty trees for firewood ;
Yet loyal to the dream of Cradock still,
Building a new world.
FLOOD TIDE
But the old world tries
To curb her freedom, shear her daring trade
And tax, unrepresented, her young might.
EBB TIDE
The sound of Indian warfare long has ceased,
Yet hark, what sound of thrilling martial drums
Beats on the silence?
FLOOD TIDE
My tides do bring
Redcoated soldiers, stern repressive laws
To tax and conquer our stout Medford men.
MYSTIC
The minutemen of Medford are prepared
To volunteer alike in war and peace
To work, to sacrifice, and e'en to die
For their Puritan heritage of Liberty.
(Martial Music)
(38)
EPISODE III— The Revolution
SCENE 1
After the Boston Tea Party
(Enter Sarah Bradlee Fulton and Mrs. Nathaniel
Bradlee. The have a large iron kettle which con-
tains water and clothes.)
SARAH BRADLEE FIJLTON
'Tis the only time I ever wished that I might be
an Indian squaw.
MRS. BRADLEE
Thou would'st have made a rare one, Sarah. A
good soldier was lost when thou put on petti-
coats.
SARAH
I know I had rather make tea as they are
making it, with the harbor as their teapot,
than to set the kettle on the hob. Ah ! Here
come our painted helpmates e'en now.
(Two men enter hurriedly, Indians from their waists
up — John Fulton and Nathaniel Bradlee.)
FULTON
Quick, wife ! To the house and cover.
SARAH
With face and features of that cut ! You'll not
step through my door thus !
(39)
FULTON
But the town is full of spies. We may be
watched !
SARAH
Let them but show themselves and I'll fix these
feathers with pitch and apply it to their royal
crowns.
(During the dialogue the ladies have removed most
of the feathers and have wiped off some of the paint.)
There. You'll soon be turned from a savage
into a civilized man again. Take you to the
well and end the good work. But before you
go tell us quickly how it went.
FULTON
We did rush in a body on the wharves. No one
offered us resistance. Zounds, how our hatch-
ets did crash into those painted tea boxes.
Some of us carried them up from the hold,
some did smash them open, and overboard
they went in a trice.
MRS. BRADLEE
Would I might have seen it!
BRADLEE
The whole regiment of redcoats might have all
the tea they wished did they drink from the
harbor tonight.
SARAH
Well salted indeed and cooled in the saucer. But
(40)
come now. Get you gone. We'll remain here
till you return.
(Men exeunt)
MRS. BRADLEE
Sarah ! Look you ! A redcoat.
SARAH
Let him come.
MRS. BRADLEE
The feathers.
(Sarah conceals feathers, etc. and puts towels into
kettle and begins to scrub vigorously.)
SPY
(Appears, looks about and is plainly at a loss.)
You — you are late at work, good women.
SARAH
We do wash up the towels after our tea. What
would you?
SPY
You did make tea tonight?
SARAH
Ay, we made tea, — oceans of it.
SPY
Pardon me. I did think you were rebels and not
his majesty's loyal subjects.
SARAH
We will pardon you.
(Exit spy)
Note. This scene is enlarged from an incident in which
a spy, searching for proof of participators in the Tea Party,
found Mrs. Fulton and Mrs. Bradlee so quietly at work that
his suspicions at the lateness of the hour were dissipated.
(41)
PLATO
SCENE 2
Isaac Royall's Decision
(Enter Plato and George, slaves to Isaac Royall;
Captain Isaac Hall; Dr. Simon Tufts, an old man of
75; Bond, the village blacksmith, and other colonists.)
BOND
Here you !
Yes suh !
BOND
Where's your master?
PLATO
I cain't rightly say, suh.
GEORGE
He done say he's goin' to Kings Chapel.
(All exchange significant glances.)
TUFTS
Say to Colonel Royall we will a word with him.
PLATO AND GEORGE
Yes, suh.
(Exit)
BOND
It'll take more than his gift of silver service to
the meeting house to convince me of Royall's
loyalty.
(42)
HALL
I like it not that he doth leave Medford for
Kings Chapel. Matters stand on a most des-
perate pass. We Minutemen do look at any
moment for the signal to march.
TUFTS
I cannot believe that Colonel Royall would turn
Tory.
HALL
Last winter when I settled accounts with the
colonel he did show me all his arms and accou-
trements and told me he was fully determined
to stand for his country. Hush ! He comes !
(Enter Col. Royall with his daughter, Elizabeth
Pepperell, followed by Sir William Pepperell and
their little five year old daughter, and several
royalists. )
ROYALL
Good morrow, my good friends. 'Tis kind of
you to search me out. My best beloved physi-
cian, Dr. Tufts, Elizabeth and Sir William,
whom you do know well. And Isaac Hall,
our brave young captain of the Minutemen.
Greetings to you all !
(All make formal greetings, the child also court-
sies. The atmosphere is courteous but cool.)
ROYALL
We are leaving for church in Boston and Eliza-
beth goes thence to other friends.
(Plato and third slave enter bringing out Lady
Elizabeth's trunk.)
(43)
Is there aught in which I can be of service to
you, gentlemen ?
(Awkward pause.)
TUFTS
Will you forgive an old friend, Colonel Royall,
if he makes bold to beg of you to stay in Med-
ford? The times are troubled and many
hearts are jealous and uneasy.
EOYALL
But you know. Dr. Tufts, my business in far
Antigua doth demand my attention.
SIR WILLIAM
Business is business. Sir, and Antigua a conven-
ient place for business just now.
(He takes a pinch of snuff.)
HALL
Twill be thought you do take flight there, Col-
onel. Many already say you are a Tory, and
make threats against you.
ROYALL
Men will ever talk, Isaac, but surely this cloud
of misunderstanding 'twixt the king and
colony will blow away. There surely may be
honorable peace. For if we come to war,
what prospect is there for colonial arms? Do
you believe. Sir,
(to Isaac Hall)
"our brave but untrained soldiers can openly
(44)
defy the power of England? Why, believe
me, Sir, she is too strong for us and would
send against us her ten thousand Russians
who would subdue us."*
HALL
I'll not believe it, and if I did I still would fight,
were it I alone to the full ten thousand.
PEPPERELL
Good Gad, Sir, this fellow forgets you are an
Englishman and love your flag and king.
ROYALL
He remembers I am an American and love my
colony, home, and friends.
PEPPERELL
Zounds, Sir, you surely cannot take sides with
these demagogues?
(Stir among colonists.)
ROYALL
On my honor, Sir, I'll never raise my sword for
my king against my countrymen.
(The Pepperells whisper excitedly.)
TUFTS
Spoken like Colonel Royall. I was assured the
love you bore your country was so deep you'd
throw the weight of your wealth and influence
on the side of freedom.
*Directly quoted from Royall's words.
(45)
ELIZABETH
Father, you would not take up arms against
England and the King?
ROYALL
Who talks of fighting? I but talk of peace.
HALL
Peace is out of the question. Matters have
gone too far.
TUFTS
It is a time, Royall, when to be neutral is to be a
Tory? Who is not for us is against us.
HALL
Come, Colonel, we trifle. You must choose ! Is
it King or Colony?
ROYALL
(Struggling)
My heart is with the colonies.
HALL
Your hand on it. Sir !
(Royall half extends hand to meet that of Hall.)
PEPPERELL
Stay! Think what you do. Sir! Do you con-
template treason against your sovereign ? And
your property. Sir — think of your property.
ELIZABETH
Father, you would not disgrace your daughters ?
(Royall hesitates, then withdraws his hand.)
ROYALL
Gentlemen — I cannot. Quick, my carriage — I
am not well.
(Slowly he withdraws from colonial group followed
by his friends. The coach rolls up. Royall starts
to mount, hesitates, turns back to the group of men.
Pepperell touches his arm, he turns, mounts and the
coach rolls away. As Royall leaves, a light is turned
on Hall who steps forward. Dr. Tufts stands with
bowed head.)
HALL
Thus must history record this struggle which
will ever try men's souls. We move according
to our light.
(47)
SCENE 3
The Ninteenth of April— Morning
(Alarm-bells sound. Paul Revere dashes by. There
are distant calls — "To arms— the British are coming
—To arms,"— with the sound of fife and drum the
Medford Minutemen enter, and with Isaac Hall in
command march away. Townspeople gather excited-
ly in Square — Bond, the Blacksmith, Porter, the
tavern proprietor, Dr. Tufts, Sarah Bradlee Fulton,
Mrs. Nathaniel Bradlee, Stephen Hall, Esq., former
member of Legislature, and others. There is a dis-
tant sound of battle.)
BOND
What's the news, Master Porter?
PORTER
News aplenty.
HALL
They've been fighting?
PORTER
Most certain blood has been shed.
BOND
Blood. Sure and that'll make the boys see red !
(Fife and drum drawing nearer.)
SARAH BRADLEE FULTON
Yes, more minutemen down the Salem Road.
PORTER
'Tis the boys from Maiden.
(48)
(Enter the company from Maiden. A boy from
the roadside offers a pail and tin dipper of water.)
MALDEN CAPTAIN
Where is the fighting?
(Distant boom of camion)
PORTER
Lexington, I should reckon.
MALDEN CAPTAIN
Quick then, boys, we'll catch them before they
reach Menotomy. Forward! March!
PORTER
Huzzay, boys, on with you! The rascals came
here and stole our powder.
BOND
Stole it, did they? Bad 'cess to 'em! Sure, we'll
give them all they want!
CHORUS
Fight 'em, boys, fight 'em!
(A few stragglers pass by from time to time on foot
or horseback, all in a great hurry.)
SARAH BRADLEE FULTON
Will they come back this way?
HALL
Nay, I reckon, they'll take the shortest road to
their boats to get under the shelter of the
guns.
(49)
(Enter Henry Putnam with ^n, followed by his
wife.)
"WIFE
Henry, Henry, come back. Don't go off without
something in your stomach, you aren't going
without your dinner!
HENRY PUTNAM
Yes, I am. I am going to take powder and balls
for my dinner today, or give them some.
WIFE
Did you ever see such a man. He's no call to
fight at his age. And his dinner stun cold !
SARAH BRADLEB FULTON
Nay, he's a hero.
(More music.)
BOND
Another company of minutemen eating up the
ground before them !
(Enter Dauvers men.)
DANVEKS CAPTAIN
Which way to the fighting?
BOND
High road to Menotomy.
DANVERS CAPTAIN
Forward !
(Cheer from bystanders.)
(50)
BOND
Where are you from ?
DANVERS CAPTAIN
Danvers.
SARAH BRADLEE FULTON
Not a second's pause. Boys, most of them, just
boys, but boys that can fight. They must have
run the whole sixteen miles.
(A farmer gallops in and stops in front of the
Tavern. Porter runs to bring him a drink.)
BOND
What news, man?
FARMER
The farmers are fighting all along the road and
the redcoats are running for Charlestown.
BOND
How many of them be there?
FARMER
Gage had to send more troops to help 'em out.
The road's full of them and the houses are
smoking all along the way.
SARAH BRADLEE FULTON
Houses afire? Why, this is war.
(Again, distant sound of fife and drum.)
FARMER
I wish I could have fought longer, but my pow-
(51)
der was all gone. I tell you I lay behind a
stonewall and caught some of them, I tell you
that.
(Enter another company.)
CAPTAIN
Which way to the fighting?
FARMER
I just came from Menotomy and they were fight-
ing there. Best take the road to Charlestown.
PORTER
Whence came you?
CAPTAIN
Salem.
BOND
Lynn and Danvers have passed already. You
are late.
CAPTAIN
All has gone wrong with us. Mistake upon mis-
take. I fear we'll be too late for any fight at
all.
TUFTS
You'll cut them off at Winter Hill.
PORTER
I'll with them.
(52)
BOND
Hurray for the minutemen ! I'll with them, too.
(Bond and Porter exeunt.)
TUFTS
You and I, Mistress Fulton, had best prepare
supplies lest we see wounded men come here
at night.
(Exeunt to tavern.)
(There is a brief darkness thrilling with the roar of
drums and faint echoes of martial music.)
(53)
SCENE 4
The Nineteenth of April — Evening
(Enter Abigail Brooks and her nieces Mercy (age,
twelve) and Nancy (age, eighteen.)
NANCY
What you suppose is happening?
MERCY
The guns are nearer, I do believe.
NANCY
Will they return this way, think you. Aunt Abi-
gail?
ABIGAIL
Not the redcoats, I warrant you. They'll make
the best of their way to Charlestown and the
men of war.
(She brings out a kettle.)
MERCY
But what are doing. Aunt Abigail?
ABIGAIL
Our men may be coming home any moment, and
the brave minutemen of other towns. They
will be hungry and thirsty.
NANCY
And you are going to feed them?
(54)
ABIGAIL
Yes, child, we'll light a fire under this kettle and
serve them.
NANCY
Not tea, Aunt Abigail ! Oh listen, that was near-
er.
ABIGAIL
Tea, child ! No patriot drinks tea. Peter ! Peter !
MERCY
What then, Aunt Abigail?
(Enter Peter Chardon Brooks, small boy of eight.)
ABIGAIL
Peter, bid Pompey bring all the last milking
here.
PETER
Yes, mother.
ABIGAIL
This is what they shall have.
MERCY
Your best chocolate, that you saved so long.
ABIGAIL
Naught can be too good for those who hurry
to their country's call to-day.
(She melts chocolate while Peter and Pompey bring
in milk in wooden buckets.)
( 55 )
ENTER PETER
Oh, mother, I climbed up to the roof, and I saw —
MERCY AND NANCY
What, what, tell us what!
PETER
Something bright, shining in the sun, over at
Menotomy and, oh, mother, I am sure it was
the bayonets of the British soldiers marching.
MERCY
Oh, listen, it is the redcoats. How near the fir-
ing is !
PETER
Oh, mother, couldn't I go and see?
ABIGAIL
Nay, son, I need you here. Who comes there?
PETER
Some of the minutemen returning.
ABIGAIL
Bring them here quickly. See, I have some
chocolate already hot in the kitchen. Bring
that first, Mercy.
(Enter three farmers, powder blackened, slouching
wearily in their saddles. Peter and girls scamper to
meet them.)
PETER
Here they are, mother. Their powder is all
gone, and they've been fighting.
(56)
ABIGAIL
You must be tired and hungry. Quick, girls.
(Reenter Mercy.)
FARMER
We've got 'em on the run, thank God.
SECOND FARMER
Yes, ma'm, British grenadiers, running like
hares.
MERCY
Oh, I hope no one has been hurt.
FARMER
Hurt! They say eight of our men were killed
in Lexington and scores of the grenadiers. I
saw some of them conveyed off in litters. I
did myself.
(Enter Peter conveying another group. The first
group moves along, saying "Thank you, Ma'm.")
NANCY
Are they coming back this way?
FOURTH FARMER
No, making for Boston town as fast as ever God
lets 'em, our men hot on their tracks and tak-
ing pot shots from any cover they can get.
FIFTH FARMER
Swarming in on their rear guard, mess of human
hornets. The whole countryside's aroused.
(57)
ABIGAIL
Ay, we have seen the minutemen from all the
north shore pass by us to-day, Lynn, Danvers,
and all.
FOURTH FARMER
Well, the regulars won't add another mile to
that journey, they won't. They were that hot,
their tongues was hanging out of their
mouths, like dogs.
MERCY
Do have more chocolate.
FARMER
No thank you, miss. It's powerful good and I
never tasted any before. But we have a far
ride to get home to our farms and milking.
PETER
(Rushing in, in high excitement.)
Mother, here comes father.
ABIGAIL
Your father? Are you sure? Thank God!
(Enter Rev. Edward Brooks, walking beside a
horse on which is a British officer.)
ABIGAIL
Thanks be to Providence. My dear husband,
you are safe !
EDWARD
Yes, wife, and I have brought you a guest. Lieu-
tenant Gould of the King's own. My nieces.
Lieutenant. Here, help him down.
(58)
(They lift him from horse and he stands sup-
ported.)
ABIGAIL
But you are wounded. Not badly, I hope.
EDWARD
Shot in the heel at Concord Bridge. The Lord
has delivered our enemy into our hands today
and we must be merciful unto him.
ABIGAIL
He shall be our guest.
LT. GOULD
I resign myself, madam, to being prisoner of
war.
ABIGAIL
Call you it war?
EDWARD
Yes, wife, and we must be ready to give our all
for liberty.
LT. G(3ULD
Mr. Brooks, this is a fateful day. This is rebel-
lion and will be punished as such.
REV. EDWARD
Perhaps not a rebellion, but a revolution. The
outcome of today is now in the hands of God.
(Music)
(59)
SCENE 5
Washington Inspects the Troops at Medford
(A detachment of New Hampshire soldiers under
Col. Stark marches on field and sets up tents. Early
March of 1776.)
(Enter Mistress Molly Stark and Sarah Bradlee
Fulton.)
MOLLY STARK
(To Col. Stark.)
Kind Madam Fulton has but now sought you at
the Royall House with butter and eggs for
your table.
SARAH BRADLEE FULTON
And an offer of more firewood for your men if
need arises from Captain Thomas Brooks.
GENERAL STARK
I salute you, General Fulton. Our army owes a
great debt to you.
SARAH BRADLEE FULTON
Nonsense, sir, I have but done what every Med-
ford woman fain would do.
GENERAL STARK
Tis firewood that the Tories in old Boston lack.
But our patriotic Medford citizens have seen
to it we suffer not.
(60)
MOLLY STARK
How long think you these Tories will lie idle in
Boston town?
GENERAL STARK
I do believe that Howe will soon embark his
troops on his ships and sail from the city.
MOLLY STARK
And my own eyes shall see it. I shall mount the
stairs of our Royall House to the roof and
where last spring I saw the smoke rise over
burning Charlestown after Bunker's Hill, I
shall today see the British slink crestfallen
out to sea.
GENERAL LEE
Good morrow, ladies and my fellow officer. 'Tis
indeed a fair spring morning.
GENERAL STARK
Ay, the troops will soon be in action.
SARAH BRADLEE FULTON
And the British troops in Boston flee before our
Washington.
GENERAL LEE
Oh, Washington, Washington. And what is
there about this siege of Boston that shows
such marvelous generalship? A lesser man
had driven Howe from shelter long ere this.
(The women show visible indignation.)
(61)
GENERAL STARK
No man can fight without ammunition and 'tis
but now that Congress hath supplied cannon
and powder.
GENERAL LEE
Time will shov/ how soon he uses that powder.
But for the sake of my bleeding country
alone, I pray for his success.
MOLLY STARK
Amen to that.
(Washington rides in accompanied by Colonel
John Brooks, staff officer. Lee starts.)
GENERAL WASHINGTON
I am fortunate in finding here two generals at
once. Ladies, your servant. What was that
to which you prayed so heartily, amen ?
MOLLY STARK
To your success, sir, at the lips of General Lee.
GENERAL WASHINGTON
I thank you, Lee, for your loyalty. I do stand
in need of faithful officers, true to their men
and me. The time has come at last to spring
our forces on the enemy.
GENERAL LEE
We are prepared for action, sir.
GENERAL WASHINGTON
Your men
(with significant coldness)
are near at hand, ready for inspection?
(62)
GENERAL LEE
At Winter Hill, sir.
GENERAL WASHINGTON
We'll not detain you longer, the while your men
do need you. Good morning, sir.
(Lee makes his bows to Molly and Sarah and salutes
Washington.)
I shall have trouble with that man, I fear.
(To Mistress Fulton)
Madam, I have not forgotten the service you
did to patriot cause in bearing my message
into Boston, walking by night to and from
Charlestown and rowing over the river.
Some day I shall more fittingly thank you.
(She courtesies deeply. He rides to the tents. The
men stand at attention.)
GENERAL WASHINGTON
Corporal, how stand your men?
CORPORAL
Our General and the Medford people, sir, have
equipped us well. All we would ask, sir,
would be action.
GENERAL WASHINGTON
Courage, men, that will, be soon. We shall have
our chance to serve our country.
(He salutes again and rides slowly into distance,
all following him with their eyes.)
. (63)
Tableau
The Outcome of the Revolution
COLONEL BROOKS
We shall win our liberty with General Wash-
ington.
(Washington with the Minutemen and the thirteen
states.)
General Charles Lee was later disloyal to Washington and
was suspended from his office. Though quartered at Winter
Hill he spent much time at the Royall House which he dubbed
"Hobgoblin Hall."
Medford has borne an honorable part in the military his-
tory of the country. Her company of fifty-nine minutemen re-
sponded to the call of Paul Revere; their maxim was, "Every
citizen a soldier; every soldier a patriot." Medford men were
with Washington at Monmouth, at Brandywine, and at the
crossing of the Delaware; and fought bravely for the liberties
of their country. Approximately 236 men out of a population
of 900 townsmen bore arms in the Revolution.
John Brooks, the most distingxiished son of Medford, was
a prominent figure in the struggle for independence; a military
leader of skill and daring, and the trusted friend of Washing-
ton, he became later Governor of Massachusetts, serving the
State for seven successful terms.
(64)
INTERLUDE
Song Chorus
I was the road that bore the load
In the days of the colony —
The thoroughfare which made men dare
Strike inland from the soa.
I and my rills turned around the mills
That sawed the forest w^ood,
And ground the corn thej^ lived upon
And called the Giver good.
The swarming fish that gave men food
Fresh meadow grass for kine,
The clay and wood for hearth and home,
And the clipper ship were mine.
Gone is the crew of the frail canoe
That barely grazed my breast;
The lighter gone on which were borne
The fruits man's labor blest.
And, half asleep, doth near me creep,
With aqueduct and lock,
The slow canal, whose lifetime shall
The locomotive mock.
Loud now the beat of hammers fleet
In the shipyards by my side,
Loud the cheers as a clipper clears
The way for the brimming tide.
Hail to the ships with the curving lips
That quaif of my river foam.
They sail the seas of the far countries
And call our Medford home.
(65)
EPISODE IV
Commercial Development
SCENE 1
The First Adventure in Transportation,
"The Canal," 1793
(Enter a group of men, Governor Samuel Adams
and staff with a band of ladies in costume of the pe-
riod, Col. Loammi Baldwin and Gen. John Brooks,
and James Sullivan, president of the Proprietors of
the Middlesex Canal.)
SULLIVAN
Gentlemen, today marks the climax of many
years of labor and organization. Since
this corporation received its charter signed
by John Hancock until today we have
pushed our way forward with the vision ever
before us of bringing to the citizens of Bos-
ton and Medford, and of our other towns,
safe and reasonable transportation for them-
selves and their necessities. Today the first
shovelful of earth will be dug for the great
Middlesex Canal by Colonel Baldwin, to
whom is entrusted the duty of its construc-
tion. In honor of this occasion we have pres-
ent a distinguished guest. Ladies and gentle-
men: I have the honor to present to you His
(66)
Excellency, Samuel Adams, the Governor of
Massachusetts.
GOVERNOR ADAMS
Ladies and gentlemen; and far seeing gentle-
men of the Middlesex Canal Corporation. I
account it indeed an honor thus to take the
first step toward uniting the waters of the
Merrimac River with Boston Harbor. It is
an ambitious undertaking full of promise for
the entire countryside; nay more, for the
State, and even for the nation. We shall
build a new world from the old one. For it is
no new thought, my friends, that the pros-
perity of a nation rests on its transportation.
Long have our tidal rivers, the Mystic and
the Charles, brought prosperity to the people
of their shores, but with the coming of the
nineteenth century our merchants must de-
pend on surer, easier transportation, not at
the mercy of the tide and the windings of the
river, but reaching far into the countryside,
beyond their sources. Our coaches, our
laboring teams of horses and oxen, must find
another assistant. And such, we may proph-
esy, will be the Middlesex Canal, threading
the countryside, a harnessed river, bearing
the produce of the country to the towns
with speed and safety and economy. It is,
therefore, with the same enthusiasm which
our beloved President, George Washington,
felt toward canals that I see today the first
spadeful of earth turned toward its comple-
tion.
(67)
(He takes a spade and hands it to Baldwin, who
upturns the first sod. Cheers. Exeunt crowd. 1802*.
A canal boat enters drawn by horses or mules.
Several horse-drawn vehicles and dray by oxen enter
during following dialogue. Enter a sea captain, whist-
ling, and Thatcher Magoun, looking at canal.)
MAGOUN
Good morrow, Captain. May I ask if you come
from yonder schooner whose masts I saw
from Winter Hill?
CAPTAIN
Ay, ay, sir.
MAGOUN
How much w'ater do you draw?
CAPTAIN
Ten feet.
MAGOUN
What's your tonnage ?
CAPTAIN
One hundred and twenty tons.
MAGOUN
Do you go up and down the river often?
CAPTAIN
Yes, I bring wood for the distillery yonder.
I've just had a sample.
*The Middlesex Canal was opened in 1802-3 and was in
use until 1846. The competition of the Lowell railroad, against
whose building the proprietors of the canal had remonstrated,
dealt the deathblow to the canal. The rails and ties for the
new railroad were carried by the canal.
(68)
MAGOUN
Are there any large rocks or bad shoals in the
bed of the river?
CAPTAIN
All clear.
MAGOUN
How deep is the water generally at high tide?
CAPTAIN
I guess from fifteen to twenty feet.
MAGOUN
Do you think an empty ship of three hundred
tons could float down the river?
CAPTAIN ?
Oh, yes. ;
MAGOUN ;
Thank you, sir. ■
(Exit captain whistling.)
'Twill do. The canal for ship timber, the river
for ships and Medford for my shipyards.
(Exit)
(69)
SCENE 2
The Second Adventure
"The Railroad, June 24, 1835"
(Crowds gather and carriages and heavy teams. A
group of men and women are in excited conversation.)
LUCY
Well, I declare to goodness! What won't they
think of next!
MARTHA
No steam carriages for me. Let 'em as wants to
ride in 'em but as I says to Hosea this morn-
ing, I says, "Hosea, old Fanney and the Con-
cord buggy is good enough for me. She may
not be fast but she is safe."
CALEB
I suppose t'wont be long, Abner, 'fore you'll be
takin' the morning train to Boston. Heh, Heh.
(General Laughter.)
HOSEA
Hear That?
(To deaf individual.)
Caleb, says as how t'wont be long 'fore Ab-
ner'll be a takin' the morning train to Boston.
(Further laughter.)
ABNER
There won't be a critter on a farm in the coun-
try where this new dido runs through as
won't be killed in a fortnight.
(70)
CALEB
I know a feller who's seen the engine and he
says as how there's a dingus on front that
scoops up everythin' on the track.
MARTHA
I just can't get used to the idea. It don't stand
to reason to me that a kerriage can go along
with nothin to fetch it. I should just as quick
think 'er flyin'.
HOSEA
Oh, I dunno, Maw, steam is a wonderful thing.
Look what it did to your stun jar that you
left in the fire.
ABNER
Caleb! There's one thing I thinks on. If this
steam buggy gits agoin', what's to hinder
thar being two on 'em ? And if thars two, why
not three ? If this thing grows, what's going
to happen to the canal? It looks to me as if
this steam engine would be a bad partner for
the water.
CALEB
Don't you worry. If it ever does run, which I
doubts, 'twont never take the place of that
thar canal. You kin count on that, Hosea.
LUCY
No, Abner, I want you to promise me you won't
go near that contraption. You're alius so in-
quisitive. I expect nothin' but you'll want to
git right up in the front line.
(71)
ABNER
Don't worry, Lucy, I know my P's and Q's.
(To crowd.)
Better be gettin clown, hadn't we? She may
be along any minute now.*
CALEB
She's four hours late now.
MARTHA
You don't suppose she's gone around some other
way do you?
(They move down as a train whistles. The train
appears with passengers. In the distance the canal
boat moves out of the picture.)
*Though strongly opposed by the canal proprietors and by
many speakers in legislature, the Boston & Lowell Railroad
was chartered by the General Court of Massachusetts, f)uilt
largely by foreign labor, with ties of split granite, and opened
June 24th, 1835. This was the first railroad with passenger
service in New England.
(72)
SCENE 3
The Launching of the Ship, 1856
(There is a great pounding of hammers and the
labor of ship carpenters. Throughout the scene there
is the sound of hammers and saws and the busy labor
of the shipyard.*)
A crowd of children enter shouting, No school,
no school! Hurrah for Captain Foster!
(Enter Mr. Charles Tufts and Hosea Ballon 2nd.)
BALLOUt
(to one of the children)
And what is the reason for your happiness?
BOY
'Tis a great day for Medford. The clipper
"Wild Ranger" is in Boston Harbor, back
from California and China, and Captain
Joshua Foster is launching a ship.
TUFTS
How many ships, son, do you think have been
launched in Medford?
*Medford's shipbuildini? extended from 1803 to 1873, when
the last ship was launched. There were 567 ships built in all
and Medford was known on all seas for the swiftness of her
clipper ships and the sound, honest workmanship in all her ten
shipyards.
t Hosea Ballou was the first president of Tufts College,
opened in 1854. The land was given by Mr. Charles Tufts who
said he would put a light on his bleak hill in Medford.
(73)
BOY
Hundreds, sir, just hundreds. The very best
ones ever built.
BALLOU
Aye, 'tis true. Medford ships are buiit on hon-
or and sail in the teeth of any gale.
BOY
And fast, too, sir. Didn't the "Herald of the
Morning," built right in Hayden & Cudworth
yards, sail to San Francisco in 99 days?
BALLOU
Our New England ships are in every sea.
BOY
And you won't find any of them faster or bet-
ter built than those right on our own river.
See if you can.
(Exit boy.)
(Ship launching. As ship is launched out of seal,
a great shout from the crowd is followed by a vocal
chorus which sings one verse of "Thou too sail on.")
(74)
SCENE 4
The Second Paul Revere, April 18, 1861
(There is the alarm of drums and the strains of
"John Brown's Body". Enter Samuel C. Lawrence
holding papers in his hand, with his brother, Daniel
W. Lawrence and a detail of five soldiers in uniforms
of the period.)
S. C. LAWRENCE
By the President of the United States: A
Proclamation: Whereas the laws of the United
States have been for some time past and now
are opposed and the execution thereof ob-
structed in the States of South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisi-
anna, and Texas by combinations too power-
ful to be suppressed by the ordinary course
of judicial proceedings or by the powers
vested in the Marshals by law —
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi-
dent of the United States, in virtue of the
power in me vested by the Constitution and
the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and
hereby do call forth, the militia of the several
states of the union to the aggregate number
of 75,000 in order to suppress said combina-
tions and to cause the laws to be duly ex-
ecuted.
Seventy-five thousand volunteers to defend
our capitol. That is the call of President Lin-
coln.
D. W. LAWRENCE
Our Medford Company E will be on the march
soon.
(75)
S. C. LAWRENCE
Not soon, immediately. I have already here the
marching orders for the whole Fifth Regi-
ment.
D. W. LAWRENCE
Prompt work, brother. I am proud to salute
you as Colonel.
S. C. LAWRENCE
Daniel, you know where to find the captains of
the regiment. Take these orders to each com-
pany.
D. W. LAWRENCE
(saluting and taking papers)
Very good, sir. They shall be in the proper hands
before dawn and by tomorrow morning the
whole regiment shall be ready to entrain in
Boston.
(He starts to leave)
S. C. LAWRENCE
Hold a moment.
(D. W. Lawrence wheels back)
Do you know what day this is ?
D. W. LAWRENCE
The eighteenth of April, Colonel.
S. C. LAWRENCE
Yes, the eighteenth of April, the very night on
which Paul Revere made ready to ride through
(76)
Middlesex to rouse our Minutemen against
the British.
(Paul Revere dashes on from the left. He crosses
down to D. W. Lawrence wheels about, beckons to
the latter and then dashes off left, closely followed
by D. W. Lawrence.)
D. W. LAWRENCE
Lead, Paul Revere. I follow.
(Gallops off)
S. C. LAWRENCE
God bless Massachusetts, the first to rally to the
flag.
Note. The Lawrence Light Guard was organized October
1, 1854, as Company E, 5th Regiment, Massachusetts Light
Infantry. On April 15th 1861, three days after the fall of Ft.
Sumter, President Lincoln issued his call for volunteers. Mas-
sachusetts was the first to move and Col. Samuel C. Lawrence
issued marching orders to his command on the 18th of April.
It is a singular coincidence that on the night of 18th of
April Daniel W. Lawrence covered almost the identical route
of Paul Revere eighty-six years before.
From the beginning to the end of the Civil War, eleven
calls for men were made in Medford and her 769 enlistments
were the response. For bounties and other war expenses the
Town paid out over $56,000 and voluntary subscriptions raised
the amount to almost $73,000. The women and children con-
tributed their part by sending clothing, bandages and neces-
sary supplies. — Miller's History of Medford.
( 77
EPILOGUE
(Music of Pomp and Circumstance March)
(The Mystic slowly brings in the City of Medford
and seats her under a canopy. The River dancers
form circle about the throne presenting the charter
granted in 1892 to the City of Medford.)
Thou hast outgrown the childhood of a town !
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts grants
hereby the charter that creats thee city !
MEDFORD
Oh, Mystic River, fairest foster mother,
That cradled, fed, and clothed my infancy
And launched the ships that bore my honored
name
On farthest seas, thou here hast shown to me
The pioneers who dared the great unknown, —
The brave men who have ventured all for me.
May Medford never lack its Minutemen
Or patriots who tread the paths of peace,
MYSTIC
What do thy sons to keep thee beautiful
That souls of men be glorified and grow?
For man must never live by bread alone
But by that beauty that doth feed the soul.
MEDFORD
Much doth our city owe in reverent love
To those who kept thy river still a road, —
(78)
An open sweep up valley to the hills, —
And those who saved thy crown of woodland
green,
The Middlesex Fells — for heritage forever.
Where men may still walk free and rest and
dream.
MYSTIC
Medford, what other sons of thine are there
Whose vision and hands have blessed our town?
MEDFORD
Time doth forbid I further name to thee
The sons who gave their city beauty, peace,
Places of worship, college towers fair,
The armory, the new-built hospital,
The library, the elms along our streets.
Yea, and this place, a wild bird sanctuary.
Where children learn to know their feathered
friends
And list their songs on this historic hill.*
*The Middlesex Fells were saved as a State reservation
largely through the effort of Elizur Wright who made a great
gift of his own woodland and finally so aroused public opinion
that the Fells wore accepted February, 1894. Grace Church
was largely the gift of Mrs. Gorham Brooks in 1868. The
Lawrence Armory was the gift of Gen. Samuel C. Lawrence.
The Lawrence Memorial Hospital was provided through the
generosity of Daniel C. Lawrence and his son, Rosewell B.
Lav.-rence. The Library wap or'ginally the Mansion House of
Thatcher Magoun and was presented to the City by his son,
Thatcher Magoun, in 1875. The Children's Library was the
gift of General Samuel C. Lawrence. The Elms along the streets
of West Medford were planted through the generosity of Ed-
ward T. Hastings and Samuel Teel, Jr. Mr. John Bishop made
the same generous provision for the eastern part of Medford.
Turrell Tufts, Esq. left a le;:acy also for roadside trees. The
beautiful Shepherd Brooks estate has been given as a bird
sanctuary by Mrs. Shepherd Bi'ooks and her children.
(79)
(Birds enter and dance.)
At the close of the dance, enter the later settlers of
Medford and take their places beside the city. Again is
heard the sound of drums and national music. Paul Re-
vere enters, beckoning to those behind and leading in the
Spanish War Veterans who pass and form by Medford.
Then, still at the call of Paul Revere, enter the American
Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars from each side of
pageant ground.*
Behind the last military lines follows Peace. More
later settlers follow with citizens of all foreign nations
represented in Medford. The entire pageant cast enters
and forms about the city. Last of all come the last mem-
bers of the Grand Army of the Republic, escorted by
tlie Lawrence Light Guard. The music of the final chorus
begins.
FINAL CHORUS
Down from the haze of glacial days
To a future of mystery,
I wind the dream, with my placid stream.
Of Medford's history.
Gone is the crew of the frail canoe
Which barely grazed my breast ; —
The lighter gone, on which were borne
The fruits man's labor blest.
*The military history since the inauguration of the first
city government in 1893 has been a continuation of the patri-
otic record of the town of Medford. Over two hundred men
served in the Spanish War under Colonel J. H. Whitney. When
the United States entered the World War, April 6, 1917, Med-
ford again came forward and the names of over two thousand
citizens of Medford stand on the Honor Roll on Forest Street.
(80)
Silent the beat of the hammers fleet
In the shipyards by my side ;
Silent those cheers, as a clipper clears
The ways for the brimming tide.
Where are the ships with the curving lips
That quaffed of the river foam ?
They sailed the seas of the far countries
Yet never a one is home.
Still bathe in my tide the exulting tribe
Of the swimming, diving boys,
And the winters bring the icy ring
Of the skaters' joyous noise.
And overhead with wings outspread,
The air flotillas come,
Soaring thro the heaven's blue
With the deep-mouthed motor's hum.
Oh, ne'er forget the vision yet
My tides have brought to thee :
Keep fair and green my vale serene
In grateful memory.
Down from the haze of glacial days
To a future of mystery
I wind the dream with my placid stream
Of Medford's history.
(With the last verse of music Mystic crowns Medford.
The lights turn upon the great city seal. The spots sud-
denly pick up America on a float in the Pond, like the
Statue of Liberty, and the band plays the Star Spangled
Banner. )
(81)
ORCHESTRAL MUSIC OF THE PAGEANT
Indian Dances Skilton
American Fantasie Herhert
Massachusetts Bay Tercentenary March Frazee
Sigurd Jorsalfar Suite Grieg
Pomp and Circumstance March Elgar
Minuet from Military Symphony Haydn
New World Symphony Dvorak
Evolution of Yankee Doodle Lake
Ballet Music Gounod
Coronation March Meyerbeer
National Hymns of Countries
Theme from "Pique Dame" Overture Suppe
Over There
John Brown's Body
Stars and Stripes Sonsa
The Star Spangled Banner Key
CHORUS MUSIC OF THE PAGEANT
Dr. Charles W. McPherson, Conductor
"From the shining lakes between the hills"
Carrie Bullard Lewis
"Land of Hope and Glory" Sir Edward Elgar
"I was the road that bore the load" Carrie Bullard Lewis
"Sail on, 0 Ship of State" Leo R. Lewis
"Down from the haze of glacial days"
Carrie Bullard Lewis
CONCERT BY ALEPPO TEMPLE SHRINE BAND
Walter Smith, Conductor
Monday, June 23, 1930 7 :30 P. M.
CONCERT BY MEDFORD POST 1012, VETERANS
FOREIGN WARS BAND
Gerald Frazee, Conductor
Monday, June 30, 1930 7 :30 P. M.
(82)
A PAGEANT OF THE MYSTIC
Indians On the Island
Frank M. Brewster, Chief
Martin Doyle Joseph Plante
Thomas Norton
James A. Lunn, Medicine Man
Arthur Center Christopher Sarno
Eugene Duplain Albert Walkling
Anthony F. Lyons
Lois Bacon
Barbara Ellis
Mary Guido
Edith Hawes
Jerry Jones
Barbara Kendall
Esther Knight
Helen Michelson
PROLOGUE
Indian Dancers
Mildred Parsons
Hazel Richardson
Dorothy Robar
Priscilla Rurbeck
Virginia Sherman
Harriet Smith
Barbara Snowman
Wilda Stuart
Indian Warriors
Michael Albano
Jeremiah Barbato
John Brenen
Joseph Cafarella
Philip Carcione
John Carpineto
Patrick Carpineto
Philip Carpineto
John Carvotta
Oreste Castraberti
Alfred Catino
Louis Collella
Vespasiano Collella
Frank Colletto
Louis Comunale
Anthony DiNafio
James DiNafio
Samuel DiNafio
Charles Hemmand
Anthony Labella
Saverio Maietta
Andrew Mara
Louis Palumbo
Anthony Pilaro
83)
Arthur Ragozzino
Joseph Saeco
Anthon}' Scarnici
John Selvitelli
Anthony Taverna
Michael Vallerini
Frank Venezzano
William Vinci
Indian Women
Marietta Arlin
Alice 0. Budds
Emily M. Burrell
Mary A. Carroll
Annie M. Chisholm
Bride J. Condon
Winifred Connoly
Mary E. Cunningham
Clara C. Demontier
Annie M. Drury
Mary E. Gingras
Catharine Griffin
Catherine R. Kenney
Margaret C. King
Margaret Lynch
Vera Mack
Kathleen C. Marcou
Marie L. Marcou
Lillian M. McDonald
Mary H. McGuire
Emily D. Nelson
Margaret M. Reardon
Mary E. Sullivan
Mary T. Surrette
Gertrude E. Tracy
Indian Girls
Lois Bacon
Barbara Ellis
Mary Guido
Edith Hawes
Jerry Jones
Barbara Kendall
Esther Knight
Helen Michelson
Mildred Parsons
Hazel Richardson
Dorothy Robar
Priscilla Rurbeck
Virginia Sherman
Harriet Smith
Barbara Snowman
Wilda Stuart
Indian Boys
Francis Burt Wilbert Jones
John Canty William Kenney
Paul Canty John Rose
Donald Crooker John Shemkus
John Garvey George Wadrope
Mystic Mrs. Doris F. Tower
Flood Tide Miss Rebecca A. Sullivan
Ebb Tide Miss Bernice M. Sullivan
(84)
DANCERS
The Flood and Ebb Tides
Thelma R. Ardito
Bernadette M. Bizier
Adelaide Bodah
Margaret A. Bowes
Inez L. Broiwn
Charlotte Burdette
Thelma R. Cahill
Dorothy P. Callahan
Ruth M. Callahan
Elizabeth C. Carroll
Elizabeth B. Chaffe
Florence M. Collins
Irene M. Cohici
Dorothy E. Davis
Mildred E. Davis
Helen V. Donovan
Margaret P. Ellis
Dorothy E. Fitzgerald
Lorraine E. Fraser
Katherine F. Friel
Marguerite S. Houlihan
Carolyn L. Johnson
Audrey L. Kenney
Anna M. MacNeil
Irene V. Matel
Isabel E. Matel
Marguerite A. Mclntyre
Katherine J. McKane
Dorothea V. Mullane
Eleanor Mullane
Geraldine J. Murdoek
Marion T. Murphy
Eileen M. O'Connor
Dorothy Packard
Anna M. Quinn
Beatrice M. Ranberg
Elizabeth L. Reardon
Frances E. Reardon
Helen E. Reynolds
Alice M. Romano
Vera M. Romano
Doris P. Smith
Ethel Mary Smith
Ethel May Smith
Mildred M. Solberg
Verlie 0. Whiting
Eleanor Wilson
G. May Wilson
Dorothy H. Wyer
(85)
EPISODE I
COLONIZATION
Scene 1
The First White Men in Medford
September 21, 1621
Captain Myles Standish Walter R. Magoun
Frank B. Crockett
Squanto or Tisquantmn Joseph N. Arcaro
Edward Winslow J. Stanley McKee
Elder William Brewster Ralph McKay
Timid Indian Oreste Castraberti
Indian Warriors, Women, Girls and Boys
from Prologue
Interlude
Mystic Mrs. Doris F. Tower
Flood Tide Miss Rebecca A. Sullivan
Ebb Tide Miss Bernice M. Sullivan
Dancers — The Flood Tides from Prologue
Scene 2
The Granting of the Charter
March 4, 1629
King Charles I John J. Bagley
Governor Mathew Cradock Henry I. Dale
King's Chancellor Joseph F. Orpen
NOBLES
Richard A. Ardini William E. Ingraham
C. Arnold Babcock Edgar S. Michelson
Fred Bosworth John D. Mullins
Cyril M. Cronin Joseph A. Noveiline
Edward S. DeLeo Alexander Treem
Sylvester P. Doran Francis B. Welsh
Morris L. Kertzman Robert M. Winn
(86)
HERALDS
Edward B. Hutchinson, Jr. Ernest A. Needham, Jr.
Everett W. Needham
Scene 3
Governor Cradock and the Charter
July 28, 1629
Governor Matthew Cradock Henry I. Dale
Thomas Goffe George P. Hassett
Sir Richard Saltonstall Gerald F. O'Donnell
Increase Nowell Robert 0. Andrews
Samuel Vassall Edward Murphy
GENERAL COURT
Richard A. Ardini William E. Ingraham
C. Arnold Babcock Edgar S. MieheLson
Fred Bosworth John D. Mullins
Cyril M. Cronin Joseph A. Novelline
Edward S. DeLeo Joseph F. Orpen
Sylvester P. Doran Alexander Treem
Morris L. Kertzmau Fi'ancis B. Welsh
Robert M. Winn
Scene 4
"Went Up Mystic Six Miles"
June 17, 1630
Governor John Winthrop Edwin F. Pidgeon
Thomas Mayhew, Cradock 's Agent George L. Bussell
Nicholas Davison, Second Agent Chester E. Young
First Settler Clarence M. Ewell
Second Settler John W. Pinkham
Third Settler Henry C. Green
Sailor Clarence M. Sherritt
(87)
SETTLERS
Arthur Antrobus Harry E. G-ifford
Bruce Champion Henry C. Green
Edgar N. Champion Allen C. Jameson
Chester George John Shade
George E. Young
SAILORS
Alfred E. Buck Edwin Richardson
Albert W. Crowe Lee Russell
Frederick A. LeBuff Warren B. Scrannage
Joseph Lyons John Smith
Robert J. Moody John L. Stevens
Alvin W. Morse George P. Yeamans
Scene 5
The Death of Sagamore John
Governor John Winthrop Edwin P. Pidgeon
Sagamore John Edward M. Quinn
Thomas Mayhew George L, Bussell
George Felt Charles V. Sturdivant
Indian Arthur Ragozzino
Reverend John Wilson Harry L. Pearson
Rev. Henry F. Smith
John Noyes Walter W. Dixon
Nicholas Davison Chester E. Young
Papoose Edwin F. Pidgeon, Jr.
Settlers from Scene 4
Indian Warriors from Scene I
(88)
EPISODE II
COLONIAL LIFE
Colonial Scene 1700, Going to Church
PURITAN MEN
Pastor Rev. Louis C. Dethlefs
Pastor Paul S. Fiske
Drummer Sidney T. Guild
Teacher Wilson Fiske
Teacher Harry E. Walker
Precentor Philip W. Johnson
Tithing-man Alcott W. Stockwell
Tithing-man Charles H. Grant
Arthur I. Bourden Arthur L. Finney
Douglas P. Brayton Charles E. Finney
Percy S. Brayton Earl Mahoney
William P. Clark Lawrence P. Moore
PURITAN WOMEN
Mabel A. Brayton Barbara E. Johnson
Caroline L. Chase Edna C. Johnson
Stella W. Howe Mary C. Palmer
Clara W. Jackson Ellen L. Tisdale
Alice L. Jeffery Elsie Tufts
Helen T. Wilde
PURITAN CHILDREN
David C. Baker Wm. Bradford Coolidge
Katherine C. Baker George L. Cushman
Alison Brayton Thomas W. Jackson
Angela G. Chase Richard Johnson
Phyllis K. Pidgeon
(89)
Peter Tufts Thomas Chaffe
Peter Tufts Jr Peter Tufts 10th
Man in Stocks E. Roy Smith
Man in Pillory Harold Dole
Officer Arthur Stearns
Officer Harvey Bartlett
Officer Thomas T. Johnson
HOUSEHOLD ARTS GROUP
Margaret I. Barbour
Edna Boardman
Evelyn Boardman
Frances Boardman
Helen Buss
Mildred Clarke
Dorothea Gushing
Laiu'a Gushing
Beatrice G. Davis
Hattie L. Dole
Margaret Gow
Margaret Gowan
Adelaide L. Hall
Adelaide S. Hall
Lucy Jameson
Marffaret Johnson
Katharine Kidder
Melvina G. Kintz
Ruth Lawrence
Louise Mamoute
Elizabeth McKee
Rosamond Mitchell
Eleanor Mullen
Rose E. Norman
Josephine F. Plastridge
Edith Schweikart
Eliza Smith
Harriet Stearns
Louise A. Taylor
Margaret Vance
Gora F. Weston
Alice H. Wrioht
MILLERS
Arnold B. Bagnall
Roland Davis
William Dole
Bernard Hadley
Walter Hallstrom
Glemens Kintz
Robert Morison
Donald Murch
George Packard
James Peistrup
Gharles Piper
William Ryan
Robert Stearns
BOYS
Edward Boardman L. Mitchell Marcy
Richard T. Davis Gharles A. Plastridge
Gharles E. Walters
(90)
LITTLE GIRLS
Jacqueline F. Hall Alice Purbeck
Priscilla Davis Barbara H. Purbeck
Helen Russell Barbara J. Plastridge
Natalie Newcomb Ethel Waterman
Judge Edward A. Cronin
Victim of Ducking Stool Paul Ruddy
Woman Eileen Coyne
Dancers — Flood and Ebb Tides from Earlier Scenes
Minuet
COLONIAL LADIES
Natalie Fessendeu
Barbara Mather
Urita A. Pote
Audrey Ruck
Dorothy Rugg
Dorothy E. Whitman
Marjorie E. Whitney
Ruth AViltshire
COLONIAL GENTLEMEN
Richard Harlow
David Lowe
William Mitchell
William H. Mitchell
Stephen Nichols
Herbert Robinson
George H. Rugg
Andrew F. West
Interlude
Mystic Mrs. Doris F. Tower
Flood Tide Miss Rebecca A. Sullivan
Ebb Tide Miss Bernice M. Sullivan
(91)
EPISODE III
THE REVOLUTION
Scene 1
After the Boston Tea Party
December 16, 1773
Sarah Bradlee Fulton Dorothea D. Deignan
MoUie G. Ward
Mrs. Nathaniel Bradlee Laura Cunningham
John Fulton William A. Ward
Nathaniel Bradlee Carl Linder
A Spy Malcolm 0. MacDonald
Scene 2
Isaac Roy all's Decision — 1775
Plato Hans P. Block
George John J. Dwyer
Harry Bond James H. O'Gara
Captain Isaac Hall Francis A. Partridge, Jr.
Dr. Simon Tufts ; Walter E. Pingree
Sir William Pepperell James A. Guerney
Lady Elizabeth Pepperell Hortense S. York
Isaac Royall Russell G. Randall
Lady Pepperell's Daughter Ardelle E. Tiffany
Coachman Frank M. Quinn
Footman Joseph Conway
COLONISTS
Herbert Andrews Walter J. Crowley
Joseph Conway Franklin G. Hinckley
Paul Conway Donald R. Kenney
(92)
Scene 3
The Nineteenth of April — 1775
Morning
Paul Revere Frank M. Brewster
Harry Bond James H. O'Gara
Jonathan Porter Harry L. Walker
Stephen Hall Joseph M. Miller
Maiden Captain Benjamin B. Osthues
Sarah Bradlee Fulton Dorothea D. Dei^an
Mollie G-. Ward
Henry Putnam Bernard A. Cassidy
Mrs. Putnam Teresa A. St. Denis
Danvers Captain Herbert V. Carr
J. William Powers
A Farmer Everett A. Tisdale
Salem Captain Walter Gordon
William J. Perry
Dr. Simon Tufts Walter E. Pingree
COLONIAL WOMEN
Louise C. Anderson Mary C. Lawless
Margaret Barrows Margaret A. Mackay
Isabelle A. Brewster Alice R. Matthews
Alice 0. Budds Johana A. Sehade
Ida J. Bussell Marion Smith
Mary A. Cleaves Mary Strachan
Alice E. Cowan Agnes G. Sweeney
Louise B. Cowan Alice L. Tewksbury
Lillian Dean Edith V. Tewksbury
Mary M. Donoghue Edna M. Tewksbury
Florence G. Dyer Eva D. Tewksbury
Edna L. Ewell Florence D. Thurston
E. Jean Ewell Carolyn A. Weeks
Maria Gaffey Ethel B. White
(93)
Fred Hall
John Hickox
William Hickox
James Lawrence
Walter Miller
FARMERS
Earl Mollineanx
Roland Mollineaux
Stephen Ryan
George Swimm
Frank White
Company of Medford Minutemen
Captain Fi-ank K Abbott
Lieutenant Robert M. Magee
Ensign John J. Hayes
Sergeant George W. Gushing
Sergeant John A. Mather
Sergeant Marshall P. Newman
Corporal Charles L. McDonald
Corporal Joseph H. O'Mara
Drummers Gerald Bagley
Albert Chisholm
MEN OF THE COMPANY
James W. Abbott Kenneth Ferguson
Carl A. Anderson Ralph F. Folsom
Herbert G. Andrews Ernest L. Gault, Sr.
Orin Andrews Ernest L. Gault, Jr.
Robert 0. Andrews Russell Greenleaf
Robert T. Blodgett Francis 0. Heffler
S. W. Boyd Maurice L. Hilt
George E. Bussell Franklin G. Plinckley
Roland B. Clark, Jr. Fred. 0. Hoitt
Frank Como Geoffrey H. Houlder
Joseph Conway Donald R. Kenney
Paul Conway Arnold H. Kuper
Frank Crockett Arthur W. Kuper
John J. Crowley Curtis L. Marehant
Walter J. Crowley Philip P. McGonagle
Leo Daykin William E. McMahon
Frederick DeBenedictis William Meade
Lincoln D'Etoile 0. Mortensen
Fi-ed Dunbar Peter A. Murphy
Walter Emery Charles B. Olmstead
(94)
Harold A. Osgood Paul E. Ruddy
Prank Pearson Frank Santouroso
Merton E. Porter William G. Seott
Paul G. Richmond Arthur L. 8i)offord
Arthur Romano Albert H. Thomann
John J. Ruddy, Jr. Robert G. Transue
Company of Maujen Minutemen
Captain Benjamin B. Osthues
Sergeant Stuart C. Linnell
Corporal Eugene H. Johnson
Drummers Kenneth Chisholm
Russell Dealy
MEN OF THE COMPANY
John Bianeardi Joseph Landry
P. Henry Brennan Leonard Marehand
Arthur Center Wilfred Marehand
Philip M. Center John McGrath
Ray B. Chadbourne Dudley Miller
Joseph L. Coyne John H. Morrow, Jr.
Gordon Diamonds Edward E. Murphy
Louis Durant Bernard Norton
Wilfred Durant B. B. Osthues, Jr.
Frederick Pougere Edward M. Peters
Theodore P. Gahan John A. Ricker
Douglas Gillis Norwal D. Robinson
Harold N. Gillis Chris Sarno
Wilbert L. Hill Walter Sullivan
Frank Hoitt Benjamin F. Walker
Fl-eeman Kendall Andrew F. West
Sumner R. WTiolley
Company of Danvers Minutemen
Captain William J. Perry
Lieutenant Herbert Carr
Ensign H. A. Vinet
Sergeant Mario Manfre
Corporal Edward A. Cronan
Drummers John Hanlon
William Lucia
(95)
MEN OF THE COMPANY
Charles Abate
Nicholas Abate
John A. Anderson
W. P. Anderson
George L. Bussell, Sr,
Charles A. Cooper
Thomas D. Collins
Louis Collella
Bonney Constantino
Frank B. Deering
Patrick Dugan
F. Eostrom
Arthur Fennelly
Joseph Fisher
Allen Griffin
Charles Griffin
Frank Griffin
W. J. Hanlon
Herbert Hazelton
John J. Higgins
George W. Joseph
John J. Joyce
Edward H. Leonard
Carl Malm
Company of Saleim Minutemen
Captain Walter B. Gordon
Lieutenant J. William Powers
Ensign Joseph M, Rego
Sergeant Walter F. Amero
Corporal J. J. Hanlon
Drummers Ronald Nichols
James Rogers
MEN OF THE COMPANY
E. Forbes
Basil Gallivan
V. Magnuson
C. E. Malm
Harold Malm
L. J. Mangione
William McDermott
Alexander McGillvray
J. A. Murdoek
Clarence S. Nickerson
M. T. O'Connor
R. Pretty
George N. Rant
W. H. Roberts
B. Shedin
Eric Shedin
Anthony Silva
Joseph Tosto
(96
Scene 4
The Nineteenth of April — 1775
Evening
Abigail Brooks Theo Wilson Lary
Nancy Teresa A. Charnock
Mercy Claire M. Ashton
Reverend Edward Brooks Wilder N. Hopkins
Peter Chardon Brooks Harold S. Adams
Lieutenant Gould Burton W. Irish
First Farmer William P. Mitchell
Second Farmer Bruce Poehler, Jr.
Third Farmer Gordon L. Potter
Fourth Farmer Robert L. Ashton
Scene 5
General. Washington Inspects the Troops
At Medford — March 1776
Sarah Bradlee Fulton Dorothea D. Deignan
Mollie G. Ward
Molly Stark Ellen R. Hayes
Marie E. Harvey
Captain Thomas Brooks Charles F. Odams
General Lee Dr. Hiland F. Holt
Colonel John Brooks Fred A. Dexter
General Stark Earle F. Bacon
General Washington Rufus H. Bond
Corporal Marshall P. Newman
GUARD OF HONOR
William I. Edgerly Herbert G. Wells
Alfred S. Mature Newell G. Wilder
(97)
THE OUTCOME OF THE REVOLUTION
Tableau — General Washin^on with the Minutemen
and the Thirteen States
THIRTEEN STATES
Emily C. Batchelder Edna Lothrop
Dorothy Boscho Anna T. Martin
Elizabeth A. Braun Olive T. Mott
Ruth Danman Rachel Peaslee
Grace Fleming Caroline Robinson
Nellie Hoitt Marian Tolleys
Rachel G. Kingman Louise G. Sargent
Gertrude Lane Alice C. Webster
Cora Weston
INTERLUDE
Song Chorus
(98)
EPISODE IV
COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Scene 1
The First Adventure in Transportation
The Middlesex Canal — 1793
James Sullivan James E. Lavery
Governor Samuel Adams Francis A. Kehoe
Thatcher Magoun Thomas J. Griffen
Sea Captain Carl F. Lynch
Col. Loammi Baldwin Joseph J. Gianino
MEN
Arnold Babcock James P. Good
William A. Baldwin Edward Griffin
Joseph J. Carew George Hogan
Lawrence J. Connolly Francis J. Keough
Francis M. Coughlin John B. MacFall
Frank R. Coughlin Edward J. Magennis
Charles W. Crowley Robert F. Meagher
Guy S. DeVeer John D. Messina
Francis R. Dittami Dominic D. Occhipinti
John B. Faucette Arthur E. O'Connor
Patrick J. Faucette Thomas R. Qualey
Joseph P. Gemellaro Charles J. Ryan
John Gerrior James E. Shea
John A. Gianino Archibald Trepaney
William A. Gillespie John F. Trepaney
WOMEN
Mildred E. Babcock Ruth Ellsworth
Anna G. Ballou Mary Foster
Viola A. Ballou Helen M. Gillespie
Helen C. Callahan Eilleen A. Good
Dorothy Cevera Maude E. Good
Irene Coluci Ruth E. Kennedy
Anna B. Cronin Pauline C. MacFall
Jacqueline DeShea Mary MacKale
(99)
Agnes Marshall
Mary McGrath
Frances McManus
Rose C. O'Connor
Louise Perodi
Mary B. Price
C. Grace Quinn
Doris R. White
Scene 2
The Second Adventure in Transportation
The Boston & Lowell Railroad
June 24, 1835
Martha Cassie F. Godwin
Susan Dorothy E. White
Lucy Martha E. Lee
Abner Bert Branch
Caleb Stephen G. Nichols
Hosea Edmund A. Stockwell
John Ralph A. Nickerson
Engineer George Watson
Fireman L. C. Gay
PEOPLE
Mildred Bee
Edwin J. Bergstrom
May Branch
Leslie Brown
Blanche M, Earle
George J. Earle
Hazel E. Gay
Bertha Hebard
Warren C. Henneberry
Walter F. Knight
Ruth F. Lovering
Francis P. Mauriella
William B. Morash
Norman
May Noonan
Carl D. Parsons
Frederick Perri
Leon W. Rich
Dolly M. Rutledge
Jean Smith
William T. Smith
Burritt M. Terrell
Margaret T. Terrell
Bradford E. Wakefield
Edith C. Wakefield
Mabel Watson
Sarah M. Wilbur
WUd
(100)
Scene 3
The Launching of the Ship — 1856
Charles Tufts Roy Hurd
Hosea Ballou, 2nd Winslow MacElhiney
Boy John Garvey
Harold Brewster
Clifton Cavanaugh
George Crosby
Harold Parnum
Robert Kennedy
Milo Monteno
J. A. Murdock
Clarence Osgood
WORKMEN
G. C. Reid
George Rendall
C. C. Stengler
Louis J. Stimpson
R. L. Vlass
Charles Wilkes
Thomas Williamson
F. L. Worth
CHILDREN
Charlotte Arne
Wellington Brewster
Elizabeth Brown
Edmund Garvey
Charles Reid
Phyllis Reid
Leroy Roblee
Ralph Roblee
Ruth Snook
Scene 4
The Second Paul Revere
AprU 18, 1861
Colonel Samuel C. Lawrence Colonel Frank Gibbs
Daniel W. Lawrence Hollis Ellwood Gray
Leroy D. Robbins
THE MEN
Lieut-Colonel John R. Sanborn
Major John J. Carew
Captain Charles A. Kirkpatrick
Captain Clarence H. Hayes
Mr. John A. Mather
(101)
EPILOGUE
Mystic Mrs. Doris F, Tower
Flood Tide Miss Rebecca A. Sullivan
Ebb Tide Miss Bernice M. Sullivan
Medford Miss A. Gertrude Sharkey
Goddess of Peace Mrs. Miriam R, O'Hearn
ATTENDANTS TO PEACE
Dorothea V. Mullane
Eleanor Mullane
Carolyn L. Johnson
Elizabeth B. Chaft'e
Irene V. Matel
Bird Dance
DANCERS
Thelma R. Cahill
Ruth M. Callahan
Elizabeth C. Carroll
Irene M. Coluci
Katherine F. Friel
Audrey L. Kenney
Isabelle E. Matel
Eleanor Mullane
Elizabeth L. Reardon
Alice M, Romano
IRISH SETTLERS
Randall Corbett
Patrick Duffey
John Greelish
James F. McCarthy
John E. McDermott
James McHale
Michael McKeon
]\Iichael J. Murphy
James J. Phelan
Frank M. Quinn
John Rabbitt
John Scannell
Mrs. Randall Corbett
Annie J. Corbett
Mrs. John Greelish
Mrs. Mary E. McCarthy
Ellen McHale
Mary ]\TcHale
Mrs. Michael McKeon
Mrs. James Phelan
Mrs. Frank M. Quinn
Mrs. John Rabbitt
(102)
ITALIAN SETTLERS
Anna Abbadessa
F. Abbadessa
Elda Bagnulo
Edith Basile
Florence Basile
Josephine Basile
Mary Bucci
Viola Bucci
Carmela Carvotta
Angela Colella
Geneva Cortina
Marion Danca
Lillian DiMaria
Lena Doria
Anna Francesca
Mary Franchini
Flora Galassi
Grace Gullifa
Nancy Gulino
Vennie Ippolito
Marie Martini
Josephine Novelline
Mary Palumbo
Scantina Perella
Eva Rocci
Theresa Sacco
Rose Sanze
Agatha Scarnico
Mary Spera
Lydia Still
Paul Revere Frank M. Brewster
GENERAL SAMUEL C. LAWRENCE CAMP 30
UNITED SPANISH WAR VETERANS
Rex G. Post, Commander
Horace H. Adams
John P. Ahearn
Luke P. Bresnahan
Joseph A. Brodeur
Fred J. Clifford
William A. Davidson
Fred W. Denish
Roy W. Greenleaf
Fred 0. Hoitt
Lester H. Jones
Lewis Johnson
Freeman LeBlanc
James J. Lee
James W. Lowe
William F. Mahoney
John H. Miller
Cornelius Powers
Thomas Rodgers
Walter H. Shea
Samuel 0. Spaulding
Marchant H. Stewart
Legrand M. Thompson
(103)
MEDFORD POST 45, AMERICAN LEGION
DRUM AND BUGLE CORPS
Samuel Farry, Drmn Major
Joseph McDonald, Jr., Mascot
Francis Barry
John Borthwick
Herman L. Dillingham
Thomas DiStasio
Augustus J. Fitzgerald
John Halmkin
Herbert Healey
William J. Knight
Walter Lane
Chester Macomber
MEDFORD POST 45,
Lawrence A. Barrett
Clement A. Barry
Francis P. Barry
James F. Beatty
John J. Burke
Rufus H. Bond
John J. Carew
Charles M. Doherty
Edward P. Duffy
Myles J. Ferrick
Augustus F. Fitzgerald
Edward G. Foley
Charles Gilligan
Kalph J. Grant
Stephen Matthews
LeRoy Montague
Harry Paine
Anthony Pignitelli
John Roberts
Clarence Salisbury
Wilfred St. Couer
Chester Sennott
Howard Shedd
Joseph Wellington
AMERICAN LEGION
John H. Horan
William F. Lacey, Jr.
Cliester A. Macomber
Donald P. Malcolm
Robert M. Magee
Patrick F. McNally
John Messina
Michael Piggott
Antonio Pignatelli
Dr. J. F. Roberts
Chester M. Sinnott
Joseph E. Val'way
Chester D. Woodside
MEDFORD POST 1012, VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS
OF THE UNITED STATES
Edward G. Hughes, Commander
Edward A. Anderson
Stephen J. Anderson
Henry E. Babineau, Jr.
James Blakely
Walter L. Bradish
Arthur W. Breault
Albert Cochran
Frank A. Cummiskey
Ray B. Croft
Frank DeLisle
Herbert J. DeLory
David J. Dodge
(104)
Thomas F. Doherty
William J. Doyle
Eugene Duplain
Michael J. Fallon
Walter F. Frazier
Denrelle G. Garey
John P. Goodman
Charles S. Gorton
John J. Hayes
Arthur L. Herbert
Raymond H. Hollis
Edward J. James
Harry Jones
William P. Lawler
James Logan
Entire
James A. Lunn
Dominic Manganillo
Frank Marchand
J. Clifton Marchant
William L. Morrison
Joseph M. O'Keefe
Harold A. Osgood
William F. Shine
Arthur D. Stokell
Dennis J. Sullivan
John D. Tate
Lewis Weidman
Albert L. White
Harry E. Wilson
Pageant Cast
ST. JOSEPH'S BOYS' BAND GROUP
Gerald Bagley
John Barry
Philip Borsvert
Albert Bennarito
John Bresnahan
Arthur Burnham
John Carew
Albert Chisholm
Kenneth Chisholm
Thomas Connor
Frank Daly
Roland Dealy
Francis Doherty
Raymond Dolan
George Dutfy
Thomas Early
Roland Egan
John Garrelly
Peter Foley
Albert Hackett
John Hanlon
John Hart
George Haviland
Edward Hogan
George Hogan
John Hughes
James Johnston
Francis Keough
Joseph Keough
Vincent Keough
William Lucia
Robert McCabe
Martin Murphy
William Murray
Ronald Nichols
Thomas O'Connor
John O'Neil
Francis 0 'Sullivan
Francis Queenan
James Rogers
Edward Shea
James Shea
Philip Sullivan
(105)
COMPANY E, THE LAWRENCE LIGHT GUARD
lOlST ENGINEERS, MASSACHUSETTS NATIONAL GUARD
Captain George H. Lennox
First Lieutenant Lawrence F. Carew
Second Lieutenant Robert P. Campbell
First Sergeant Henry L. Caughlin
Staff Sergeant George Morley
Sergt. Michael DeFina
Sergt. Francis L. Doyle
Sergt. Charles B. Gray
Sergt. Fred Pickard
Sergt. James A. Ross
Sergt. John E. Rowan
Corp. William J. Doyle
Corp. Hartwell Fleming
Corp. Joseph P. Reardon
Corp. Franklin J. Werner
Corp. Robert M. Winn
PRIVATES
Charles A. Babcock
Martin E. Carew
William A. Coiffe
Albert E. Colclough
William L. Colclough
Edward J. Elliott
Raymond A. Griffin
Francis J. Hanley
Santo J. Alizzeo
Frank Berecz
Joseph A. Bryan
Roger T. Collins
Russell E, Conboy
Alfred W. Cottam
James E. Cotter
Carl E. Dexter
Herbert J. Doyle
Wallace H. Ellis
Peter J. Feeley
Armand A. Eraser
Norman P. Frazier
Lester W. Gauthier
FIRST CLASS
Edward V. LeBlanc
John J. Lloyd
James L. Maher
John A. Manning
John F. McCabe
Daniel J. McCue
Ernest M. Pierce
PRIVATES
Joseph A. Gerace
John E. Glazebrook
Edward J. Hogan
Manus Kane
Lorimer Keith
Plenry J. Lindsey
William T. MacMullen
Paul J. Mahoney
Edward F. McCarthy
John F. McCraig
Howard J. Murphy
Paul W. Murphy
Joseph J. O'Hearn
Frank V. Olson
(106)
Charles A. Parker John J. Tonry
Kenneth F. Pinn Antonius II. VanBreemen
Lester W. Sherman Irving C. Weymouth
Carl J. Stagliano John J. Williams
John E. Sullivan
SAMUEL C. LAWRENCE POST 66
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBUC
George L. Stokell, Commander
Herman R. Green Benjamin F. Lewis
Winslow Joyce George P. Marsh
Thomas Kelley Alvin R. Reed
America Mrs. Margaret Fitzgerald
(107)
MEDFORD TERCENTENARY PAGEANT
ORCHESTRA
VIOLINS
Evelyn Belsar
Helen Bent
Isadore Cohen
Ethel Crosbie
Norbert Crowley
Lawrence J. Curcio
Mario DeBenedictis
Clara DeMattia
Henry Gerrior
Amy L' Africain
John McCarthy
Virginia McPeck
Helen L. Mahony
Joseph Mallard
Barbara March
Ralph E. Muollo
John O'Heam
Guy Oliva
Dorothy Olson
H. Perry
Mrs. Natalie Powell
Luis Sovientino, Jr.
George E. Stevenson
Elena Tarullo
Loretta M. Thomann
Eleanor G. Wiggins
Frank Wise
Anna Wynne
VIOLA
Florence G, Perry
Salvatore Ippolito
CELU
Winifred Olson
Scott Eckhoff
FLUTES
Frank S. Gilkey
OBOES
Paul A. Monier
Walter M. Fowler
Paul Gilpatric
CLARINETS
Howard Marshall
W. Olmstead Wright
Daniel H. Goodnow
SAXOPHONES
H. Allen Marrill
TRUMPETS
Donald Berg Lillian S. Cadey
Grace Richardson
(108)
TROMBONE
William A. Pride, Jr.
CORNET
William Burns
ALTO
Richard Tufts Fiske
XYLOPHONE
Morton Sage Neill
(109)
MEDFORD TERCENTENARY PAGEANT
CHORISTERS
Miss Elizabeth Alward
Mrs. John Ayer
Miss Esther Barrows
Miss Evelyn L. Berton
Miss Ruth Beckman
Edwin J. Bergstrom
Mrs. Alice J. Blaikie
Miss Abby Blanchard
Mrs. L. E. Blanchard
Miss Ruth E. Brooks
Mrs. Ethel Bryan
Lewis S. Burns
William H. Canch
Miss Norma C. Carlson
Miss Doris H. Cassidy
Dana F. Chase
Miss B. Faye Child
Luther M. Child, Jr.
Miss Edith S. Clark
Miss May J. Clarke
Miss Georgina E. Constantine
Miss Harriet A. Constantine
William Corbin
Mrs. Marion O. Corley
Miss Martha E. Cox
John M. Crawford
Mrs. John M. Crawford
Frank W. Curry
Miss Constance S. Dalton
Miss Faith W. Davis
Miss Helen L. Davis
Miss Nancy DeMark
Mrs. Anna V. Dooley
Miss Isabelle Drew
Mrs. C. E. Dustin
Miss Ruth E. Elder
Mrs. Robert E. Evans, Jr.
Robert E. Evans, Jr.
Mrs. Ingenue Fassett
Albert B. Fletcher
Mrs. Marguerite E. Franklyn
John S. Fyfe
Albert Gardner
Miss Elinor Genthner
Miss Elizabeth Gibson
Miss Jennie Gibson
Miss Gladys E. Gill
Miss Hazel D. Godwin
Miss Ruth E. Golding
Miss Alice Goudie
Mrs. Nellie B. Greenleaf
Roy Greenleaf
Miss Muriel F. Grimshaw
Miss Jean Hamilton
Miss Thelma Harris
Miss Clara Harvender
Miss Harriet H. Hawes
Mrs. J. P. Hawes
William G. Hawes
Miss Helen Heckbert
Mrs. Stella W. Howe
Mrs. Mary E. Kennedy
Mrs. N. Hobbs Knight
Miss Ruth Lawrence
Miss Edith L. Letson
Mrs. Frank W. Lovering
Miss Elizabeth Lowry
Miss Alice M. MacKay
Mrs. Andrew Magnus
Miss Bernice P. Magnus
Miss Marjorie Mather
Miss Peggy McAllister
James H. McGowan
Mrs. Mildred Meyer
Mrs. Ruby Miers
Miss Mabelle Mitchell
William Mitchell
Mrs. Fanny A. Moses
Miss Fanny A. Moses
Mrs. Anna R. Moulton
H. Ernest Mountain
Georgina A. Murphy
Miss Rebecca Nichols
Frank Noyes, Jr.
Mrs. Barbara R. Parsons
Carl D. Parsons
(110)
Frederick J. Parsons
Francis A. Partridge, Jr.
Mrs. Francis A. Partridge
E. A. Patterson
Miss Esther Perkins
Miss Mildred L, Perkins
Miss Hazel W. Pierce
Mrs. Adde Pratt
Melville Prentiss
William A, Pride, Jr.
Miss Alice M. Purbeck
Dyke L. Quackenbush
William J. Reilly
Leon Rich
George H. Richey
Ernest B. Ritchie
Miss Mabel K. Rollins
Mrs. John H. Rooney
Mrs. Mary H. Russell
Miss Bernice Sarty
Miss Helen Shaw
Rev. Henry F. Smith
Mrs. C. F. SoUows
Miss Ruth O. Spidle
Everett W. Stone
Mrs. Grace A. Stone
Miss Frances Talcott
Irving Thorley
Miss Muriel Thorley
Malcolm W. Valentino
Miss Gladys M. Wade
Mrs. Florence Walker
Mrs. Grace W. Walker
Fritz Walkling
Miss Eva A. Warner
Miss Marion Watson
Miss Alice Wescott
Andrew F. West
Miss Mildred C. Wigcins
Miss Catherine W. T. Wild
Mrs. Isabelle W. Witberell
(111)
MEDFORD TERCENTENARY
COMMITTEES
CHAIRMEN OF PAGEANT COMMITTEES
Hon. Edward H. Larkin, Mayor of Medford
Honorary Chairman
Frank D. Neill, Executive Chairman
Charles T. Daly, Secretary
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Maj. John J. Carew Hon. Lewis H. Levering
Mr. Charles W. Collins Mr. Anthony F. R. Novellin?
Hon. Richard B. Coolidge Mr. Michael E. O'Brien
Mr. Andrew F. Curtin Mr. Milton D. Riley
Mr. John G. Fortune Mr. Henry Riseman
Mr. Edward J. Gaffey Mr. Alwyne E. Ritchie
Mr. George J. Hackett Hon. Charles S. Taylor
Mr. Samuel C. L. Haskell Mr. John J. Ward
AUDITOR
Alexander A. Lucey
COLLECTIONS
J. Wallace Buchanan
TREASURER
John J. Ward
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Hon. Richard B. Coolidge Edward J. Gaffey
Andrew F. Curtin Hon. Lewis H. Lovering
Hon. Charles S. Taylor
PAGEANT BOOK COMMITTEE
Honorable Richard B. Coolidge, Chairman
Mr. Joseph C. Smith, Secretary
Mr. Herman N. Baker Miss Helen B. Fee
Mr. Charles T. Daly Miss Mildred A. Jacobus
Miss Louise P. Taylor
(112)
CASTING COMMITTEE
John J. Fortune,
Miss Anna Ballou
Mrs. E. R. Brackett
Mrs. Frank V. Braun
Mrs. Ida J. Bussell
Mr. Leslie R. Carey
Mrs. H. E. Carter
Mr. John G. Glazebrook
Rev. Glenn D. Glazier
Mrs. Walter D. Hall
Mrs. W. P. Kenney
Mrs. Lena Lareau
Miss M. E. Lee
Mrs. Philip B. Lewis
Mr. Frank W. Marshall, Jr.
Chairman
Mr. Philip P. McGonagle
Rev. Norbert H. Mclnnis
Mr. Marshall P. Newman
Mr. James H. O'Gara
Mr. Benjamin B. Osthues
Mrs. Margaret G. O'Sullivan
Miss Laura P. Patten
Miss Natalie Peterson
Mr. Edwin F. Pidgeon
Mrs. Virginia R. Thompson
Mr. Harry E. Walker
Mrs. Carolyn A. Weeks
Mrs. J. D. Wright
COSTUME COMMITTEE
Mrs. Hollis E. Gray, Chairman
Mrs. Joseph D. Robinson, Asst. Chairman
Mrs. Elizabeth V. McGray, Secretary
Mrs. E. R. Breed
Miss Charlotte Hallowell
Mrs. Edward Hayes
Mrs. Charles W. McPherson
Mrs. Eleanor MacOnie
Miss Laura P. Patten
Mrs. Anna Roberts
Mrs. Teresa A. St. Denis
MISTRESS OF THE ROBES
Mrs. Hollis E. Gray
MASTER OF THE ROBES
Mr. John Crawford
ASSISTANT MASTERS OF THE ROBES
Mr. Reed M. Elliott Mr. William B. Wells
COSTUME SEWING GROUP
Mrs. Sara B. Albrecht
Mrs. J. T. Berry
Mrs. Susan H. Blakeley
Miss Caroline Bridge
Mrs. Dora Buckell
Mrs. Alice O. Budds
Mrs. John Buffam
Mrs. Emily Burrell
Mrs. Marie J. Cassidy
Mrs. Louisa B. Cowan
Mrs. Henry Crooker
Mrs. Annie Drury
(113)
Mrs.
Sarah Eisan
Mrs.
Monica McDonald
Mrs.
George Elder
Mrs.
Dora A. Nicholl
Mrs.
Elliott
Mrs.
Florence Noyes
Mrs.
L. Esam
Mrs.
George Phillips
Mrs.
E. Jean Ewell
Mrs.
Peter Ruck
Mrs.
Edna L. Ewell
Mrs.
Alice Rugg
Mrs.
Mary J. Ewell
Mrs.
Addie Rupert
Mrs.
Charlotte Gillard
Mrs.
Joanna Schade
Mrs.
Dwight W. Hadley
Mrs.
Florence Shackford
Mrs.
Mary Johnson
Mrs.
Joan Slater
Mrs.
E. Gertrude Lane
Mrs.
Daisy P. Smith
Mrs.
Thomas Lanigan
Mrs.
Georgia Spinney
Mrs.
Lena Lareau
Mrs.
Eva Tewsbury
Mrs.
A. A. Littlefield
Miss
Marie Walsh
Mrs.
Dora H. McKee
Mrs.
Mary Welch
Mrs.
Sarah Meagher
Mrs.
Carrie Young
DANCE
Mrs. Frederick A. Russell, Chairman
FIEE PROTECTION
Chief Thomas A. Qualey, Chairman
Members Medford Fire Department
GROUNDS COMMITTEE
William F. Lacey, Jr., Chairnian
Lawrence M. Barrett
Clement C. Barry
James J. Beatty
Frank B. Blodgett
John J. Devaney
Charles Doherty
Myles J. Ferrick
Henry A. Gaffney
Harry L. Gerrard
Charles Gilligan
Class A. Grant
John M. Horan
Chester J. Maccmber
Scott McCauley
Daniel F. McGrath
Patrick \V. McNally
Harold J. Nicholson
Michael E. O'Leary
Michael Piggott
Thomas B. Piggott
John F. Reagan
Dr. J. F. Roberts
John B. Walsh
John Wynne
The Boy Scouts of the City of Medford
(114)
HEALTH AND SANITATION COMMITTEE
Dr. Walter T. Burke
Physicians of the city representing Medford Medical Society
Jeremiah J. Delaney
Mrs. Ernest R. Brackett, Medford Visiting Nurse Association
Representatives Medford Chapter, American Red Cross Society
Miss Lena Johnston, Supt., Lawrence Memorial Hospital
Nurses from Lawrence Memorial Hospital
Mrs. Rebecca L. Cable
LIGHTING AND PROPERTIES COMMITTEE
Mr. George J. Hackett, Chairman
Frank B. Deering, Secretary
Ml
Mr. John J. Carew
Mr. Ernest J. Chisholm
Mr. Thomas M. Connell
Mrs. Ruth D. Coolidge
Mr. W. Warren Ewell
Mr. Harold T. French
Mr. George S. T. Fuller
Mrs. Walter D. Hall
Mr. Albert W. Hathaway
Mr. James L. Kelleher
Mr. J. Frank Kelley
Mr. Horace E. Knight
Mrs. Lena Laroau
Mr, Philip P. McGonagle
Mr. John P. Murphy
Mr. Robert O'Callaghan
Mr. James O'Neii
Miss Laura P. Patten
Mrs. Marguei-ite M. Pote
Mr. Milton Riley
Mr. Henry Risman
Mr. Timothy J. Scannell
Mr. Donald Smith
Rev. Frank A. Tobey
Mr. V/illiam A. Ward
MAKE-UP
Mrs. George B.
Mrs. Fred Ashton
Miss Dorothy Brigham
Mrs. Harold J. Bryan
Mrs. F. D. Carr
Miss Beatrice L. Carroll
Mrs. William R. Carroll
Mrs. Harry Carter
Mrs. C. H. Chamberlain
Miss June D. Cociidge
Miss Leor.e Cunningham
Miss Mildred Foley
Mrs. Cassie Godwin
Mrs. G. A. Gordon
Miss Eleanor Grady
Joseph Grady
Mrs. Albert C. Gray
Mrs. W. C. Henneberry
Ernest M. Hodgdon
COMMITTEE
Quinby, Chairman
Miss May Hu?-hes
Mrs. F. D. Kelsey
Clifford C. Larcum
Miss Violet LeBlanc
Mrs. Edith Maggi
Georj^:e A. Mooie, Jr.
Lawrence Moore
Miss Claire O'Donoghue
Miss Louise O'Hara
Mrs. Marion Polleys
Mrs. G. G. Reddinrr
Mrs. Milton D. Riley
Nelson Robinson
Miss Anna Ryan
Mrs. Howard T. Shedd
Mrs. Pauline Walker
Mrs. C. J. Wiggins
Mrs. A. Chesley York
(115)
MUSIC COMMITTEE
Mr. Hubert C. Shedd, Chairman
Mr. Elmer H. Wilson, Music and Orcliestra Director
Mr. Frank S. Gilkey, Assistant Orchestra Director
Dr. Charles W. McPherson, Choral Director
Mrs. Alice J. Blaikie Mrs. William J. Reilly
Miss Doris Brown Mr. Milton D. Riley
Mr. Samuel C. L. Haskell Mr?. Fiank W. Smith
Rev. Denis A. O'Brien Mr, Chester E. Whiting
POLICING
Lieut. Charles H. Ewell, Chairman
Officers Medford Police Department
Members Medford Veteran Constabulary Association
PUBLICITY COMMITTEE
Mr. Philip G. Desmond, Chairman
Mr. Arthur J. Quinn, Secretary
Mr. Fred Bosworth Mr.
Mr. Frank M. Brewster Mr.
Mr. Herbert Caryl Mrs
Miss Norma E. Casano Mr.
Mr. Arthur B. Chapman Mr.
Mr. Thomas M. Connell Mr.
Mr. Edward A. Cronin Mr.
Mr. Charles T. Daly Mr.
Mr. Dwight Davis Mr.
Mr. Richard Davis Mr.
Mr. Joseph L. Doherty Mr.
Mr. Charles M. Drury Mrs,
Mr. Eugene Duplain Mr.
Mr. Lawrence E-. Ellis Mr.
Mr. Frederick C. Finn Mr.
Mr. Joseph Fisher Mr.
Mr. John J. Fitzpatrick Mr.
Mr. H. T. French Mr.
Miss Elizabeth M. Gahan Mr.
Mr. Harry E. Glfford Mrs.
Mr. Franeis Griffin Mr.
Mr. George J. Hackett Mr,
Mrs. Thomas C. Hoover Mr,
Mr. Ralph L. Kendall Mr,
Mr. Arnold Kuper Mr
Capt. George H. Lenox Mr
Frank W. Lovering
John S. Mannion
. Anna T. Martin
Eugene McGillicudy
Philip P. McGonagle
Joseph J. McManus
Elmer Murch
James Murphy
Marshall P. Newman
John J. Noonan
Charles H. Phinney
Marguerite M. Pote
Norbert B. Quinn
Samuel Sayward
Andrew S. Scott
William F. Shine
Joseph C. Smith
Robert N. Spofford
Clarence L. Thompson
Joseph Thorley
Carrol H. Tiffany
John F. Walsh
Lawrence J. Weidman
Richard H. Wheeler
James D. P. Wingate
Arthur Woodman
(116)
PUKCHASING AND SUPPLIES COMMITTEE
Joseph L. Fitzpatrick, Chairman
Miss Mary C. Meaney Miss Margaret M. Mahoney
SECRETARIAL COMMITTEE
Charles T. Daly, Chairman
Bernard A. Cassidy, Secretary
Miss Ruth M. Callahan
Thomas M. Connell
Richard Davis
Joseph L. Doherty
Miss Helen B. Fee
Miss Emma Fitzpatrick
Miss Esther A. Horgan
Miss Mildred A. Jacobus
Miss Katherine B. Kilroy
Miss Isabel E. Matel
Miss Mary A. McGrath
Miss Eleanor A. McKenna
Miss Mary C. Meaney
James B. Meehan
John J. Mullen
Timothy F. Murphy
Miss Alma C. Ryan
Miss Clara A. Silva
Miss Margaret I. Tobin.
Arthur Woodman
TICKET COMMITTEE
Alwyne E. Ritchie, Chairman
Agnes S. Ritchie, Secretary
Frank Abbadessa
Mrs. G. M. Allen
Mrs. Marie A. Baker
Miss Anna Ballou
Mrs. Clara A. Bates
Mrs. Ida M. Beauvais
Dow H. Beyea
Mrs. Alice J. Blaikie
Rufus H. Bond
William M. Boynton
Mrs. E. R. Brackett
Mrs. Frank V. Braun
Almon C. Bridges
Mrs. Etnma M. Bridges
Edward N. Brown
James V. Burke
William Burns
Mrs. Ida J. Bussell
Mrs. Mabel A. Canty
Ernest J. Chisholm
Charles W. Collins
Edwin Consolmagno
Charles A. Cooper
Mrs. Adeline Cushing
William Dandale
Emil DeBie
Miss Clarice A. Dunbar
Mrs. T. F. Davis
Louis Durant
Charles H. Ewell
Clarence F. Ewell
James A. Franklin
Harold T. French
Ensign T. Frieberger
George S. T. Fuller
Edward J. Gaffey
Mrs. Herbert Getchell
John G. Glazebrook
Mrs. Mary S. Googins,
Mrs. Charles Gott
Gen. Albert C. Gray
Dr. Robert M. Green
Edward W. Harris
Mrs. Gertrude Harvey
Albert W. Hathaway
John Healey
Mrs. Mary Healey
John A. Herlihy
Mrs. Alice M. Hoefer
Henry E. Holt
Mrs. Thomas C. Hoover
Edward G. Hughes
(117)
Edward H. Hutchinson
James L. Kelleher
J. Frank Kelley
Ralph L. Kendall
Mrs. J. W. Kennedy
Mrs. W. P. Kenney
Mrs. Oliver F. Kidder
Oliver F. Kidder
Mrs. Horace E. Knight
Miss Elizabeth LaFleur
Ernest Lawrence
Frederick A. LeBuff
Miss Martha E. Lee
Capt. George H. Lenox
Mrs. Lillian Lyons
Mrs. Eleanor A. Macomber
Frank W. Marshall, Jr.
Mrs. Anna T. Martin
Eugene C. McCabe
Mrs. William J. McClellan
Mrs. Elizabeth V. McGray
Joseph C. Miller
Mrs. Marguerite H. Molloy
Mrs. John Montgomery
Miss Beatrice M. Morgan
Mrs. Catherine Murphy
Mrs. Frank D. Neill
Marshall P. Newman
Ralph A. Nickerson
E. A. Nordon
James H. O'Gara
Charles B. Olmstead
Mrs. Margaret E. O'Neill
Benjamin B. Opthues
Mrs. Margaret G. O'Sullivan
Mrs. Leon I. Peabody
Miss Natalie Peterson
Henry Perrin
Mrs. Molly Piggott
Mrs. Marguerite H. Pote
Mrs. Floyd P. Prescott
Miss Mary Price
Edward N. Quinn
Frank M. Quinn
Mrs. May T. Riley
Mrs. Anna Roberts
Mrs. Dorcas A. Roberts
Adolf G. Rosenblad
John J. Ruddy
Mrs. J. D. Scates
Clarence M. Sherritt
Mrs. Thomas H. Sinnott
Agnes V. Smith
Mrs. Frank W. Smith
William H. Smith
Miss Alma E. Snow
Mrs. Ethel 0. Soar
J. Harry Spillane
George L. Stokell
Charles L. Sullivan
Charles W. Taber
Carrol H. Tiffany
Mrs. Sarah Twombly
John E. Volpe
Walter T. AVebb
Mrs. Carolyn A. V/eeks
Clarence T. Welch
George P. Weston, Jr.
Henry J. Wilson
Mrs. Isabella W. Witherell
Lemuel C. Woodbury
TKANSPORTATION
Andrew S. Scott
USHERS
John J. Carew, Chairman
Charles A. Cooper, Assistant Chairman
Hugo S. Bagnulo Joseph Fisher
Elmer F. Deering Charles L. Fitzhenry
Jeremiah J. Delaney Edward Forbes
Frank J. Farry J. Raymond Gaffey
( 118
Simon Long Joseph W. Myers
Charles W. Martin John H. Neill, 2nd
Charles H. McClellan A. Chesley York
Edward S. Mitchell William Standcumbe
John L. Murphy F. Irving Weston
The list of names in this book are to June 12th.
ORGANIZATIONS OP THE CITY ASSISTING IN
PAGEANT
Ancient Order of Hibernians, Division 4
Belgian American Union
Castle Hill Associates
Cradock Lodge, Loyal Order of Moose
Cradock Temple, Pythian Sisters
Sarah Bradlee Fulton Chapter, Daughters of American Revo-
lution
Sarah E. Fuller Tent 22, Daughters of Veterans
First Baptist Church
First Methodist Episcopal Church
First Parish Unitarian Church
Forest Park Improvement Association
S. C. Lawrence Post 66, Grand Army of the Republic
Harmony Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows
Knights of Pythias
The Lawrence Light Guard, Company E., 101st Engineers,
M. N. G.
Lawrence Men's Club
S. C. Lawrence Corps 5, Women's Relief Corps
S. C. Lawrence Camp 30, United Spanish War Veterans
Carolin Lawrence Auxiliary 32, United Spanish War Veterans
General S. C. Lawrence Camp 54, Sons of Veterans
General S. C. Lawrence Camp 54, Sons of Veterans Auxiliary
Mystic Parent-Teachers Association
Medford Council 141, Knights of Columbus
Medford Welfare Association
Medford City Employees Union
Medford Constabulary Veteran Association
Mount Herman Lodge of Masons
Sagamore Lodge of Masons
Medford Visiting Nurse Players Association
Medford Italian Club
Medford Catholic Women's Club
Medford Teachers' Club
Mystic Congregational Church
Medford Women's Club
(119)
Medford Rotary Club
Medford Kiwanis Club
Medford Athletic Association
Medford Branch League of Women Voters
Medford Lodge 915, B. P. O. Elks
Medford Center Postoffice Dramatic Club
Medford Improvement Association
Medford High School Students
Medford Lodge 1359, Order Sons of Italy in America
Medford Historical Society
Medford Post 1012, Veterans of Foreign Wars of U. S.
Medford Post 1012, Veterans of Foreign Wars of U. S. Auxiliary
Medford Women's Republican Club
Medford Grange, Patrons of Husbandry
Medford Boat Club
Medford Post 45, American Legion
Medford Post 45, American Legion Auxiliary
Mystic Court, Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters
Medford Chamber of Commerce
Medford Council, Boy Scouts of America
Medford Council, Girl Scouts of America
Otis Street Players (First M. E. Church)
Middlesex Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star
Royall Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star
Optimystic Club (St. Joseph's Church)
Royall House Association
Truth Rebekah Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows
Rollins Class (Trinity M. E. Church)
St. Clement's Church
St. Francis of Assisi Church
St. James Church
St. Raphael's Church
St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church
St. Joseph's Church
St. Joseph's Dramatic Club
Santa Maria Lodge 1570. Order Sons of Italy in America
St. Cecilia Court, Catholic Daughters of America
South Medford Parent-Teachers Association
St. Joseph's Branch, Ladies Catholic Benevolent Association
Thursday Fortnightly Club
Samuel C. Lawrence Camp 30, United Spanish War Veterans
West Medford Congregational Church
West Medford Baptist Church
West Medford Women's Club
Wellington Methodist Episcopal Church
West Medford Reading Club
( 120
RECEPTION COMMITTEE
Mayor Edward H. Larkin, Chairman
CITIZENS COMMITTEE
Hugo S. Bagnulo
Judge Lawrence G. Brooks
Rep. Richard D. Crockwell
Judge Frederick W. Fosdick
George S. T. Fuller
Adolfo Gange
Sidney Gleason
General Albert C. Gray-
Rep. John J. Irwin
Col. Benjamin B. Shedd
Lieut. Col. John R. Sanborn
Justice William Gushing Wait
Major Orville J. Whitney
City Clerk Charles A. Winslow
Rep. Arthur L. Youngman
BOARD OF ALDERMEN
Michael E. O'Brien, President
Howard F. Alden
George H. Bailey
John H. Burke
Charles A. Callahan
William F. Callahan
Robert P. Campbell
William H. Cheetham
Charles J. Donnellan
Frank I. Fuller
George P. Hassett
Joseph 0. Knox
Ernest Martini
James J. Nicholson
James W. Norton
Floyd T. Prescott
Alexander C. Peters
James W. Prior
William F. Shine
Robert N. Spofford
Clarence E. Twombly
(121)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In recognition of services freely and graciously ren-
dered, the Pageant Committee tenders grateful acknowl-
edgment to the following :
To Mrs. Shepherd Brooks, for the use of her estate for
the Pageant itself and for the loan of carriages, teams
and horses.
Trustees, Boston Elevated Railway Company for pub-
licity and for the establishing and maintaining of bus
service to the Pageant grounds.
Frederick A. Kom Losy for the many valuable suggestions
and expert advice for stage lighting, scenery and scenic
effects.
Miss Norma E. Casano for designing The Pageant of the
Mystic poster.
The Boston & Maine Railroad for selecting and furnishing
design of train used in the Pageant and for publicity.
The Maiden Electric Company for contribution of power,
service, expert advice and loan of flood lights used in
lighting the grounds and parking areas.
Medford Historical Society for securing historical ma-
terial and the use of their building for committee meet-
ings.
Mr. Elmer H. Wilson for suggestions for the musical pro-
gram, training and conducting the Pageant orchestra.
Medford Daily Evening Mercury and the Medford Mer-
cury and Messenger for publicity in the columns of their
papers.
Medford Lodge 915 B. P. 0. E. for the use of their build-
ing for the purpose of holding rehearsals.
Dr. Charles W. McPherson for his valuable assistance in
orchestrating, training and conducting the Pageant
Chorus.
Samuel C. Lawrence Post 66, G. A. R. for the use of
Grand Army Hall for the purpose of committee meet-
ings.
Miss Elizabeth Gahan, Mr. Arnold H. Kuper and Mr. Jo-
seph Costello for donating original posters.
(122)
The Medford Chamber of Commeree for their assistance
in the publicity work.
Boston Globe for photographic reproduction of Pageant
Poster,
Mystic Waste Co. Inc. for donating bunting, cloth and
other materials.
Reverend Glenn D. Glazier for his suggestions and as-
sistance on the Pageant.
Mr. Thomas M. Connell and his associates of the Publicity
committee for editing and issuing the Town Crier.
The Aleppo Temple Shrine Band for giving a concert on
the Pageant Grounds on the evening of June twenty-
third.
Mrs. Frederick A. Russell for designing the dances and
training the dancing groups in the Pageant.
Mr. Michael E. O'Leary, superintendent of the Brooks
Estate for assistance in layout of Pageant Grounds, ap-
proaches and many facilities.
The Band of Medford Post 1012, Veterans Foreign Wars
of U. S. for giving a concert on the Pageant Grounds
on the evening of June thirtieth.
Mr. Harold J. Nicholson for his assistance and coopera-
tion in laying out the seating arrangements at the
Pageant Grounds.
Mr. Frank B. Blodgett for his advice on construction work.
Mr. Henry A. Gaffney for his advice and assistance in the
lighting of the Pageant Grounds,
Mr. Alexander A. Lucey for his advice on the making of
contracts, and Mr. Joseph L. Fitzpatrick for the pui--
chase of supplies.
The members of the Class of 1930, Medford High School
who participated in the Cavalcade, and by so doing ad-
vertised the Pageant in various cities and towns.
Mrs, Teresa A. St. Denis, chairman of the Public Welfare
Board for the use of office and other assistance.
Messrs. Frank M. Brewster and Eugene Duplain for the
building of Indian tepees and aiding in publicity. Mr.
Willis A. Bishop for his advice on Indian Scenes.
The Mercury Printing Company, A. B. Chapman, Supt,
and staff for their assistance and many courtesies ex-
(123)
tended the Pageant Committee in connection with
the printing.
The Medford Police Department for their assistance in
planning measures of safety and protection.
The Medford Fire Department for their fire prevention
work and protection.
Mrs. Adelaide Hall for her assistance in pageant group
work.
All members of the Cast, the Chorus, the Dance, the Or-
chestra, the large group of sewing women, the various
organizations who have actively cooperated with the
Pageant Committee, those members of sub-committees
who have given of time and ability, and all private in-
dividuals who have contributed to the success of the
Pageant by the loan of properties and in other ways.
Kenneth J. Cuneo for his services as Ye Towne Crier,
(124)
Vol. XXXIII.]
[No. 3.
PUBLISHE.O BY THE.
HEDfORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY
MEDfORQMASSAaiUSEnS
■J^HC
CONTENTS.
Page
PAGEANT GROUNDS Frontispiece
THE PAGEANT OP' THE MYSTIC. Wilson Fiske, ... 7
THE EARLY HISTORY OF MEDFORD. Alfred C. Lane 3iV\A
Robert L. Nichols H
THE MINISTERS AND MEETING-HOUSES OF THE FIRST
PARISH IN MEDFORD. Clara T. Guild .... 16
UNDERSTANDING ITALY. Mary Lillian Nov elline ... 22
SHIPS OF MEDFORD. Edward J. Gaffey 24
INDIANS OF MEDFORD. Rtith Dame Coolidge . ... 26
OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS OF MEDFORD.
Hall Gleason 28
Entered as second-class matter, under the act of July 16, 1894,
Medford Station, Boston, Massachusetts.
Meetings of the Society at the Society's home, 10 Governors
Avenue, on third Mondays at 8.00 P.M., from
October to May inclusive.
MEDFORD HISTORICAL REGISTER.
Published quarterly (March, June, September, and December)
BY THE
Medford Historical Society,
AT
No. 10 Governors Avenue, Medford, Mass.
Subscription price, SI. 50 a year, postpaid. Single copies, 40 cents.
Fur gale at the Society Rooms and by the Treasurer.
Publication Committee.
HARRY E. WALKER, JOSEPH C. MILLER, MOSES W. MANN.
Editor, MOSES W. MANN.
Associate Editors, HARRY E. WALKER,
MISS KATHARINE H. STONE.
Exchange list in charge of Geo. S. T. Fuller, 15 George Street.
Advertising Manager, Miss E. R. ORNE.
FORM OF BEQUEST.
I give and bequeath to the Medford Historical Society, in
the city of Medford, Mass., the sum of Dollars for
the general use and purposes of said Society.
(Signed) _
J. C. MILLER, JR., PRINTKR, MSDFORD.
The Medford Historical Register.
Vol. XXXIII. SEPTEMBER, 1930. No. 3.
THE PAGEANT OF THE MYSTIC.
JUNE, 1930.
By Wilson Fiske.
THE shadows lengthen out. The summer sun,
Closing his longest visit of the year
To the faire countrie of the Missituks,
Reluctant sinks behind the hills that hedge
The ancient village of Menotomy.
We sit, or stand, or stroll beneath the trees,
Upon an eastward slope, within the bounds
Of that wide realm which even yet remains,
After so many generations gone,
To grace the holdings of the stately line,
Whose gracious act our theatre tonight
In courtesy provides. Before us stretch
Green meadows, scythe-cropped, flanked on either side
By wooded knoll, — proscenium bases fit, —
Behind which, right and left, the entrances
Upon our sylvan stage their hosts deploy.
Across the scene, up stage, a little lake
Extends, its further shore with thickets fringed.
Behind a narrow strand, — back-curtain meet
To finish off the settings of our stage.
Such is the scene whereon this night shall be
Portrayal of our city's history.
From earliest ages on, in mimic pageantry.
The shadows lengthen. In the gloaming grow
The settings of an Indian camp. Small fires
Burn brightly. On the tripods swing the pots.
The squaws in many-colored mantles stir
The evening meal. Across the scene stalk slow
Red warriors, arriving one by one ;
The boys, their games afoot, dash yon and here;
Anon, the girls arrange a sunset dance.
Shouts, laughter, every peaceful sound is heard ;
The while, upon the water, silent hold
The swift canoes their flight from side to side
Scarce rippling e'en the mirror of the tide.
THE PAGEANT OF THE MYSTIC. [September,
The shadows deepen. Spot-lights float across
From either wing to wing ; the footh'ghts' beam
Shows clear again the fading forms and acts.
A waltz's strains from out the darkness float,
And slow, advancing to the swaying rhythm,
Forth issue from the lower entrance left.
The Spirit of the Mystic, and the Tides,
The Ebb and Flood. Accompanying these,
A corps, interpretative by the dance
Of all the river's windings, and the flood
Of waters and the ebb; and rolling slow,
The tumbling breakers o'er the rocks to show.
Darkness — and when again the stage is seen
A change has stirred the group upon the green.
Commotion reigns; as when poised high above,
The soaring hawk o'ershades the brooding dove.
The frail canoes seek shelter at the shores.
And not the paddle but the white man's oars
The waters fret. A crafty w^arrior flies
To shoreward, whose unfailing Indian eyes
Appraise the instant peril, and his whoop
Swift warning carries to the waiting group
About the fires. Across the little bay
A laboring shallop makes its cautious way.
With measured stroke and slow it comes to land.
And from it quickly step a little band.
Armored and armed. They come with rapid tread.
The doughty Plymouth Captain at their head.
The faithful Squanto marching at his side.
Their red-skinned friend, interpreter and guide.
They seek the ruler of this region fair
In vain ; but barter with the squaws, who share
With them their homely meal ; and then depart,
Good Elder Brewster saying as they start
Upon their homeward voyage, he e'en could dare
To wish his people had been seated there.
Darkness, once more. The setting shifts again.
The inspiration of the waltz's strain.
The Tides. The Ebb flows eastward to the sea,
To whom the Flood, swelled high with prophecy,
O'erpowering the feebler outward flow.
Unfolds the page that shall the future show,
Forecasting the events which yet shall be
Presented in our pageant's witchery :
1930.] THE PAGEANT OF THE MYSTIC.
" Soon, soon shall come to thee across the foam,
From England's brave and noble-hearted isle,
A ship of haniy and God-fearing men, —
Like to yon Pilgrims who adventured here —
To found a city on thy winding stream ;
Of all these shores to found a Commonwealth."
In rapid sequence now the scenes unfold.
Events portraying as the Tide foretold.
The charter taken from the royal hand
By Matthew Cradock, to the newer land, —
New England, — is by Winthrop safely brought,
And Indian friendship is by friendship bought.
The darkness falls again. The newer scene
Displays the settings of a later day; —
A century has passed. The stalwart arms,
That won from out the wilderness a home
And freedom, folded lie upon the breasts
Whose courage matched their strength. A younger race
The picture fills, enjoying now such peace
And comforts as the age and land afford.
Colonial life, the settlement begun.
Shows forth its quaint activities and arts.
Across the village green, at call of drum,
The habitants upon a sabbath morn.
Sedately to their place of worship plod ;
The minister at head, with book in hand.
His family, the teacher, tithing-man.
Precentor and the rest, in solemn line.
Anon, the dame school holds its session dread ;
Whence steal the urchins slyly as they may
To cast their gibes — and somewhat more, perchance, —
Upon the wretched culprit in the stocks
Hard by, — perhaps to laugh and clap the hands
In glee, at vision of the ducking stool
Beyond. The women deftly spin and quilt ;
The men to mill depart, their grain to grind.
Across the green the Representative
Of Medford, at the Great and General Court,
Rides gaily, not without full many a nod
Of friendly recognition as he goes.
Again the sound of music, and the grace
Of damosels and gallants in the dance, —
The stately minuet, — our looks entrance.
10 THE PAGEANT OF THE MYSTIC. [September,
'Tis dark again. Again the decades pass;
Another generation holds the stage.
The spirit of unrest o'erbroods the scene ; —
There 's contest, revolution in the air.
The Medford men who helped to brew the tea,
With Boston Harbor for the pot, are back
And sheltered by their faithful wives from harm.
The gloom aye deepens. On an April night
The fateful messenger, in foam-flecked haste
Arrives, th' alarum cries, and clatters west,
His weightier mission thitherward to do.
As when the urchin's wanton pole may stir
The wasp's grey paper house beneath the eaves.
Forthwith the swarm shall dart without, full armed
For combat in defense of home; — so now
From every dwelling forth the people pour,
To aid, to speed, to cheer the three score men, —
Less one, — who march that day to hear the words
Immortal from their leader — " Stand your ground.
Fire not, unless ye first be fired upon ;
But if they mean a war, let it start here."
At eve the minutemen return, less gay,
But no less steadfast ; and again the wives,
The Medford women, prove their faithfulness,
As when did woman fail in stress to do !
"An equal crown doth history hold, for her
And for the warrior."
The struggle o'er,
The country turns it to the ways of peace.
Of old hath Meadford held an honored place
As builder of the carriers of the sea.
Behold we now the launching of a ship,
"A beautiful and gallant craft," shall bear
To furthest seas her builder's fame — and ours.
And now, the creeping barge, across our town.
Floating the timbers of the vasty woods,
Nor less the riches of the inland farms,
Down to the shipyards and the waiting ships.
Is followed, rivalled, conquered and eclipsed
By the draft steed of iron and his tow ;
Whose thews of proof and path of double steel
Fatigue nor storm nor heat nor frost may stay ;
Whose labors turn those other wheels as well,
Which by their revolution weave the spell
That puts New England first in industry
Through all the years of her third century.
1930.] THE EARLY HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 11
Our panorama, which in sunset's glow
Began, its scenes of sylvan life to show,
In keeping with the twilight's softening spell,
Closes with every artful aid may tell
Of Medford's glory. What consummate art
So well has somehow blended every part
To make such satisfying whole ! Depart
We, musing thus. But 'twas not art alone!
Art made the play, the music, gave the tone
That lifted the performance from the zone
Of commonplace. Ah, yes! But something more
Than merely art is requisite before
So many hundred people may be brought
Untrained, undisciplined, impelled by nought
But neighborly good feeling, and their pride
In Medford, thus most aptly to provide
The picture of her past.
And in that same
Good feeling, in that love of her good name,
Her hopes for all the future lie. Here lives
The Spirit that all value to her history gives.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
STRANGE stories of far-distant time do the rocks ot
the earth's crust tell the geologists, those men who
are trying to learn something about old Mother Earth's
past, stories of volcanoes, of earthquakes, of strange ani-
mals and of ice ages in and near Medford.
The very oldest rocks in Medford were formed by
water sorting, that is, ancient rivers carried sand down
to the ocean (over six hundred million years ago) and
this sand was cemented and pressed together to make
what is known as a sandstone. Later this sandstone was
cut and invaded by lava which baked and hardened the
sandstone into a rock known as quartzite, which can be
seen in ledges along the horseback trail to the west of
the Lawrence Observatory. These rocks are now well
above sea level, although they were once on the sea bot-
tom, and are, therefore, good evidence of the internal
12 THE EARLY HISTORY OF MEDFORD. [September,
forces of elevation resident within the earth. If it were
not for this force tending to elevate the rocks of the
earth's crust the continents would long ago have been
eroded down to a flat, featureless plain at approximately
sea level.
Long after the formation of the quartzite there was an
active erupting volcano in West Roxbury. When liquid
rock or lava pours out on the surface it flows away in all
directions and soon cools and hardens into solid rock.
More lava coming over these first layers helps to build
up a cone around the vent. Occasionally, instead of
liquid welling up, fragmental material is ejected and it
falls around the vent, helping also to build up the cone.
In such ways a volcano is formed. From a careful study
of the rocks in Roxbury, geologists have found a peculiar
kind of rock which can be formed only by a volcano, and
so they conclude that at one time an active volcano
existed in Roxbury. If such a volcano existed now there
would be great danger for the people in the vicinity of
Boston, for molten lava might pour down on them or
they might be burned and buried by volcanic ash, cinders
and bombs such as are thrown out of some of the present
day volcanoes. Much time has gone since that volcano
existed, and it has since been absolutely leveled by the
forces of erosion. This gives us some idea of the im-
mensity of geologic time when volcanoes can be formed
and worn away.
The Mystic river lies in a filled trough which nearly
follows a fault, that is, a joint or crack in the rocks along
which there has been movement. It is such movement
of sectors of the earth's crust that produces earthquakes.
Motion along the so-called San Andeas fault produced
the disastrous Californian earthquake in 1904, and motion
on this Medford fault may and undoubtedly did shake
this region, say two hundred million years ago, as vio-
lently as California was shaken in 1904. Although there
haven't been any severe earthquakes around Boston for
the past hundred years or more — the quake in Boston
1930.] THE EARLY HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 13
in 1925 could hardly be called severe — yet three hun-
dred years ago earthquakes were a real and terrible expe-
rience to the people of Boston, for the shocks were
frequent and sharp. In 1638 a severe quake terrified
the Pilgrims in Plymouth, who thought it was the "hand
of God " punishing them for their sins. The damage
was small simply because the dwellings were log cabins,
which are low and very stable. Between 1727 and 1741,
the Rev. Mathias Plant, of Newburyport, recorded one
hundred and twenty shocks around Boston, and in 1775
the greatest of all the recorded earthquakes took place.
On the fifteenth of November, 1775, seventeen days
after the terrible earthquake at Lisbon, Portugal, which
killed thousands of people, there occurred the greatest
earthquake of historic times in Boston. The damage
was considerable. Many chimneys were levelled, roofs
crushed in and many houses disjointed and nearly de-
stroyed. Such an earthquake today would undoubtedly
cause great damage and loss of life, because the city is
larger and the buildings are higher.
But the activity of the internal forces of the earth did
not cease with the movement along the Medford fault,
for long after, cracks were formed in the earth's crust,
and later these cracks were filled with molten lava which
hardened, forming what the geologist calls a dike. The
largest and most famous of these is the widely known
Medford diabase dike about which so much has been
written. This fills a great crack extending from a little
south of the Powder House in Somerville, under Tufts
College hill and the school house to Governors avenue,
and thence west of pine hill to the Fellsway. For a long
period of time the Medford diabase dike was exposed to
the atmosphere and consequently it was deeply eroded,
decayed and weathered, so when the glacier came it was
unable to carry away all this weathered rock and so had
to leave much of it in place. This weathered diabase
forms a red sand or gravel much desired for walks. It
penetrates at times as much as sixteen feet along cracks,
14 THE EARLY HISTORY OF MEDFORD. [September,
between balls of less altered rock. This can all be beauti-
fully seen on Governors avenue, Medford.
And then only the day before yesterday, as far as geo-
logic time goes, the rocks tell us that the whole of New
England, and indeed about four million square miles of
Northern North America, was covered with an immense
continental ice sheet, something like the one over Green-
land at the present time. This ice sheet was thousands
of feet thick, and it appears that it melted away from
New England in the neighborhood of about twenty-five
thousand years ago. Now, what is the evidence for the
existence of this continental ice cap, many will hasten to
ask. In the first place, there are the transported bowl-
ders or rocks, sometimes called erratics, because they are
often found in insecure positions, which sometimes allows
one to rock them back and forth with a slight pressure
of the hand. If we will examine these erratics we will
notice an interesting thing, namely, that the erratic is
not made of the same material as the rock on which it
rests. In other words, it is not in its place of origin, and
has been transported to that place by some agency. In
many cases these erratics weigh hundreds of tons. Now
geologists have asked themselves what agency could
have transported these bowlders. Could the wind have
done it ? Could running water in the form of rivers or
brooks ? Could the waves, aided by shore currents ?
To all these the geologists are forced to answer " No,"
and the only agency which could have transported the
bowlders is moving ice. Indeed, we may observe this
very thing in living glaciers today; large bowlders are
being continually carried from high up in the mountains
and dropped low down in the valleys. These erratics
are very common in Medford, particularly in the Middle-
sex Fells.
Secondly, there are the striated rocks. If one has
done a lot of hiking and at the same time has kept his
eyes open, he may have noticed in many places that the
rocks are polished, smoothed, scratched, striated and
1930.] THE EARLY HISTORY OF MEDFORD, 15
grooved, and if one is particularly keen-eyed he may
have made the remarkable discovery that in New Eng-
land the striations run approximately north and south.
What could have scratched and polished the rocks?
Again the geologist answers only moving ice, and again
we observe that at the present time living glaciers are
doing this very thing. Striated rocks are very common
in Medford.
Among the many features produced by the glacier are
the so-called drumlins, hills composed of clay and bowl-
ders, oval in shape, with their long axes running north
and south and usually one-half of a mile to a mile long.
College hill in Medford, Winter hill in Somerville, Beacon
hill in Boston, and most of the islands in Boston Harbor
are drumlins, as well as many more around Boston.
There are several theories for the origin of these drum-
lins. Some geologists believe that they are irregularities
built up beneath the ice by irregular deposition, as sand
bars are built in an overburdened river.
The clay pits near the Wellington marsh and those
near Tufts College were also formed because of the
glacier. The continental ice sheet contained great quanti-
ties of clay, sand and gravel, and as the ice melted, streams
of muddy water poured into lakes in front of the ice and
often also into tidal water. In the case of the Wellington
clays, the rivers ran from the ice into tidal water. The
coarse gravel was deposited close to the shore, the sand
was carried out farther by currents and then dropped,
and the clay, because fine, remained in suspension for a
long time and finally settled out in the quiet, deeper parts
of the tidal water. Such was the origin of brick clays in
Medford.
Medford is very fortunate in having close to it the
Fells, a state reservation with beautiful lakes, walks and
trees. Not only are the Fells interesting and beautiful
to the layman, but they are also a paradise to the geolo-
gist, for within the borders are many geological features.
This brief description of a few of the geological events
16 MINISTERS, MEETING-HOUSES, EIRST PARISH. [Sept..
is enough to show that vast changes have occurred in
Medford during geologic time. Volcanoes have been
formed and worn away, great movements of the earth's
crust have produced severe earthquakes, and a conti-
nental ice cap has come and gone. In this long series
of events the present is but one short page. Many
changes have occurred in the past and many more will
occur in the future.
"The hills are shadows and they flow
From form to form, and nothing stands;
They melt like mist, the solid lands
Like clouds they shape themselves and go."
—ALFRED C. LANE.
—ROBERT L. NICHOLS.
THE MINISTERS AND MEETING-HOUSES OF THE
FIRST PARISH IN MEDFORD.
[From an address s'ven before the Women's Alliance, October, 1929, by Mrs. Clara T. Guild.]
i6g2. In 1692 Rev. John Hancock, grandfather of
the patriot whose signature is so familiar to us, was hired
to preach. Arrangements were made for his board with
Mr. John Bradshaw for a year " If he shall continue his
ministry so long with us." The price of board was five
shillings a week. After only six months' preaching, Mr.
Hancock was called to Lexington, where he was pastor
fifty-five years.
The next " supply " was Benjamin Colman, a student
at Harvard College who, after six months, returned to
college for further study. A call came to him from
Brattle Street Church, Boston, and he returned to Eng-
land and was ordained there, fearing that his known
opposition to the strict rules of the Colonists regarding
theological tests would prevent his ordination here. Mr.
Colman is said to have contributed more than any other
man of his day to the elevation of the character of the
New England pulpit.
1930.] MINISTERS, MEETING-HOUSES, FIRST PARISH. 17
i6g3. On January 17, 1693, the town voted to have
a meeting-house erected on land belonging to Thomas
Willis on the north side of Woburn road "on a rock."
Trouble in meeting the expense and other difficulties
delayed the completion of the building. The house was
30 X 27 X 16, and the walls were plastered with lime and
a pulpit and deacons' seats erected. What excitement
must have existed over this first meeting-house in Med-
ford ! To be sure it was uncomfortable, as the windows,
we are told, were openings with shutters, but the men
struck their feet and their hands together for warmth
and the children hovered as near as possible to their
mothers' foot-stoves ; but at least they had the conven-
ience of a nearer place of worship. The interest, too,
must have been very great when the "seating" took
place. One did not enter and take any seat at will. The
town appointed a committee of most judicious and popu-
lar men to apportion the seats, their rule being that the
"quality" of a person determined where he should sit,
and his "quality " depended on his age, the amount he
subscribed toward building the house and support of the
minister, and the " charges " he paid the public. The
work of the seating committee caused such " heart-burn-
ing " that a new committee was chosen and a re-seating
made. Pews were not tolerated at this time, but Major
Wade, a rich citizen, was given permission to build a
pew and the liberty was granted to a few others.
i6g8. The people were just settled in their new
meeting-house and were unsuccessful in settling a minis-
ter when Rev. Benjamin Woodbridge of Charlestown
was engaged to preach for them for six months. A horse
was hired for the journey from Charlestown and back
and for use on Sunday if needed, the expense being two
shillings a journey for a " well-shod horse."
For twelve years Mr. Woodbridge was acting minister
of the town, he claiming he was a settled minister, the
town claiming he was not. Several suits at law were
required to settle the differences that arose. In spite of
18 MINISTERS, MEETING-HOUSES, FIRST PARISH. [Sept.,
the unhappy relations that existed, Mr. Woodbridge had
a strong hold on some of the people and continued to
live in Medford until his death, in 1710. That the town
held no ill-feeling toward him is shown by the prompt
and generous vote of one hundred pounds to meet the
expenses of his funeral.
lyii. After Mr. Woodbridge 's death Mr. John Tufts,
son of Mr. Peter Tufts, supplied the pulpit for about six
months. He was one of three candidates when the town,
in 171 2, chose Rev. Aaron Porter, who was the first set-
tled minister. He was ordained February 11, 1713, and
immediately after the ordination a covenant which had
been prepared was signed by fifteen members, " thus
gathering the First Church in Medford, February 11,
1 71 3." The church was approved by the magistrates,
thereby gaining the franchise for its members. This
settlement and approval formally instituted the First
Parish. Mr. Porter was a wise leader and valued minis-
ter. He died after only nine years of preaching. A
marble slab in the Salem Street cemetery bears the in-
scription, " Sacred to the memory of Aaron Porter, the
first settled minister of Medford."
While the size, site and equipment of a new meeting-
house was under discussion, Mr. Porter's successor was
selected. Rev. Ebenezer Turell was ordained Novem-
ber 25, 1724. The new meeting-house, in size "fifty-two
feet long, thirty-eight feet wide and thirty-three feet
posts," with a steeple rising from the center, situated on
the south side of High street near Marble brook, was
first occupied on September 3, 1727. Mr. Turell's preach-
ing showed courage and force of character. He influ-
enced and helped his fellows by giving the best that was
in him. To all good causes he gave sincere help, and
he was a fine representative of the highest education of
his time. Just as the opening years of Parson Turell's
ministry coincided with the building of the second meet-
ing-house, so the closing years were troubled by the erec-
tion of the third, built on the spot where the present one
1930.] MINISTERS, MEETING-HOUSES, FIRST PARISH. 19
stands, a site which Parson Turell did not approve. The
house was seventy-six by forty-eight feet with a tower,
a spire and two porches, and with forty-eight seats on the
floor and eight in the gallery. The windows had leads
and pulleys, and on the inside and outside the structure
was most respectable and appropriate.
March II, 17 yo. The church was first used March 1 1,
1770, with no special service of dedication, for that would
seem to imitate the English Church. For the same poor
reason observance of Easter and Christmas was banished.
Mr. Turell died December 5, 1778.
September 14, 1774. Because of their minister's failing
health the church and town engaged as his colleague
Rev. David Osgood of Andover, who was ordained
September 14, 1774. Mr. Osgood preached for more
than forty-eight years and died December 12, 1822. In
later years his theological opinions slowly but surely
changed. Freedom to hold his own opinions caused him
to give the same freedom to others. Each one, he main-
tained, had the right to judge according to his own con-
science. He was an honest, fearless, true patriot ; learned,
brusque, but always reverent. He preached on all sub-
jects with force and conviction, and with an authoritative
dignity which surpassed any man of his day. After
listening to Dr. Osgood in Brattle Street Church, Daniel
Webster said, " It was the most impressive eloquence it
was ever my good fortune to hear." His sermons some-
times took two hours to deliver and were often delivered
entirely without notes.
182J. After Dr. Osgood's death Rev. Andrew Bige-
low was invited to succeed him at a salary of eight hun-
dred dollars. The church, with some dissenting votes,
concurred with the town, and Mr. Bigelow accepted and
was installed July 9, 1823. After a short time given to
the study of law Mr. Bigelow with his whole soul turned
to the study of divinity. He came with experience, hav-
ing worked with great zeal in Eastport, Me., and in
Gloucester, Mass.
20 MINISTERS, MEETING-HOUSES, EIRST PARISH. [Sept.,
Ever since the settlement of Dr. Osgood there had
existed a disturbed feeling in the church which Mr.
Bigelow did all he could to calm. But on August 25,
1823, seventeen members sent a respectful letter to the
church asking for a letter of dismissal that they might
form a new church. Their request was granted with
less controversy than might have been expected. Both
parties were acting as their conscience directed. All
who did not unite with the new society became the First
Parish, which was legally organized in this way: On
April 12, 1824, ten male memloers of the original parish
applied to a justice of the peace to issue a warrant direct-
ing one of the ten to notify all legal voters of the parish
to meet in the meeting-house for the purpose of electing
officers, raising money, etc. Thus the First Parish be-
came a legal body under a separate organization.
1826. In April, 1826, the question arose about the
right of the town to hold town meetings in the church
as was their custom. The selectmen said they had the
right ; the parish said they had not. A town meeting
was called to meet in the church as usual. The doors
were locked, but entrance was forced. In the suit which
followed the Supreme Court upheld the parish.
i82y. Ill health caused Mr. Bigelow to ask to be
relieved, and after preaching five Sundays as a candidate.
Rev. Caleb Stetson was elected as his successor at an
annual salary of one thousand dollars. Near the middle
of Mr. Stetson's ministry of twenty-one years the old
meeting-house was torn down and a new building erected
on the site of the old one. The new house was dedi-
cated December 4, 1839, and served the parish for more
than fifty years, until destroyed by fire on January 15,
1893. The present church building, the third on the
same site, was dedicated June i, 1894. Mr. Stetson's
ministry coincided with the period of the anti-slavery
movement, and he whose heart was warm to every good
cause did not refrain from this subject in his preaching.
In settling his successor the church voted that it was
1930.] MINISTERS, MEETING-HOUSES, EIRST PARISH. 21
" inexpedient and hazardous to preach any political abo-
lition sermons or discourses in our pulpit on the Sab-
bath." This vote was later rescinded.
i8^g. Rev. John Pierpont was chosen as Mr. Stet-
son's successor and was the first to be installed by simple
ceremony by the committee of the church instead of by
an ecclesiastical council. At sixty-four years of age he
felt it his duty to not only denounce sin but to fight it
in every possible way. He became noted throughout
the state and country as a zealous supporter of the tem-
perance and anti-slavery movements. His course caused
considerable feeling in the parish and led to his resigna-
tion in 1856. But he did not remain idle. When the
Civil War began he obtained a commission from Gover-
nor Andrew and marched as chaplain with the 2 2d Regi-
ment from Boston. Later he performed excellent service
in the Treasury Department at Washington. His home
was in Medford ever after his ministry, and on a visit he
died here suddenly in 1866 at the age of eighty-one years.
"Patriot, Preacher, Philanthropist, Poet, Pierpont " are
on his head stone at Mount Auburn, and these words
attest his qualities.
Rev. Theodore Tebbets, much admired as a man and
as a preacher, served the parish until 1861, and Rev.
Edwin C. Towne, a man of radical views, which caused
complaint, served until 1867.
i86g. The pastorate of Rev. Henry C. DeLong began
on the first Sunday in March, 1869, and continued forty-
five years. Mr. DeLong, while a student of affairs of
the time and informed on all questions, unlike some of
his predecessors took no stand with any "cause" in his
preaching that would make for controversy in the parish.
His preaching, while timely, did not present political
questions, but it did present principles that underlie all
good thought and action. Having strong convictions,
gentle and serene in spirit, fine in appreciation of all that
is true and noble, seeing the good wherever it existed,
Mr. DeLong's spiritual influence was of rare worth. He
was minister emeritus two years, and died January 9, 19 16.
22 UNDERSTANDING ITALY. [September,
igi4. In September, 19 14, Rev. Louis C. Dethlefs
came to the First Parish in Medford. He also teaches
with strong conviction that " ReHgion is not learning,
not logic, but love; not contact, but co-operation." And
so our preaching and teaching of today follows out the
highest and best of any time, with the simple, potent rule
for spiritual nurture and religious life — " Love and Co-
operation."
Ten settled ministers and many " supplies " have
preached in the five meeting-houses of this ancient parish
in three hundred years. Long pastorates, a continuous
stream of scholarly thinking, increasing tolerance of
others' views, and a desire to be of greater possible ser-
vice as ministers of God have marked their lives and
immeasurably influenced the First Parish of Medford.
UNDERSTANDING ITALY.
A study of the Italian race is absolutely necessary for
any person who desires full and complete knowledge
of all that is best in art, in literature, science and in
government.
I will quote the ability of historians by Carlo Botta
and Pasquale Villari, romancists like Manzoni and
D'Annunzio, masters of language like Bartelli and De-
Amicis, and not overlook astronomers like Scheaparelli,
and electricians like Ferraris and Marconi on the loftiest
ranges of applied science.
In the field of railway engineering there are no more
extraordinary memories than the three grand passage-
ways of the Mount Cenis, St. Gothard, and Simplon
tunnels, the enduring monuments of southern Latin engi-
neers and constructors who are said to be unassimilable.
"Shakespeare's most romantic heroines, Juliet and
Desdemona," observes Wilfred Scawen Blunt in " The
Speaker," " were both borrowed, as we know, and not
without the loss of dignity, from Brandello's Italian
originals."
1930.] UNDERSTANDING ITALY. 23
Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio and Aristo became English
household words through translations and imitations.
From the dawn of early English art and literature Italy
has been a mecca for her artists and scholars. The lofty
imagination of Milton first expanded in Italian air. Here,
too, the restless and embittered heart of Byron sought
solace. All that is mortal of Shelley and Keats lies under
the shadow of Rome. In Florence the genius of Brown-
ing reached its zenith, and his memorial tablet in Venice
bears the lines of his poem, " Open my heart and you
will see graved inside of it Italy."
And can America forget her distinctive indebtedness?
The new world owes to Italy the debt of the old and
more. May she not well remember that it was the son
of a Genoese wool comber whose unflagging spirit re-
vealed her existence to Europe, that the Florentine,
Amerigo Vespucci, was her godfather, and that the voy-
ages of the Cabots and Verrazano first traced the North
American coast line and cleared the way for pioneer
immigration.
Other names in the history of Italy are Tasso, Raphael,
Michelangelo, Canava, Verdi, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti,
Ristori, Duse, Salvini, Rossi, Alfieri, Giacometti, Cavour
and Mazzini.
The Italian by training and environment is a child of
sunshine, and is less responsible for the slum conditions
obtaining in our large cities than the owner of the
property or makers of laws which allow unsanitary con-
ditions to obtain.
Under the stars and stripes in the last World War the
Italian stood second to none in his line of duty, whether
it be in the training camp or in the trenches. The per-
centage is equal to any of the other nationalities that
made the supreme sacrifice to make this world free for
democracy.
The Italians in United States today stand for obedi-
ence to constituted authority, allegiance to the stars and
stripes and one hundred percent Americanism.
—MARY LILLIAN NOVELLINE.
24 [September,
SHIPS OF MEDFORD.
Years ago one of the requirements of our school work
was the memorizing of some poetical work which we had
to recite before our critical fellow-students.
It was a task much dreaded by many. Among the
selections was Longfellow's "The Building of the Ship."
Truly our beloved New England poet knew his subject.
I recommend all to read it, if you have forgotten it. It
will have a deeper significance at this time to every true
American.
In the official publication of the Medford Historical
Society (Historical Register) there have appeared arti-
cles pertaining to the subject of ship-building in which
Medford was at one time vitally interested.
What follows (in part) is matter taken from these
papers, and I feel confident it will revive interest among
many to go into the subject more thoroughly.
Few people realize what an important part this indus-
try played in the life of Medford, and in the building of
the commerce of the colonies.
In a single year (1845) thirty vessels were built on the
banks of the Mystic, with a tonnage of 9,712 tons, valued
at over one-half million dollars. In a period covering
seventy years (the life of the industry) 568 vessels were
constructed at a cost, it is estimated, of $12,500,000.
The first vessel of record to be built in the colony was
the Blessmg of the Bay. It was a bark of thirty tons and
was constructed of locust cut on the farm of Governor
Winthrop and launched July 4th (an eventful date), 163 1.
The pioneer in the industry in Medford was Thatcher
Magoun. His yard was nearly opposite the end of Park
street. His first vessel was the Mt. ^tna. It is interest-
ing to note that Thatcher Magoun was born June 17,
1775, the day the battle of Bunker hill was fought.
In all there were ten yards on the Mystic extending
from what is now known as Foster's Court to a place
adjoining the old Boston and Lowell Railroad, now the
Boston and Maine. The largest ship ever launched in
1930.] SHIPS OF MED FORD. 25
Medford was the Ocean Express, of 2,000 tons, built by
J. O. Curtis, and ships of more than 1,000 tons were
built above the Cradock bridge. The last ship to be
constructed in Medford was the Pilgrim, launched in
December, 1873. ^ view of this ship's launch may be
seen in the rooms of the Medford Historical Society.
Truly it is fitting that the official seal of our fair city
should carry a replica of this ship on the stocks.
It is interesting to note that after nearly three hundred
years an attempt was made to revive ship-building in
this locality, and after much adversity and tribulation
and loss to the originators of the project, a vessel called
the Tremont was launched at practically the same spot
where the Blessing of the Bay was built, near the Wel-
lington bridge in what is now Somerville.
Space does not permit us to tell of the many things
relating to this subject, which may be found in archives
of our local Historical Society and in the Public Library,
which bears the name of the man who generously gave
the same to Medford, Thatcher Magoun, the pioneer of
Medford's greatest industry of the past.
Gone are the ships that sailed the sea —
Once linked with Medford's history,
The placid Mystic flows serene,
And naught remains of busy scene,
Where children watched while strong men toiled,
With forge and saw, while pitch-pot boiled ;
Who played with fragrant chips that flew,
From pine and oak that adze did hew ;
Some sailed away in visions fair,
To foreign lands and treasures rare.
Gone are the ships that sailed the seas,
Leaving us only memories.
—EDWARD T. GAFFE Y.
26 [September,
INDIANS OF MEDFORD.
Long before Matthew Cradock had conceived the idea
of a plantation on the Mystic river, the Indians had made
their home beside the Missituk lakes. These Indians in
Medford belonged to the tribe of the Massachuset which
inhabited practically all the east central part of the state.
Early explorers tell us that the country was more or less
open, that there were many cleared fields, and that the
underbrush in the forests was burnt annually to open
the woods for hunting, while Indian trails ran between
the various Indian villages and to hunting or fishing
grounds. Shortly before the arrival of the Pilgrims the
Massachuset Indians had been decimated by a terrible
plague and many of the villages were deserted.
The larger part of Middlesex and Essex counties was
under the rule of an Indian sachem, Nanepashemit by
name, who came to Medford from Lynn about 1615 and
had an outpost on Rock hill overlooking the river. He
was killed in 16 19, perhaps by his hereditary enemies,
the Tarratines, who often came down from the north in
the autumn, swept up the river in their canoes and de-
stroyed or pillaged the crops of corn. Nanepashemit
was succeeded by his wife, the " Squa Sachem " with her
second mate, the sorcerer Webcowit, while the sachem's
three sons became the sagamores, George of Salem,
James of Lynn, and John of Medford.
In Indian days there were doubtless trails between
these various villages — a trail, too, from Charlestown to
the famous fish weirs where the lakes narrow into the
river — substantially along the lines of Main and High
streets of today — and another probably along Grove
street toward the hunting grounds in Woburn. Our
early roads doubtless followed Indian trails. Numerous
Indian relics, still found occasionally under the plough,
and the graves of Indians near Sagamore avenue in West
Medford and on the hillside not far from the old pump-
ing station, mutely attest the presence of large Indian
villages. The great run of alewives and smelts in the
1930.] INDIANS OF MED FORD. 27
spring also brought the surrounding country Indians,
who erected temporary fishing camps near the " Rock "
beneath Rock hill, and smoked their fish in the open
meadows. Their houses were of two types. The more
permanent ones were large and oblong, made of closely
planted poles bent over like a grape arbor and carefully
shingled with pieces of flattened bark. The temporary
ones were round, with frameworks of poles covered with
removable mats of woven cat tails or grass, but not coni-
cal like the teepees of the western Indians which could
be rolled up and dragged from one place to another.
Inside the houses were long bunk-like platforms and a
full equipment of baskets, wooden utensils and clay pots,
though the French traders along shore early supplied
Indians near the coast with iron or copper kettles.
In September, 162 1, a party of Pilgrims from Plymouth
explored Massachusetts bay, and Medford historians have
always believed that the account of this trip detailed in
Mourt's " Relation " pointed clearly to Medford. These
explorers found the wigwam of Nanepashemit on Rock
hill, a stockaded village some way beyond additionally
protected by a moat and bridge, with a house within the
stockade "wherein being dead he lay buryd," and beyond,
on a gently sloping hill with great oak trees, another
wigwam in which he had been killed. The Pilgrims
followed the Indians and finally overtook the women
of the tribe. With these they made peace and, as their
guests, partook of a dinner, probably a porridge of beans,
corn and dried alewives. The men were away, and the
Squa Sachem too, with whom they had wished to make
a treaty, was " not here," as the interpreter said, but they
traded skins with the squaws and returned to Plymouth,
wishing they had " Been ther seated."
In later days Sagamore John was friendly toward Crad-
ock's settlers, and indeed Matthew Cradock was very
explicit in his directions to his men not to molest the
Indians and to recompense them for their land. When
Sagamore John died he regretted that he had not wor-
28 OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS. [Sept.,
shipped the white man's God, and left his son as a ward
to the Rev. John Wilson, who owned what is now Wel-
lington, to be brought up as his ward. A deed granting
land to Winthrop, but reserving the use of the weirs to
the Indians, was signed in 1639 with the crosses of the
Squa Sachem and Webcowit. Early maps show the
lodges of Sagamore John on the south side of the river
where it is joined by Alewife brook. Gradually the In-
dians withdrew, though remnants of the tribe made their
home in Turkey swamp, now Winchester reservoir, and
old accounts show that the Indians occasionally worked
for the white men. The last Medford Indian was Hannah
Shiner, who, under the civilizing influence of Medford
rum, was drowned in the early nineteenth century.
The only tangible reminders of the presence of the
Indians today are the relics in the collection of the Med-
ford Historical Society and the boulder erected to the
memory of Sagamore John.
— RUTH DAME COOLIDGE.
OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS OF MEDFORD.
By Hall Gleason.
(Continued from Medford Historical Register, December, 1929.)
1847. Joshua Hamblen. Schooner, 70 tons. Owners, Thomas Hopkins, et al., Chatham.
Built by J. O.Curtis.
Helen McGaw of N. Y. Ship, 598 tons. Owner, John A. McGaw of Boston. Built by
James O. Curtis. Hailed from N. Y. Sold Norwegian Acct. August, 1863. Name
changed to Roska. Alive 1900.
Niobe. Ship, 686 tons. Owners, George Pratt of Boston and Briggs Thomas of Dux-
bury. Sold to William S. Bullard and Henry Lee, Jr., ?/ aA Registered Decem-
brr 5, 1851. Registered Mav 19. 185^ Stephen H. Bullard. Sold to B. S. Allen and
others December, 1860. Built by Paul Curtis. Sold to British Acct. July, 1863.
Independence. Ship, 827 tons. Owner, Augustus Hemenway of Boston. Built by
Paul Curtis for above. Sold to N. Y. parties. Sold to British Acct. February, 1864
Name changed to Gylfe. Last report, 1893.
R. C. Winthrop. Ship, 781 tons. Owners, Benjamin and George P. Bangs, et al.
Built by Paul Curtis. Boston to S. F.. arrived August 13, 1852, 138 days. Sold to
Baltimore parties July, 18.53. Sold to N. Y. parties July, 1862. N. Y. for Antwerp
Sailed from former port February 21, 1873, and was passed abandoned in lat. 40° 10' N.,
long. 50° 45' W., on March 8, 1873.
Horsburgh. Ship, 542 tons. Owners, Samuel Hooper and .Abbott Lawrence of Bos
ton. Registered June 7, l&Sl. D. G. and W. B. Bacon. Registered June 11, 18.57,
Edward Oakes & Co. Registered June 19, 1855, Tuckerman, Townsend & Co. Bull
by Hayden & Cudworth. Boston to S. F, 128 days, arrived August 2, 1852. A ban
doned .•August 17, 1860, near the island of Juan Fernandez, while bound for Hampton
Roads with guano 4rom Callao.
Anstiss. Ship, 621 tons. Owners, William S. Wetmore of N. Y. and Jos. Steele of
Boston. Built by Hayden & Cudworth.
1930.] OLD SHIPS AND SHIP- BUILDING DAYS. 29
1847. Amelia. Ship, 572 tons. Owners. James VVellsman, et a/., of Charleston, S. C. Built
by Henry EwcU. Last report 1886.
Crusader. Ship, 600 tons. Owners, William W. Goddard of Boston. Built by Henry
Ewell for above. Sold to Vernon H. Brown in 1874 and rik'ued a bark. Hailed from
N. V. in 1879. Was under Brazilian tlau wlu-n lost. MissinK February, 1892.
Georgia. Ship, 665 tons. Owners. James G. Mills, et al., of Savannah. Ga. Built by
J. Stetson. Newcastle, England, for Boston with a cargo of coal and ch. micals.
.Abandoned at sea after a heavy gale October 6, 1854, in lat. 42°50' N., long. 45° 50' W.
Frank. Brig, 1595^ tons. Owner, Jotham Stetson of Medford. Built by J. Stetson.
N. V. for St. Mary's, Ga. Went ashore on .Amelia Beach Novembers, 1851, having
parted both chains and become a total wreck.
1848. Living Age. Ship, 758 tons. Owners, Edward D. Peters & Co. of Boston. Sold to
William .Appleton & Co. Built by I. Stetson. Wrecked on Pratas Shoal. China
Sea, December 31, 1854, while bound for N. Y. from Shanghai with teas and silks.
Harriet Irving. Ship, 616 tons. Owner, William W. Goddard of Boston. Built by
Henry Ewell for above. Boston for Valparaiso. Went ashore May 9, 1872, at Laguna
de los Padres. Cape San .Antonio. Captain and one man drowned. While saving
cargo ship was burned through carelessness of workmen.
T.Taylor of Yarmouth, Mass. Schooner, 75 tons. Owners, Howes & Taylor of Yar-
mouth. Built by Hayden & Cudworth.
Marcellus. Ship, 660 tons. Owners, Henrv P. Oxnard and Jno. I. Bowditch of Boston.
Registered May 14, 1857, C. H. and William Dillaway, ei a/. Built by Hayden &
Cudworth. Name changed to Theodore Kiioop. Sold Norwegian .Acct. Name
changed to Helcne. Lost August, 1877.
Cromwell. Ship, 949 tons. Owners, William Perkins and Francis G. Shaw, e'jf a/., of
Boston. D. D. Kelley and others in 1877. Built by Paul Curtis. Sold foreign in
188.3, Norway. Last report 1889.
Cochituate. Bark, 347 tons. Owners. Elkanah Bangs and William H. Bangs, et al.,
of Boston. Built by Paul Curtis for above. Wrecked June 14, 1861, on the west
coast of .Australia while bound for Singapore from Melbourne. Wrecked south of
Hostmans .AbroUios.
Townsend of Boston. Ship, 719J^ tons. Owners, .Andrew T. Hall of Boston and Josiah
Richardson of Shrewsbury. Built by Paul Curtis. Boston to S. F. Destroyed by
fire May 15, 1S54, in the Pacific Ocean, lat 35° south. Twelve lives lost. The twelve
survivors sailed 660 miles in open boats and finally landed at the island of Juan
Fernandez.
Circassian. Schooner, 72 tons. Owner, T. L, Mayo of Yarmouth, Mass. Built by
James O. Curtis.
Herbert. Ship, 619 tons. Owners, Isaac Thacher of Boston, James O. Curtis of Med-
ford and Elisha Bangs of Brewster, et al. Built by James O. Curtis. Schiedam
for Sunderland. Ran ashore on the south side of Flamborough Head October 28,
1864, and became a total wreck. In ballast.
Chasca. Ship, 658 tons. Owners, David Snow and Isaac Rich, «? a/., of Boston. Regis-
tered .Aueust 25, 1855, Charles O. Whittemore and Benjamin Sewell. Sold to Lom-
bard & Whitmore, March, 1854. Built by James O. Curtis. Sold to German Acct.
Name changed to Antoinette.
Abaellino of Boston. Ship. 606 tons. Owners, J. & A. Tirrell & Co. of Boston, 1848.
Built by J. T. Foster.
! Velocity of Chatham. Bark. 246 tons. Owner. J. .Atkins of Chatham. Mass. Built by
Joshua T. Foster. Sold to N. Y. April, 1856. Santiago to N. Y. Wrecked March 8.
1858, on Castle Island in the Crooked Island Passage. Crew saved.
Crescent City. Schooner, 113 tons. Owners, Joshua T. Foster, et al., of Medford.
Built by Joshua T. Foster.
Vesta of Boston. Bark, 1% tons. Owner, John Flynn of Boston. Built by John
Taylor. Philadelphia to Boston. Wrecked September 21, 1851, in thick and stormy
weather east of Gull Ledge.
Robert. Bark, 778 tons. Owners, William Bramhall and Thomas Howe and Wash-
ington Williams of Boston. Thomas Howe and others successors. Sold to Daniel
Draper & Son July, 1864. Built by John Taylor. Sold August, 1868, to Tokatea.
Last report 1880.
Home. Bark, 338 tons. Owners, Nathaniel Francis, ?/ a/., of Boston. Built by John
Taylor. Sold to N. Y, parties before 1860. Sold to German Acct. October, 1863.
Name changed to /«/'/7tfr. Renamed /-ferf/ar. Last report 1881.
1849. Josiah Bradlee. Ship. 648 tons. Owners, George K. Minot and Nathaniel Hooper,
et al., 1849. Registered April 19, 1859, William and William L. Thwing. Sold to
Sprague & Soule, September, 1860. Built by John Taylor. Sold to June, 1862.
Sold to British Acct. June. 1864.
30
OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS. [Sept.. 1930.]
1849. Clara Wheeler. Ship, 995 tons. Owners, William Bramhall and Thomas Howes of
Boston. Built by John Taylor for above. Sold to N. Y. parties December, 1852.
Sold to British Acct. November. 1863.
Ella. Bark, 195 tons. Owners, William W. Flynn, John H. Pearson, et al., of Boston.
Built by John Taylor. Name changed to W.H.Rendall. Name changed to ZJowa
Margarida. Alive 1900.
Squantum. Ship, 646 tons. Owners, Thomas B Wales & Co. of Boston. Built by
J. T. Foster. Wrecked at Coorla Boula, India, June 14, 1860, while bound for Bom-
bay from Boston. Three lives lost.
Tirrell of Boston. Ship, 9433^ tons. Owners. J. & A. Tirrell & Co. of Boston. Sold to
Edward C Bates & Co. of Boston December, 1852. Registered Boston October 4,
1854, William H. Boardman and William F. Whitney of Boston. Built by Joshua
T. Foster.
Fenelon. Bark. 393 tons. Owners, William F. Weld & Co. of Boston, 1849. Sold to
N. P. Mann & Co. August. 185b. Built by J. O, Curtis. Sold to Chilian Acct. Janu-
ary, 1863. Name changed io Jack Filcher.
Sarah H. Snowr of Boston. Bark. 226 tons. Owners, David Snow and Isaac Rich, ei al.,
of Boston. Registered Boston December 19, lJ-50, Elisha T. Loring of Boston. Sold
to John E. Lodge & Co. of Boston March, 1855. Built by James O. Curtis. Sold
foreign and renamed (1st) Anna Moore, (2d) Julie, (3d) Lizzie Dalgliesh. Last re-
port 1886.
Anna Rich. Ship, 670 tons. Owners, David Snow, Isaac Rich, et al. Built by J. O.
Curtis for above. Sold to British Acct. June, 1853.
William Sturgis of Boston, Ship, 649Ji tons. Owners, William F. Weld & Co. of
Boston. Built by James O. Curtis. Cardiff to Iloilo. cargo coal. Struck Magicienne
Bank off the coast of Guimeras on September 19, 1863 ; beat over and sunk on Ottorg
Bank.
Humboldt. Ship, 716 tons. Owners, William F. Weld & Co. of Boston. Built by
Paul Curtis for above. Put into Batavia, Jarva, in distress and was condemned and
sold April 21, 1871.
Western Star of Boston. Ship, 842 tons. Owners, Benjamin and George P. Bangs
of Boston. Sold to Elijah Williams & Co. of Boston. Built by Paul Curtis. Sold
British Acct. January 7, 1865, owing to severe injuries sustained in a cyclone at Cal-
cutta October 5, 1864. Totally wrecked during a .gale at East London, C. G. H..
December 16. 1874.
Samuel Appleton. Ship, 808 tons. Owners, D. P. Parker, Boston. Built by P. Curtis.
Fillmore of Machias, Me. Schooner, 70 tons. Owners, J. D. Crocker of Yarmouth,
Mass, and others. Built by Hayden & Cudworth. Hailed from Machias, Me., when
lost. Sailed from Boston November 16, 1905, for Bangor during a stiff north-wester
and was never heard from.
Australia. Ship, 632 tons. Owners, Silsbee, Stone & Pickman of Salem, Mass, Pur-
chased from Salem parties September, 1863, by J. W. Sears and others. Built by
Hayden & Cudworth. Abandoned on (Soodwin Sands near Amherst about August
20, 1864. She was under pilot's charge, proceeding to sea from Maulmain, Burmali.
Manlius. Ship, 670 tons. Owners, Thatcher Magoun & Son. Sold to Howes & Crowell.
Registered February 1, 1859. Built by Hayden and Cudworth German Acct. .April,
1863, and then Norwegian. Name changed to Nor. Sunk off St. Catherine's Point
November 10, 1888, after being in collision with a steamer while bound for Stettin
from New York.
Revere. Ship, 734 tons. Owners, Howes & Crowell, et al., of Boston. Sold to Baker
and Morrill July, 1862. Built by Hayden & Cudworth. Sold to San Francisco July,
1865. Rig changed to bark. Last reported 1883.
Beatrice. Ship, 877 tons. Owner, William H. Boardman of Boston. Built by Samuel
Lapham. Sailed from Cardiff, Wales, July 10, 1861, for Hong Kong and was never
heard from.
Argonaut of Boston. Ship, .575 tons. Owners, John E. Lodge, Samuel Lapham and
William Nott, et at., Boston. Built by Samuel Lapham for above. Boston to S. F,
133 days, arrived March 13, 1850 : Boston to S. F. 134 days, arrived July 4, 1852. Con-
tinued in trade with the Far East, making fast passages under Captain Norton of
West Medford. Owned in Christiana by P. Stranger in 1866.
Magellan. Ship, 589 tons. Owner, Augustus Hemmenway of Boston. Built by J.
Stetson. Put under the Chilian flag. Name changed to Quintero, afterwards hailed
from Gautimala, Pisagna. for Boston. Sunk off Cape St. Roque December 3, 1877,
by Br. cable steamer Norseman.
George Green. Ship, 866 tons. Owners, Charles R. Green, et al., of New Orleans.
Built by Jotham Stetson. Stranded near Dartmouth, England, January 22, 1877.
Twenty-four lost.
1850. Prospero. Ship, 645 tons. Owner, •'\ugustus Hemenway of Boston. Built by Jotham
Stetson. Wrecked at Chanarel, Chili, June. 1864, while loading copper ore for Boston.
Vol. xxxm.1
PUBLISHED BY THE.
nEDfORDfllSTORICAL SOCIETY
M EDrORD M ASSA01USETIS
fl^RCj*
CONTENTS.
RESIDENCE OF GOVERNOR BROOKS . . . Fro7tHspiece
MATTHEW CRADOCK AND THE CHARTER OF THE
MASSACHUSETTS BAY COMPANY. Harry E. Walker . 31
REMINISCENCES FROM UPPER MEDFORD. Samuel S.
Symmes 44
TERCENTENARY YEAR. Editor 4'6
OUR ILLUSTRATION. Editor 47
OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 1931 48
OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS OF MEDFORD.
Hall Gleason 48
Entered as second-class matter, under the act of July 16, 1894,
Medford Station, Boston, Massachusetts.
Meetings of the Society at the Society's home, 10 Governors
Avenue, on third Mondays at 8.00 P.M., from
October to May inclusive.
MEDFORD HISTORICAL REGISTER.
Published quarterly (March, June, September, and December)
BY THE
Medford Historical Society,
AT
No. 10 Qovernors Avenue, Medford, Mass.
Subscription price, 11.30 a year, postpaid. Single copies, 40 cents.
For aale at the Society Rooms and by the Treasurer.
Publication Committee.
HARRY E. WALKER, JOSEPH C. MILLER, MOSES W. MANN.
Editor, MOSES W. MANN.
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MISS KATHARINE H. STONE.
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the city of Medford, Mass., the sum of Dollars for
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The Medford Historical Register.
Vol. XXXIII. DECEMBER, 1930. No. 4.
MATTHEW CRADOCK AND THE CHARTER OF
THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COMPANY.
[From a paper read before the Society in November, 1929, by Harry E. Walker.]
THE seventeenth century witnessed the coming to
maturity of the national state. The national states
of that century were either autocratic or aristocratic,
none were democratic as we now understand the term.
In France, where autocracy had been firmly established
by Cardinal Richelieu, the last Estates General to meet
for one hundred and seventy-five years was held in 1614.
From that date until 1789 a king of France could say,
" I am the state." Spain, too, had an autocratic govern-
ment. The purposes and control of the colonies of these
two countries reflected the power of their kings. The
colonies were not commercial ventures of their subjects,
nor did the colonists possess any political or religious
rights. Holland and England were aristocratic. The
rise of the Dutch Republic taught many a lesson to our
forbears, and its story has a curious parallelism with our
own. Germany and Italy were then, as they remained
until after the middle of the nineteenth century, what
Metternich called them, — "geographical expressions."
In England, James I, from the time of his accession in
1603, sought to establish his full control of state and
church. He was not equal to the task. In 1625 his son,
Charles, brought new enthusiasm to the fight for the
establishment of his divine right. And it was in the
period of these first struggles of Charles that the charter
was granted.
From^ the middle of the sixteenth century commercial
companies had been formed in England for trade with
various parts of Europe and the Near East. In 1600
32 MATTHEW CRADOCK AND THE CHARTER. [Dec.
the Great East India Company was chartered to exploit
the wealth of those far regions. Raleigh's adventures at
settlements had been at his own expense, and Hakluyt's
" Discourse on Western Planting" had called attention to
the advantages which England might hope to derive,
but it was not until 1606 that the first companies M'ere
chartered for the " planting " of America. One of these
was the company for Northern Virginia, commonly known
as the Plymouth Company, which attempted a settlement
near the mouth of the Kennebec river and after one year
abandoned the attempt, " their former hopes frozen to
death." Meanwhile, the settlement fostered by the Lon-
don Company at Jamestown became the first permanent
English settlement in the New World. In 1620, the
London Company granted a tract of land to the " major
parte " of the Pilgrims in Leyden, who had decided to
seek a new home in America. London merchants agreed
to finance the undertaking, and King James agreed not
to molest them, "provided they carried themselves peace-
ably." The pilot brought them to Cape Cod and they
decided to settle at Plymouth. They had no charter
from the king and so were without the legal right to
establish a government; and they were not within the
limits of theirgrant of land. Undisturbed by these things,
in the cabin of the Mayflower, before landing, they drew
up and signed a compact in which they combined them-
selves into a civil body politic and pledged obedience to
" such just and equal laws as shall be thought most meet
and convenient for the general good of the colony." This
is the first instance of complete "self-determination" in
our history.
In this same year, and almost at the time the Pilgrims
were agreeing to the Mayflower Compact, King James
made a grant to "the Council established at Plymouth,
in the county of Devon, for the planting, ruling, ordering,
and governing of New England in America." There were
forty patentees, among whom Sir Ferdinando Gorges, "a
friend of the king and of the prerogative," was the mov-
1930.] MATTHEW CRADOCK AND THE CHARTER. 33
ing spirit. The grant was a vast one, — from sea to sea,
from forty degrees to forty-eight degrees north latitude,
that is, the whole stretch of the continent with an Atlantic
coast line from Philadelphia to the mouth of the St.
Lawrence. The powers bestowed, too, were vast ; they
could "settle and govern," and "all British subjects were
prohibited from visiting and trafificking into or from the
said territories, unless with the license and consent of
the Council, first obtained under seal." The purpose was
purely commercial. As early as 1618 or 16 19, fisheries
were begun in Massachusetts Bay, but wars broke up this
business, and by 1626 the loss of capital was complete.
In the summer of 1622, Thomas Weston, a London mer-
chant, sent out men to establish a trading post, which
was located, unfavorably as it proved, at Wessagusett,
in part of what is now Weymouth.
In December, 1622, Gorges obtained from the council
for his son, Robert, a grant with a coast line from Point
Allerton (East Boston) north to Nahant and inland for
thirty miles, and with such powers, both secular and
ecclesiastical, that, had the enterprise been successful, a
feudal principality would have been established in what
are now Middlesex and Essex counties.
The adventurers of the council, discouraged by the
failure to get profits, in December, 1623, apportioned
their grant among the surviving patentees, twenty in
number, and from one of these. Lord Sheffield, Edward
Winslow of the colony at New Plymouth secured a grant
at Cape Ann, which in 1624 he sold to the Dorchester
Adventurers, an unincorporated joint stock association,
established through the endeavors of Rev. John White,
rector of Trinity Church in Dorchester. It was this com-
pany that maintained very precariously the group in
Massachusetts known as the " old planters," and it was
the foremost of the "old planters," Roger Conant, who,
removing from near Gloucester to Naumkeag, became
the founder of Salem in 1626. And it was John White's
concern for their welfare that won the interest of the six
3 4 MA TTHE IV CRA D O CK A ND THE CHA R TER. [Dec.
men in London, who secured from the council in 1628
the grant of land which in the following year became the
basis territorially for the Company of Massachusetts Bay.
In securing this grant the Earl of Warwick, who was at
that time the president of the council for New England,
and who is said to have been an ardent promoter of the
Puritan movement, played an important part. Gorges,
still a member of the council, gave his approval of the
grant, "so far forth as it might not be prejudicial to his
son Robert Gorges' interests, whereof he had a patent
under the seal of the Council." He seems to have assumed
that the control of this grant would remain with the
council, as was the case with the earlier grants.
Mr. White's account of the inception of the Company
of Massachusetts Bay, an account prepared in 1630, does
not mention the council's grant, doubtless because after
the royal charter had been secured, the earlier grant was
considered of little consequence. Gorges, writing in
1635, when the great charter for New England, under
which the council for New England operated, was sur-
rendered, gives his version of the transaction. He writes:
the council were in a state of " such disheartened weak-
ness as there only remained a carcass in a manner breath-
less, when there were certain that desired a patent of
some lands in Massachusetts Bay to plant upon, who
presenting the names of honest and religious men easily
obtained their first desires ; but, these being once gotten,
they used other means to advance themselves a step from
beyond their first proportions to a second grant surrep-
titiously gotten of other lands also justly passed unto some
of us, who were all thrust out by these intruders that had
exorbitantly bounded their grant from east to west
through all that mainland from sea to sea. . . . But here-
with not yet being content, they obtained unknown to us,
a confirmation of all this His Majesty, by which means
they did not only enlarge their first extents . . . but
wholly excluded themselves from the public government
of the Council authorized for those affairs, and made
1930.] MATTHEW CRADOCK AND THE CHARTER. 35
themselves a free people." After a fruitless struggle to
secure the revocation of the Massachusetts charter, the
unwieldy Great Council for New England surrendered
its own in 1635.
We have mentioned that Roger Conant moved from
Cape Ann to Naumkeag in 1626. He had with him
three other " honest and prudent men." At about this
time the Dorchester Adventurers, having expended their
capital to no profit, dissolved their company and sold
their shipping, but John White, who has justly, I think,
been called " the Father of New England colonization "
and who had primarily in mind, not financial gain, but
to make the services of religion accessible to fishermen
in New England waters, promised Conant and his com-
panions a patent and men, provisions and goods for trade
with the Indians. It was in seeking to make good this
promise that Mr. White interested John Endicott and
five others in securing the council grant. This group of
six men has been called the Dorchester Company, and it
had preparations under way to send out Endicott even
before the council had granted them a patent. Endicott
sailed in June, 1628, and reached Naumkeag in early
September. At first the " old planters " were disposed to
question the claims of Endicott and his company. The
new name, Salem, commemorates the amicable settlement
of the dispute. Later that same fall preparations were
made for a settlement at Mishawum, now Charlestown.
The following summer, that of 1629, the settlement of
Salem was reinforced by the arrival of the Higginson
party, making a group of about three hundred, one-third
of whom were at Charlestowai.
In July and August of 1629, an ecclesiastical organi-
zation w^as affected, the tercentenary of which was com-
memorated in Salem in 1928. The procedure is inter-
esting and, because it is apparently the same as was
followed in later local settlements in Massachusetts and
shows the basis of the churches of today of the congre-
gational polity, I quote from Palfrey's " History of New
36 MATTHEW CRADOCK AND THE CHARTER. [Dec.
England": "A day (July 20) was appointed for the choice
of a pastor and a teacher, and after prayer, fasting, and a
sermon, Mr. Skelton was chosen to the former ofifice, and
Mr. Higginson to the latter. Having accepted the trust,
they were set apart to it with simple solemnity. Mr.
Higginson and three or four of the gravest men laid
their hands on Mr. Skelton's head and prayed, and then
for the consecration of Mr. Higginson the same service
was repeated by his colleague. The next step was to
gather a church, or society of communicants. Mr. Higgin-
son drew up a confession of faith and church covenant
according to scripture, of which copies were delivered to
thirty persons. . . . The day appointed for it having
arrived (August 6), the two ministers prayed and preached.
Thirty persons assented to the covenant and associated
themselves as a church, and the ministers, whose dedica-
tion to the sacred office had appeared incomplete till it
was made by a church constituted by mutual covenant,
were ordained to their respective offices by the imposi-
tion of hands of some of the brethren appointed by the
church."
In the very months of July and August of 1629 when
these measures for a church organization — self-constituted
and self-governing — were being put into effect, steps
were being taken in England which were to result in a
state organization which, if not self-constituted, was in
practice from the first self-governing. The charter to
the governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New
England passed the seals on March 4, 1629. Powerful
influence-^ had secured the charter; purposes broader
than appeared on the surface were entertained; and the
England of that year, in conditions economic, political,
and religious, was favorable to the realization of these
purposes. In England there was much unemployment
and wide-spread poverty. About one hundred and eighty
out of the three hundred who went with Endicott in
1628 were bondmen. The parliament which had forced
the Petition of Rights upon an unwilling king had just
1930.] MATTHEW CRADOCK AND THE CHARTER. 37
been prorogued. No parliament was to be called for
eleven years, the longest period without a parliament in
England since parliaments were established. The hard-
won rights of Englishmen seemed lost. The leaders of
the Puritans could find no legal remedy. It was the
period of ship money and forced loans. All publications
were under the king's control. Civil liberty was threatened
through the court of the Star Chamber, and religious
conformity sought in the power of the court of the High
Commission. What wonder, then, that to the minds of
some of the leading Puritans the idea came to leave the
land where freedom was being denied and to seek it in a
new land ? When this purpose was first concerted is un-
certain. The Company of Massachusetts Bay was formed
primarily for purposes of trade, but all of its leaders were
Puritans.
Let me mention important powers granted by the
charter. It gave power to the freemen of the company
to elect annually from their own number a governor,
deputy-governor, and eighteen assistants, and to make
laws and ordinances, not repugnant to the laws of Eng-
land, for their own benefit and for the government of
persons inhabiting their territory. Authority was granted
to admit new associates and to fix the terms of their ad-
mission. As all earlier English charters had done, it
provided that all subjects should enjoy all liberties of
free and natural subjects, as if they were within the realm.
No mention was made of religious liberty. No authority
was given to establish courts, to constitute a house of
deputies, to impose taxes on the inhabitants, to incorpo-
rate towns, colleges or schools. These things were done
and were justified under a general provision authorizing
them " to ordain and establish all manner of wholesome
and reasonable orders, laws, statutes, and ordinances, not
contrary to the laws of this our realm of England."
As has been said, the charter became effective March 4,
1629. Near the last of April a form of organization was
adopted and a government for Endicott's colony at Salem
38 MATTHEW CRADOCK AND THE CHARTER. [Dec.
prepared. On May 13 Matthew Cradock was re-elected
governor; the first officers had been named by the charter
itself. From its inception Cradock seems to have been
interested in the company. The men and goods sent to
Endicott in the spring of 1629 were financed by the
company and Cradock, either equally, or at least one-
third borne by Cradock alone.
On the 28th of July, 1629, Matthew Cradock initiated
a momentous movement, a movement which was destined
to effect the transition of the company from a trading
co-partnership, engaged primarily in the business of fish-
ing, to the beginnings of a political and religious com-
monwealth. At a meeting of the general court of the
company, held at the house of the deputy governor,
Thomas Goffe, in London, Cradock, the record runs,
"read certain propositions, conceived by himself; viz.,
that for the advancement of the plantation, the inducing
and encouraging persons of worth and quality to trans-
port themselves and families thither, and for other weighty
reasons therein contained, to transfer the government of
the plantation to those that shall inhabit there, and not
to continue the same in subordination to the company
here as it now is." As to the "other weighty reasons,"
we can only guess. Perhaps they are of a nature that
to record them would have been unwise. No record, so
far as I know, has been found. This we do know: that
the Puritan cause was in sore straits. Six days after
the grant of the charter, Charles dissolved parliament,
announced that princes were not bound to give account
of their actions but to God alone, and proclaimed his in-
tention of reigning without a parliament. Did the Puri-
tans see in New England an asylum, where courts of the
Star Chamber and of High Commission would find it
difficult to cause them trouble.^* Did these leaders already,
from practical experiences in promoting emigration, ap-
preciate the advantages of a government on the spot and
remote from royal control ?
The company record continues : " By reason of the
1930.] M.4 TTHEW CRADOCK AND THE CHARTER. 39
many great and considerable consequences thereon de-
pending, it was not now resolved upon ; but those present
are desired privately and seriously to consider thereof,
and to set down their particular reasons in writing /r^^/
co7itra, and to produce the same at the next General Court;
where they being reduced to heads, and maturely con-
sidered of the Company may then proceed to a final reso-
lution thereon ; and in the meantime they are desired to
carry this business secretly that the same be not divulged."
These measures for "private and serious consideration,"
for reasons in writing, and for secrecy, prove the im-
portance and boldness of Cradock's proposal. They were
to do more than colonize ; they were to enter upon the
high enterprise, as Robert C. Winthrop puts it, " of self-
government, of virtual independence."
Doubtless there were many hours of serious delibera-
tion and consultation during the month of August. For,
two days before the August meeting of the general court,
the so-called Cambridge Agreement was drawn up and
signed by twelve of those who proposed to migrate,
among whom we find John Winthrop. This famous
agreement is chiefly a mutual pledge " to pass the seas
(under God's protection) and to inhabit and continue in
New England," with the important proviso " that the last
of September next, the whole government, together with
the patent for the said plantation, be first, by an order of
court legally transferred and established to remain with us
and others which shall inhabit upon the said plantation."
At the regular monthly meeting of the general court
of the company on August 28, two days after the Cam-
bridge Agreement was signed, the deputy-governor, in
the absence of Governor Cradock, stated to the court
" that the especial cause of their meeting was to give
answer to divers gentlemen, intending to go into New
England, whether or no the chief government of the
Plantation, together with the patent, should be settled in
New England, or here." Two committees were chosen to
present the arguments, one "for" and the other "against"
40 MATTHEW CRADOCK AND THE CHARTER. [Dec.
the proposition. These two committees were to confer
together the next morning and later report. They met,
debated, and after a long discussion in the presence of
the company, the deputy put the question in these words:
"As many of you as desire to have the patent and the
government of the Plantation to be transferred to New
England, so it may be done legally, hold up your hands;
so many as will not, hold up your hands." Then the
record continues: " When, by erection of hands it ap-
peared by the general consent of the Company that the
government and patent should be settled in New Eng-
land, and accordingly an order be drawn up."
Was this action portentous? Is this act the planting
of the seed of independence even before the mother coun-
try has been left behind ? The spirit of the founders of
Massachusetts is closely akin to the spirit of the revolu-
tionary fathers. Cradock's act, "conceived by himself,"
may well be considered the very first step in the long
series of events which produced the United States of
America.
The meetings of the company during September and
October were devoted to the many necessary arrange-
ments in effecting the transfer. On the 20th of October,
1629, Governor Cradock presided for the last time. The
records read thus: "And now the court, proceeding to
the election of the new Governor Deputy, and Assistants,
— which, upon serious deliberation, hath been and is
conceived to be for the special good and advancement of
the affairs; and having received extraordinary and great
commendations of Mr. John Winthrop, both for his in-
tegrity and sufficiency, as being one every way fitted and
accomplished for the place of Governor, did put in nomi-
nation for that place the said Mr. John Winthrop, Sir
Richard Saltonstall, Mr. Isaac Johnson and Mr. John
Humphrey; and the said Mr. Winthrop was, with a gen-
eral vote, and full consent of the court, bv erection of
hands, chosen to be Governor for the ensuing year, to
begin on the present day ; who was pleased to accept
J930.] MATTHEW CRADOCK AND THE CHARTER. 41
thereof, and thereupon took the oath to that place
appertaining."
Cradock remained in the company as one of the as-
sistants, and after the transfer of the charter to Massa-
chusetts, became one of the group associated in its support
and known as the Board of Undertakers. These men
hoped, through appropriation of land and some advan-
tages of trade, to leave some opportunity of compensation
for the money expended. In this they were disappointed.
Cradock himself, in 1640, disclosed his true spirit and
that of his associates in England Vvhen he wrote to the
general court: "I am beholden to the Court and I heartily
thank them for easing me in the country rates this last
year. Truly as I once delivered to a full board at counsel
table, so I have great cause to acknowledge God's good-
ness and mercy to me in enabling me to undergo what I
have and do suffer by New England . . . and, if my
heart deceive me not, I joy more in the expectation that
good will come to others there, when I shall be dead and
gone, than I grieve for my own losses, though they have
been very heavy and great."
After four or five months of busy preparation, all was
ready for the great emigration. In eleven ships the
governor and company were to cross the sea with the
ark of the covenant, the palladium of their liberties, their
charter. The ship upon which Winthrop and most of
the leading men were had been named the Lady Arbella,
but may we not hope that traces of its former name, the
Eagle, still survived? It were indeed fitting that an eagle,
our national emblem, bring to our shores the earliest
germs of political independence.
On June 12, old st3de — June 22, as we reckon now —
the charter in the hands " of men of substance and posi-
tion, experienced in affairs, financed by their own means,
numerous, well-equipped and self-supporting," reached
these shores. It is the foremost date in this year of 1630.
And the successful transfer of the charter ought, in my
opinion, to be the outstanding feature commemorated in
this tercentenary year.
42 MATTHEW CRADOCK AND THE CHARTER. [Dec.
The summer of 1630 thus marks the establishment of
a colony which differed from any that had preceded it in
the new world "in its inception, in its character, manage-
ment, and personnel, as well as in its chartered rights
and privileges." The colony soon outnumbered all the
other English settlements combined. It expanded almost
at once into a full-fiedged political community, conscious
of its own strength. As VVoodrow Wilson said, " almost
unobserved by the powers in London, it erected some-
thing very like a separate state on the new continent."
There were dangers in this course, both from England
and from within. We find Cradock in England called
upon to produce the charter. The authorities were
amazed to learn of its transfer to America. Cradock
transmitted the demands of the Privy Council to Win-
throp and Winthrop then inaugurated his policy, which
was to prove effective, a policy found in his statement
that he proposed " to avoid and delay." But Cradock in
England was summoned into court on quo warra7ito pro-
ceedings, made default, and judgment was given that he
should be convicted of the usurpation charged, and that
the franchise should be taken and seized into the king's
hands, " the said Matthew not to intermeddle with, and
be excluded the use thereof, and to answer to the king
for said usurpation." A theocracy was created by the
adoption in general court, on May 18, 163 1, of a religious
test for the franchise, " to the end the body of commons
may be preserved of honest and good men, ordered and
agreed, that, for the time to come, no man shall be ad-
mitted to the freedom of this body politic, but such as
are members of some of the churches within the limits
of the same." This was a bold if necessary measure. Its
purpose was, I think, primarily political, in that it was
thought to afford the surest means to retain control of
the colony in the hands of those who were in sympathy
with the original pantentees.
In the first quarterly general court held in Boston on
October 19, 1630, it was determined that the freemen
i930.] MATTHEW CRADOCK AND THE CHARTER. 43
should choose eighteen assistants, and that the assistants
in turn should choose the governor and the deputy-
governor. But a year and a half later, on the 9th of May,
1632, the election of governor and deputy was also opened
to the freemen.
The population increased so rapidly that it became
impossible to have a primary assembly of all the freemen,
and in 1634 a representative assembly was devised after
the model of the old English county court. The repre-
sentatives sat for townships and were called deputies,
At first they sat in the same chamber with the assistants.
but in 1644 the legislative body was divided into two
chambers. It would be interesting to tell in detail of the
contest between these two legislative bodies on the ques-
tion of what was called " the negative voice," which had
its beginning in the disputed ownership of a stray pig,
and which ended in the establishment of the principle
that each body possessed a negative on the legislative
acts of the other, a principle now nearly overthrown in
England, but still a vital part of our bicameral system in
both state and nation.
I have tried to tell the story of the events of three
hundred years ago, in which Matthew Cradock had a
leading part. It is the story of the transformation of a
king's grant into a constitution, without the change of a
single word. But the government under that constitution
was not at first democratic, it was not even republican,
since hardly more than one in live of the male inhabitants
possessed the suffrage. A House of Commons in 1630,
had there been one, would not have been democratic, and
this would have been true of a House of Commons in
1880. But in Massachusetts the suffrage widened con-
tinuously under the original charter, under the province
charter, and under the only constitution this state has
ever had. The chain is unbroken. And if it be shown,
as I think it could be, that the Constitution of the Com-
monwealth of Massachusetts influenced the framers of
the Federal Constitution more than that of any other
44 KEMIAISCENCES FROM UPPER MEDFORD. [Dec.
State, we may truly say that out of the tiny seed planted
by Matthew Cradock when he presented certain proposi-
tions " conceived by himself," has come the constitutional
government of the United States, a government whose
powers are adapted to the interests of its people and to
the maintenance of individual liberty in
"A land of settled government,
A land of just and old renown,
Where Freedom broadens slowl)' down
From precedent to precedent."
REMINISCENCES FROM UPPER MEDFORD.
Thomas Symmes, sixth generation, second son of Cap-
tain John and Elizabeth (Wright) Symmes, born at
Symmes corner March 30, 1783, married Sarah Lloyd
Wait, daughter of Nathan Wait of Medford.
He was killed in the woods in December, 181 1, by a
sled load of logs slewing against a large tree and crush-
ing him. When searching parties found him, about eight
o'clock in the evening, the yoke of oxen were standing
quietly chewing their cuds. They had apparently stopped
at his word of command just as the heavy load crashed
against the tree and ended his life.
This happened at Christmas, on the old wood road
which led down from Turkey swamp through the valley
which is now flooded by the waters of the south reservoir,
and followed Meeting-house brook as nearly as the rugged
nature of the land would allow to Winthrop square. Mr.
Symmes was hauling the wood to his home in Medford.
Turkey swamp was a heavily wooded section, noted
in the earliest days of the settlements for the great white-
pine forests which covered most of its area. It is now
the middle reservoir of Winchester's water system, a lake
of fifty-eight acres surface measurement.
The spot where the tragedy took place was very near
the hut where Hannah Shiner, the last Medford Indian,
1931.] REMINISCENCES FROM UPPER MEDFORD. 45
lived. This is near the easterly end of the causeway, or
dam, and road which separates the middle and south
reservoirs, and quite near the overflow or spillway of the
middle reservoir.
So far as I know there is no exact record of the years
when Hannah Shiner lived near Turkey swamp, but
while living there she occasionally came to the black-
smith shop at Symmes corner to have her axe sharpened,
and once, at least, my grandfather, Marshall Symmes,
Senior, welded a new cutting edge to the head of the
axe, tempered and sharpened it with his best skill. The
Indian woman had nothing with which to pay him, nor
did he expect pay, but a few weeks later she brought to
him, at the shop, three fat puppies.
The story of the death of this lonely and last Indian
of the Nipmuc tribe as handed down is, that on the night
of the great September storm, in the year 1815, she was
blown or fell into the Aberjona River, near the Converse
bridge, at what is now Winchester center.
It may interest older residents of Medford to know that
the second daughter of Thomas Symmes, Eliza Ann,
married Henry Withington, the famous baker who sup-
plied for years all the surrounding country with Medford
crackers.
Up to the year 1870 a large area near the south dam
of the Winchester reservoir was covered with a heavy
growth of white pine, one stand of several acres was so
dense that sunlight could not reach the ground. That
winter my grandfather sold at auction the standing tim-
ber on a twenty-five acre lot. This was an old-fashioned
wood auction. At noon Medford crackers, cheese and
hot coffee were served free to all. The memory of that
luncheon has staid with me for sixty years. I was twelve
years old that fall and carried a red flag all day at the
auction, shifting from the corner of one lot to the next
as the sale progressed.
Sometime during the year 1867 a man was discovered
living as a hermit in a dugout on the eastern slope of the
46 TERCENTENARY YEAR. [Dec.
hill facing Meeting-house brook not far south of the
present dam. He lived there till 1870, when most of the
wood was cut off and the owners of the land destroyed
his hut and drove him away. It was in the old garden
of the hermit, in 1872, that a great Texas long-horn steer
was shot. For several years these great cattle were
driven over the roads to slaughter houses. Ten of them
broke away from a drove near the Oak Grove Cemetery
and were later killed in the woods. When running wild
they were dangerous, so much so that the legislature
passed a bill forbidding any one turning them loose on
any highway. They often had a spread of horns from
six to eight feet. I pulled the one that was shot in the
hermit's garden out through the woods to an old road
with a horse. The animal's horns were so long that they
caught on tree trunks and we couldn't go on till the horn
was lifted around the obstruction.
— SAMUEL S. SYMMES.
TERCENTENARY YEAR.
The Tercentenary year has passed. From Province-
town to Plymouth where the Pilgrims landed, where the
breaking waves dashed high (or were said to), from Salem
to Charlestown and Boston, where Puritan Wentworth
came with the charter, thence through the state, follow-
ing the Bay path, then westward by the Mohawk trail to
the Berkshires and through the Connecticut valley, have
been enacted scenes of historic interest worthy of the
event celebrated — the beginning of a new England in a
wilderness hitherto unknown. Many educative lessons
have been taught, historic events portrayed, and pageants
given. Medford has not been backward in this work,
and these words of a Medford speaker of twenty-five years
ago, "When in 1930 the bright June days shall come
Medford will fittingly observe its three hundredth birth-
day," have proven true. Also these words: "some girl
S931.5 OUR ILLUSTRATION, 47
whose talent, musical or literary, shall bring her fame."
Let the pageant tell the story, and later let MzV tell —
the great four-mile, four-hour parade of cosmopolitan
Medford that closed by the streets' lights and the crescent
moon. Then in November, in the hall of the First Parish,
was reproduced the " Old Medford Town Meeting," and
the women's indignation meeting thereabout, both carried
out by the young people of the Parish. The old Puritan
costumes, " body of seats," the town clerk with his ink-
horn and quills, ballots of corn and beans, true to life as
in the records, were portrayed. Fame to the " girl."
There were no beans cast, for the men had "humble pie."
OUR ILLUSTRATION.
It might well have been called in the 1820s the Execu-
tive Mansion, for in it resided the governor of Massachu-
setts, John Brooks. Of what occupied its site prior to
its erection we cannot say, nor yet can we say just what
time it was built. It stood on the site of the present
Medford Savings Bank.
In various views of Medford square it may be seen,
but in none so clearly as in this illustration, which is re-
produced from that in the Usher History, made from an
authentic photograph then taken. We know of no other
reproduction. In it the governor must have resided at
the time of his first election, and there a great company
gathered to escort him, riding on horseback, to his in-
auguration in Boston. (See Register, Vol. XVII, p. 9.)
Just prior to the erection of the bank this house was
sold to Walter Bates, who intended removing it over the
river, down Main street to the old branch canal basin,
but found that impracticable and the house was de-
molished. After this, the Medford Savings Bank erected
" the last word in construction," which was its home
until in recent years it gave place to the present larger
structure.
48 [Dec.
MEDFORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
0tUttts (or tijc gear 1931.
President.
MRS. RUTH DAME COOLIDGE.
Telephone, Mystic 0030. 7 Hastings Lane.
Vice-Presidents.
WILSON FISKE. HARRY E. WALKER.
EVERETT W. STONE. CHARLES H. PHINNEY.
Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer.
THOMAS M. CONNELL.
Telephone, Mystic 3571 -M. 10 Tainter Street.
Recording Secretary.
MRS. lONE T. SYLVLV.
Telephone, Mystic 0238-W. 32 Gleason Street.
Directors.
EDWARD J. GAFFEY. CHARLES T. DALY.
RICHARD B. COOLIDGE. HALL GLEASON.
EDWARD B. ROLLINS. MISS KUTH LAWRENCE.
MRS. EMMA M. GRAY.
Librarian and Curator.
MISS MARY H. DAVIS.
OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS OF MEDFORD.
By Hall Gleason.
(Continued from Medford Historical Register, September, 1930.)
1S50. Sachem of Boston. Ship, 772 tons. Owners, Benjamin C. White and Henry H. Jones,
et al., of Boston. Built by Jotham Stetson. Boston to New Orleans. Wrecked on
the Gingerbread Ground March 27, 1854.
Gentoo. Ship, 747J^ tons. Owners, John E. Lodge & Co., 1850. Registered June 9,
1854, William W. Goddard. Built by Samuel Lapham. Lost December, 1876.
Union of Boston. Ship. 688 tons. Owners, Mackay & Coolidge, et al., of Boston.
Registered Boston, May 12, 1853, Robert C. Mackay of Boston. Built by Samuel
Lapham. Sold British Acct. October, 1863.
Hemisphere of N. Y. Ship, 940 tons. Owner. Jotham Parsons of N. Y. Built by
Hayden & Cudworth. Hailed from N. Y. Foundered November 22, 1867, in lat.
2° N., long. 17° W., while bound for Liverpool from Bassein.
Isabella. Bark. 354 tons. Owners, Lombard & Hall. Built by Hayden & Cudworth.
Smyrna for Boston. Stranded near Cape Spartel and went to pieces in a gale Novem-
ber 11, 1855.
Sumter. Bark, 383 tons. Owners, Lombard & Hall and Ryder & Hardy, ei al., of Bos-
ton. Built by Hayden & Cudworth.
G. E. Webster. Bark, 354 tons. Owners, Reed & W' ade. Built by Hayden & Cud-
worth. N. Y. to S. F. 112 days, arrived January 26, 1851. Boston to S. F. 218 days,
arrived July 3, 1852. Boston to S. F. 142 days, arrived August 2, 1853.
1930.] OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS. 49
1850. Kremlin. Bark. 470 tons. Owners, Craft & Co., 18S0. Registered July 6, 1853. James
Hunnewell and Charles Brewer. Remastered May 8, 1854, Ttiompson & Davidson.
Sold to John E. Lodge & Co. December, 18.%. Sold to John S. Emery & Co. Octo-
ber, 1862. Sold to E. P. Emerson May, 1S6V. Built by Paul Curtis. Wrecked on
Saranac Keys, W. I„ March 22, 1870, while bound for Cienfuenos, Cuba, in ballast
from .Aspinwall.
Shirley. Ship, 910 tons. Owners, George Pratt of Boston and Ebenezer A. Shaw of
Quincy. Registered October 4, 1852, Stone, Silsbee, and sold Salem Pickman of
Salem. Built bv Paul Curtis. Sold S. F. in 1872, Towed to Alaska in 1897 and con-
verted into a hotel.
Mohawk. Bark, 420 tons. Owner, J. P. Macy, Nantucket. Mass. Purchased from
New Bedford parties November, 1863, by M. Bartlett. Built by James O. Curti.s.
Name changed to Minna. Nidaros. Last report 1879.
J. H. Jarvis. Ship, 680 tons. Owners. Snow & Rich, Boston. Built by James O.
Curtis.
Shooting Star.* Extreme clipper ship, 903 tons. Owners, Reed & Wade of Boston.
Built by James O, Curtis. San Francisco to Shanghai 35 days. Canton to Boston
86 days in 1852. N. Y. to S. F. 142 days, arrived August 14, 1851. Boston to S. F.
105 days, arrived August 17, 1852. N. Y. to S. F. 121 days, arrived .August 16, 1853.
N. Y. to S. F. 115 days, arrived July 15, 1855. Cirrnmnavigated the globe in 264 sail-
ing days. Sold to a merchant of Siam in 18<)2. \\ recked on coast of Formosa in 1867.
* First California clipper ship built in Medford.
Paragon. Bark, 3,50 tons. Owners, David Train, ^/ rt/., of Nantucket. Built by James
O. Curtis, Wrecked on Strong's Island March 20, 18,53, while whaling.
Beerings. Bark, 380 tons. Owner. W. H, Boardman, Boston. Built by J. T. Foster.
Trimountain of Boston. Ship. 10315^ tons. Owner, John H. Pearson of Boston Built
by Joshua T. Foster. Sold to N. Y. Sold October. 1864. Tonnage new law (1301.04),
For loss see newspaper, February 22. 1880, Abandoned, sinking, February 13, 1880,
voyage N. Y. to Bremen.
President. Ship, 1021^2 tons. Owner.':, William Bramhall and Thomas Howe of Boston.
Built by John Taylor. While lying at anchor at St. John, N. B., with a cargo of deals
for Liverpool, she dragged ashore during a gale October 2,5, 1853, and became a total
wreck.
1851, Rajah Walla. Steamer, 562 tons. Built by Samuel Lapham. Owner, Cassius Darling
of Boston.
Georgianna. Bark, 230 tons. Owners, W. B.Reynolds, ,?/ a/. Built by Samuel Lapham.
Coringa. Ship, 737 tons. Owners, N. and B. Goddard of Boston. Registered April 22.
18SS, Benjamin A. Gould and John A. Blanchard. Built bv J. Stetson. Owned by
Charles Brewer & Co. when lost. Boston to S. F. 132, 150 and 15S days. Collided
with a schooner forty miles off Cape .Ann, sinkini; her and losing her own cutwater
and headgear, in 1852. Chartered by the Tudors for ice trade to China after being
rigged as a bark. Singapore for Bangkok. Wrecked on Patani November 15, 1880.
Three lives lost,
Samuel Lawrence of Boston. Ship, 1053 tons. Owners, Andrew T. Hall, <?/ a/., of
Boston. Built by Paul Curtis. Sold Brittish Acct. April, 1862, and renamed I'an-
guard.
Syren. Medium clipper ship, 1064 tons. Owners, Silsbee & Pickman, Salem. Sold
Boston, 1856, and registered May 17, ISSS, James Hunnewell and Charles Brewer.
Built by lohn Tavlor, Boston to S. F. 141 davs, arrived November 18, 1851. N. \ .
toS. F. 118 days, arrived December 23, i;S.52. N. Y. to S. F. l,?0davs, arrived March
30. 1854. In 1861 she was 103 days from S. F. to Boston. Boston to S. F. 132 days,
arrived J[une 4, 18.55. Condemned at Rio Janeiro. She was repaired and as the bark
Margarida of Buenos Aires is listed in Lloyds of 1928.
John Taylor. Screw steamer, IWA tons. Owner, J. Torsfiff. Built by John Taylor.
Telegraph. Extreme clipper ship, 1078tons. Owners. Phineas Sprague & Co.. Boston.
BuiltbvJ.O. Curtis. Arrived S. F. November 1.5, 185). from N. Y. in 125days. Agam
March 10, 1S5). again April 16, 1854, and again April 19, 1855, from Boston in 114, l.^.->
and 109 days respectively. Valparaiso to Golden Gate in .34 days, fastest time on
record. Sold to Savannah October, 1855, and rena.meA Henry Brighain, Burned
at sea in 1868.
Susan Hinks. Ship. 700 tons. Owners, Snow & Rich, Boston. David Snow & Co.,
successors. Sold to Nickerson & Co. about 1S60. Sold to Captain Arey and others
March, 1870. Built by J. O. Curtis. Put into Carthagena, '^pain, in distress while
bound for Boston from Leghorn and was condemned June, 1871.
Antelope. Medium clipper ship, 507 tons. Owners, William Lincoln & Co., 1851.
Built by J. O. Curtis. Sold to N. Y, parties June. 18^5. Bangkok f'lr Hong Kong.
Wrecked on Discovery Shoal, Paracels Reef, China Sea, .August 6. 1858 "Captain
Clarke, with four passengers and thirteen seamen left the ship in one boat, while
50 OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DA YS. [Dec, 1930.]
1851. the mate, one seaman and ten Chinese passensrers took the other. Four days later
Captain Clarke fell in with a Chinese hshiny^ boat and offered its inmates S'26 to tow
him to a place where he could refill his water casks. They agreed, but it was soon
evident that they were not keepinu faith. So Captain Clarke cut the tow rope and
endeavored to escape, but the Chinese pursued and attacked the boat with stones,
compelling surrender, as tlie shipwrecked crew were without means of resistance.
The boat was robbed of everything of value, two of the Chinese, armed with spears,
standing Ruard ; but the attention of the pirates being distracted while dividing the
plunder, two of the ."American seamen sprang aboard the Chinese craft and succeeded
in dispatching all her crew. Captain Clarke, who attempted to follow his men, fell
between the boats but was rescued. The junk was well provided with rice and water,
and a course was steered for Hong Kong, and that port was reached on .August 14th."
City of Boston. Screw steamer, 600 tons. Owners, P. Sprague & Co. of Boston. Built
by J. O. Curtis for above.
Napoleon. Ship, t.75 tons. Owners, Thomas Lamb, et al. Built by J. T. Foster.
Sold to Norwegian hccX. May, 1S63. Last report 18V3.
Caroline. Ship, 740 tons. Owner, James Wellsman of Charleston, S. C. Built by J.
T. Foster.
Polar Star. Ship, 667 tons. Owner, John H. Pearson of Boston. Built by J. T. Foster.
Sold to N. Y. parties March, 1865.
Chester. Bark, 242 tons. Owners, J. H. Pearson, eiat. Built by J. T. Foster for
above.
Hamlet. Ship, 1099 tons. Owners, Howes & Crowell. Built by Hayden & Cudworth.
Sold to Salem parties. Put under the British flag. Wrecked on Nauset Beach, Cape
Cod, February 13, 1866, during a fog while bound for Boston from Calcutta with
East India goods.
John Wade. Medium clipper ship, 678 tons. Owners, Reed & Wade. Sold to J. J.
Di.xwell, of the "Augustine Heard Line," in the China trade, June, 1854. Built by
Hayden & Cudworth. Sold to a China House. Boston to S. F. 1,31 davs, arrived
January 14. 1852. N. Y. to S. F. 117 days, arrived January 8. 185.S. Boston to S. F.
119 davs, arrived December 22, 1853. Bangkok for Hong Kong. Struck a rock March
29, 1859. lat. 10° 40' N., long. 101° 48' E.. Gulf of Siam. and was abandoned.
Ocean Eagle. Ship, 597 tons. Owners, E. and William H. Pangs. Registered No-
vember 30, 1855, Jacob C. and William C. Rogers, et al., of Boston. Built by Hay-
den & Cudworth. Sold May, 1867.
Edisto. Bark, 365 tons. Owners, Lombard & Hall of Boston, et al. O. K. 18,=;9. B. F.
Flinn, f/ a/. Built by Hayden & Cudworth. .Abandoned December 12. 18f),\ lat.
36° 15' N.. long. 63° 20' W., in a sinking condition while bound for Celte from N. Y.
Olive Branch. Schooner, 85 tons. Owners, J. P. Crocker, f/ a/., of Yarmouth. Built
by Hayden & Cudworth.
Dauntless. Extreme clipper ship, 791 tons. Owner, William W. Goddard of Boston,
who also designed her. Built by B. F. Delano for above. Boston to S. F. 116 days,
arrived February 11, 1853. Sailed from Boston October 23, 1853, for Valparaiso,
Chili, and was never heard from.
Rocket. Bark, 396 tons. Owners, William W. Goddard. Boston, William F. Weld &
Co., 1869. Built by B. F. Delano. Boston to S. F. 150 days, arrived January 10. 1853.
Sold to Baltimore January, 1853. Rio de Janeiro to S. F. 127 days, arrived June 19,
1&55. Sold to N. Y. parties October, 1854. Last report 1887.
Courser. Medium clipper ship, 1,000 tons. Owner, A. Richardson, Boston. Built by
P. Curtis. Boston to S. F. 108 davs, arrived April 28. 1852. From ,50° S. in the
Pacific to the Equator 19 days. (Best time 16 days.) N. Y. to S. F. 137. 1.36 and 145
days. Cape of Good Hope to Sandv Hook .38 days, the record to that time. Foo
Chow for N. Y. .April 4, 18.58, wrecked on Pratas Shoal. Crew escaped in three boats,
after being iired upon by some junks which they mistook for fishermen, and their
boat upset. After being stripped of everything they managed to right their boat,
bale her out and find their way to Hong Kong. Captain Cole was in command, and
anxiety and vexation brought on a fever from which he died.
1852. Phantom. Medium clipper ship, 1174 tons. Owners, Crocker & Sturgis of Boston and
Crocker & Warren of N. Y. Owned later bv D. G. & W. B. Bacon of Boston.
Built by S. Lapham. Boston to S. F. 105 davs. N. Y. to London 20 davs, return .30
days. N. Y. to S. F. 121 days, arrived February 2,3, 18,55. N. Y. to S. F. 102 days,
arrived April 29, 1856, after being within 800 miles of destination for eight days with
light winds. N. Y. to S. F. 125 days, arrived June 21. 1858. Hong Kong to S. F. 33
days, 22 hours, pilot to pilot within two days of the record, arrived May 6, 1862.
Wrecked on Pilot Reef off Pratas Shoal. Crew and passengers left in five boats.
Captain Sargent, with those in his boat and .?50,576 in gold, arrived at Shanghai.
Two boats were captured by pirates and their crews were ransomed by Chinese mer-
chants for$25 each. Captain Peterson, who commanded her for five voyages, claimed
she had never been beaten on a wind by any vessel.
THE
Medford Historical
Register
Vol. XXXIV, 193 1
PUBLISHED BY THE
MEDFORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Medford, Mass.
MEDFORD
J. C. MILLER, JR., PRINTER
CONTENTS.
No. I.
Retrospection. Thomas M. Co?inell ....
The Medford of Cradock and VVinthrop. Richard
B. Coolidge ........
Notes by the Way. T. M. C. .
Old Ships and Ship-building Days of Medford.
Hall Gleason ........
Officers and Committees of the Society for 1931
Page
I
2
20
22
24
No. 2.
Page
Early Officers of Medford Co-operative \
"•^^*^ ....... V Frontispiece
New Home of Medford Co-operative Bank J
The Medford Co-operative Bank. Frank W.
Lover ing ......
A Tercentenary Poem. Marion Nottage
Elizur Wright .....
Historic Markers ....
A Timely Excerpt ....
Notes by the Way ....
Old Ships and Ship-building Days of
Hall Gleason .....
Medford
Present Officers of Medford Co-operative Bank
Facing
25
34
35
37
38
38
39
40
IV CONTENTS.
No. 3.
Page
Thk Old Time Medford Town Meeting. [A Play.]
Wilson Fiske and Ruth Dame Coolidge . . . 41
Notes by the Way. Thomas .)/. Confiell ... 52
Old Ships and Ship-building Days of Medford.
Hall Gleasoti ........ 54
No. 4.
Page
Governor John Brooks .... Frontispiece
Medford and George Washington. Ruth Dame
Coolidge and Richard B . Coolidge .... 57
The Old Time Medford Town Meeting. [A Play.]
Wilson Fiske and Ruth Dame Coolids'e . . . 66
Vol. XXXIV.]
PUBLISHED BY THE.
HEDfORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY
MEDrORQMASSAOIUSETTS
^?SX>J
i&
CONTENTS.
Page
RETROSPECTION. Thomas M. Conne II 1
THE MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND WINTHROP. Richard
B, Coolidge 2
NOTES BY THE WAY. T.M.C, 20
OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS OF MEDFORD.
Hall Gleason 22
OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES OF THE SOCIETY FOR 1931 24
Entered as second-class matter, under the act of July 16, 1894,
Medford Station, Boston, Massachusetts.
Meetings of the Society at the Society's home, 10 Governors
Avenue, on third Mondays at 8.00 P.M., from
October to May inclusive.
MEDFORD HISTORICAL REGISTER.
Published quarterly (March, June, September, and December)
BY THE
Medford Historical Society,
AT
No. 10 Qovernors Avenue, Medford, Mass.
Sabscription price, &1.50 a year, postpaid. Single copies, 40 cents.
Por sale at the Society Rooms and by the Treasurer.
Publication Committee.
HARRY E. WALKER, JOSEPH C. MILLER, MOSES W. MANN,
THOMAS M. CONNELL, CHARLES T. DALY.
Editor, MOSES W. MANN.
Exchange list in charge of Thomas M. Connell, io Tainter Street.
FORM OF BEQUEST.
I give and bequeath to the Medford Historical Society, in
the city of Medford, Mass., the sum of Dollars for
the general use and purposes of said Society.
(Signed)
J. C. MILLBR, JR., PRINTER, MBDFORD.
The Medford Historical Register.
Vol. XXXIV. MARCH, 1931. No.!.
RETROSPECTION.
THE deep lush grass o'er spreading marsliland grows,
Salt-tanged by season's over-fiowing tides;
The river runs its placid course to sea.
The cocks of hay, which thrifty folk did reap,
Against the time of Winter's hungry need.
No more make silhouettes on Autumn sky.
The ring of metal 'neath the hammer's stroke,
The fragrant smell of pitch and pine and oak,
The busy hum of industry are gone.
The ships, staunch built, long since have sailed
To port which has no registry on earth ;
Their serving purpose has enriched ova* store.
The forests felled, from which the timber came.
Have grown anew, with restful leafy shade,
Where one may seek a quiet glade to rest.
The trails, where deer-shod feet in silence trod.
Are highways, wide and winding, smooth and broad;
That follow river's way unto its source.
The City, which three hundred years ago,
The Fathers came with steadfast faith to found.
Reveres their graves, as Nation's holy shrines.
The spires, that rise o'er temples of the Lord,
Show Faith unshaken, as in days of old ;
While bright the torch of Liberty still burns.
Here in the valley, where the Mystic tides
Have ebbed and flowed, through many changing scenes,
Prosperity and full contentment reign.
The magnet of the hearthstone fire has drawn
The best within our gates from ev'ry land ;
To dwell in unity with fellow men.
On Nation's scroll the name of Medford stands.
As one who, with her peers, her heritage
Esteems and shall uphold forevermore.
— Thomas M. Coxxell.
This poem was awarded first prize by the Judgres out of a large number submitted during
the Tercentenary Poem Contest in the Medford Mercury conducted under the supervision of
(he Medford Tercentenary Executive Committee.
^ [March,
THE MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND WINTHROP.
By Hon. Richard B. Coolidge, former Mayor of Medford.
[Delivered at the Riverside Theatre. September 28, 1930, on the occasion of the literary
exercises held by the city of Medford in celebration of the Tercentenary of its settlement. J
THREE hundred years ago, on September 28, 1630,
the Court of Assistants of the Massachusetts Bay
Company assembled at Charlestown. The Court met in
the Governor's house, the " Great House," for which the
gentle Margaret Winthrop had not yet left the manor
house and the primrose hedges of Groton across the At-
lantic in Suffolk. The Governor sat at the head of the
council table, the burden of responsibility for the new
colony showing in his keen, thoughtful face saddened by
the recent loss of his son by drowning at Salem. Near
him was the grim and choleric Thomas Dudley, Deputy
Governor, John Endicott of Salem, courageous and
practical, and six other assistants less known by name.
Hovering in attendance also was the Beadle, James Penn,
awaiting the orders of the Court. A quorum was present
without Sir Richard Saltonstall, the founder of Water-
town, whose title did not save him from a fine of "four
bushells of malte for his absence from the Court."' The
Magistrates met at eight o'clock in the morning for there
were weighty matters requiring their attention.
For our present purpose, the most significant business,
well down the calendar, was the adoption of an order
which read as follows: — " That there shall be collected
and levied by distresse out of the seuall plantacons for
the maintenance of Mr. Patricke and Mr. Underbill the
some of ^50, vz; out of Charlton ^7, Boston £11, Dor-
chestr £y, Rocsbury ^5, Waterton ^11, Meadford ^3,
Salem ^3, Wessaguscus ^2, Nantascett _;^i."''
This is the first mention of Medford in the colony
records and for the reason that the order was made on
September 28, 1630, it is formal proof that Medford then
existed as a settlement.
We meet today to observe the Tercentenary of the
I, Colony Records, Vol. I, page 76; 2, The symbol " £" was not used in the original.
1931.] MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND IVINTHROP. 3
founding of that settlement. In so doing we observe
also the Tercentenary of the founding of the Massachu-
setts Bay Colony, for the events are so related that they
cannot be kept apart.
The planting of Medford, a part of a larger undertak-
ing, grew out of a great unrest that stirred the English
people in the early years of the seventeenth century.
The adventurous voyages of Drake, Raleigh and Smith,
following the discovery of the new world, stirred the
imagination of the peoples, and roused the English to
seize upon the resources and opportunities that waited
on these virgin shores. This was the unrest that was
the spur to new colonies and new ventures
There was an unrest of another kind. The very week
that Charles the First granted the charter to the Massa-
chusetts Bay Company saw the dissolution of Parliament,
and heard with alarm the royal proclamation whereby
the King alone would henceforth govern and inhibit "all
men so much as to speak of a Parliament." Upon the
strong party of English Puritans this royal edict fell with
a chilling pall, for in it they marked the oncoming of an
unequal struggle with the King. Apprehensive of their
outcome, they conceived the plan to establish a place of
refuge beyond the sea and found a new England of their
own. The spiritual adventurers of that day made ready
to embark upon a voyage into a new world of thought.
The Massachusetts Bay Colony grew out of these two
forces.
" Of the trading company that grew into a colony and
the colony into a state,"' the story has lately been told.
Of the granite of the Puritan character and the seams
that marked it, of their high purpose and its sometimes
narrow application, of their vision and their short-sighted-
ness, of their grim conscience and joyless life, but withal
of their great accomplishment, the story has likewise been
repeated.
I shall confine myself to some account of the earliest
I, Bryce, American Commonwealth.
4 MED FORD OF CRADOCK AND WINTHROP. [March,
days of Medford and the life of the times. In any such
account two persons of that distant day loom through
the fog of years, — Winthrop who came to New England,
and Cradock who remained in London. Both were identi-
fied with Medford, — Winthrop because he trod this very
ground, and as Governor of the colony ruled its destiny;
Cradock because Medford was Cradock's plantation and
he its proprietor. Let us then go back to early Medford
upon which the Court of Assistants laid a tax on Septem-
ber 28, 1630.
The plantation which they taxed, in fact existed before
that day.
Stand with Winthrop on the high deck of the Arbella
as the flagship of the Puritan Armada neared its haven.
An ocean voyage of more than nine weeks lay between
their departure from their anchorage off Yarmouth Castle
and their arrival. It was in the early dawn of June 12,
1630, that the Arbella headed into Salem Harbor. As
the ship skirted the coastline the Governor, calm but
expectant in the ship's cabin, penned in his Journal "we
have now fair, sunshine weather, and so pleasant a sweet
air as did much refresh us, and there came a smell off
the shore like the smell of a garden." Such was the wel-
come that the land breeze of that June morning wafted
from the wild strawberries of Cape Ann to the throng at
the ship's rail. To none was the prospect fairer than
to the Lady Arbella Johnson, daughter of the Earl of
Lincoln, as she stood by Winthrop's side. At Salem,
however, there was disillusionment, for the settlement
under Endicott had bread and corn for only a fortnight
and sickness had taken its heavy toll. Within the first
few weeks Lady Arbella herself succumbed and, as
Dudley later wrote to the Countess of Lincoln, " We
began to consult of our place of sitting down, for Salem
where we landed pleased us not."
So it was on Thursday, June 17, that Winthrop wrote,
" We went to Massachusetts to find out a place for our
sitting down. We went up the Mystick about six miles."
1931.] MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND WINTHROP. 0
His heart lightened as he saw the sparkling new world,
the wooded slopes, the green meadows, the winding river
and the restful hills beyond. " We found a good place up
Mystick," he wrote. What place on the Mystick this was
we know not, — perhaps it was the head of navigation.
But in any event it was at Charlestown and not Mystick
that Winthrop took up his abode in the " Great House "
where sat the Court of Assistants. Dudley, in his letter
to the Countess, completes the record. "We were forced,"
he wrote, " to plant dispersedly at Charlestown, Boston,
Watertown, Roxbury, Dorchester, upon the River Saugus,
and some of us upon Mystick, which we named Meadford."
Thus some time between June 12th and September 28
there was established a settlement at Meadford in the
summer of that year.
There is, however, ground to believe that a settlement
existed within the present boundaries of Medford prior
to the summer of 1630. In September, 1628, sixty colo-
nists sent out by the New England Company under John
Endicott as local Governor, established themselves at
Salem.
From Salem, according to the Charlestown records,
three brothers by the name of Sprague, in the summer
of 1629 undertook a journey, and with a small band
travelled the woods about twelve miles to the westward
to a place lying on the northerly side of the Charles
River. " This they found to be a neck of land generally
full of stately timber as was the main and the land lying
on the easterly side of the Mystick River from the farm
Mr. Cradock's servants had planted called Mystick which
the River led up into . . ." From this record, written
within the memory of then living men, it appears that
in 1629 Matthew Cradock had already planted a farm at
Mystick.
Here the name of Cradock first appears in connection
with early Medford. This merchant adventurer of Lon-
don, whose ships had made him rich in the East India
trade, was naturally drawn by the prospect of trade with
6 MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND IVINTHROP. [March,
New England. At the time of his birth the very air of
England was a-thrill with the adventure of voyages to
the new land across the seas. As a boy along the Thames
he saw ships from America discharge their rich cargoes
of fur, and spurred by this fascination of his boyhood he
became a ship owner and traded in distant lands. In
May, 1628, he invested fifty pounds in stock of the New
England Company. In 1629, with Saltonstall and others
he reorganized that company, secured the royal charter
of the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in
New England, became the first Governor, and pledged
two hundred and fifty pounds to the undertaking. On
the eve of sailing he boarded the Arhella at Yarmouth,
bid Winthrop godspeed and was saluted with a salvo
from the ship's battery. He remained in England, but
his influence and interest were great in New England.
That interest existed as early as September, 1628.
Then Endicott in Salem wrote to Cradock in London
of the affairs of the settlement. On May 28, 1629, in a
letter which exists, he directed that Endicott " send our
barke that is already built in the colony to bring back
our fishermen and such provision of salt, if any remainder
there bee and also hooks and lynes & . . ."' Some years
ago there was current a tradition of early ship building
on the north side of the Mystic. If this tradition is linked
to the bark that, by the slow passage of letters, Cradock
knew in May was already built in the colony, there is a
strong lure to believe Cradock's men were settled in Med-
ford in 1628. In the present state of the record, however,
this bark remains a phantom ship, sliding into unidenti-
fied waters and hailing from an unknown port.
We have it, then, that when in 1629 the Sprague party
emerged from the woods upon the farm which Cradock's
servants had planted called Mystick on the east side of
tlie river, they came upon a settlement already existing.
How long before the summer of 1629 that farm stood is
speculation. Perhaps in 1628 it housed the shipwrights
I, Colony Records, Vol. I, page 404.
1931.] MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND WIXTIIROP. i
whose hammers broke the silence of the surrounding
forests as they fashioned the first vessel that dipped into
the Mystick and was lost in the fog of uncertainty in
which three centuries of time have enveloped it.
Between Cradock's town house in St. Swithin's Lane,
London, and his farmhouse of logs in Medford Vv-as the
difference between the settled Old World and the New.
Stretching away from the farm was the wilderness.
Through the clearing it had a glinipse of the Mystic,
across the pond where the ground was marshy near the
square of today. Pasture Hill of later years, near the
point where stands the Center School, then formed
the bank of the river. From that point a gravel beach
extended down toward the present square. Farther down
the river lay the marshes. Following the course of our
Salem Street came the Salem Path by the great barn of
the plantation opposite the site of the present Mystic
Church, along the ^d^^^ of the pond and skirting the
slope of the hill 'to the landing place of the ford, where
the tides of the Mystic rose and fell a full ten feet. From
the landing place the path continued to the west, later
to become the Way to the Weirs. On the opposite side
of the river, but veering away from the marshy land, ran
the path from Charlestown to the ford. To the north of
this farm were the rocks, and beyond them again the
forests which were still the haunt of the hidian and the
wolf.
Meager as it was, by 1633 Cradock's farmhouse was
so well known as to be designated in court proceedings
as " Meadford House." Nevertheless as Wood, the Eng-
lish traveler, wrote of the settlement in the same year,
" Though it is situated very pleasantly by the water side,
ther be not many houses as yet."
In this settlement were but a handful of inhabitants, —
Cradock's men who came prior to 1630 and those of
Winthrop's expedition who joined them in that summer.
Captain John Smith may have been responsible for the
cominor of the earlier settlers. In 1614 Cradock doubtless
b MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND WTNTHROP. [March,
read his description of the new country in which he
observed, " the main Staple from hence to be extracted is
fish." Dried and salted fish was in those days a staple
food product of the Old World, and Cradock sensed a
new and profitable trade. It is this that he had in mind
when he wrote Endicott at Salem of the " Three ships
equiped to fish at the banck with 29 waigh of salt . . .
together with lynes, hookes, knives, boots and barvels
necessary for ffishinge."' Moreover at the head of the
river, as the same observant Wood wrote, were great and
spacious ponds "whither the alewives presse to spawn.
This being a noted place for that kind of fish, the Eng-
lish resort there to take them."
It was in part fishermen who dwelt in Cradock's farm-
house. Others were shipwrights. In the spring of 1629
the company sent over in the Two Sisters, for the joint
account of the company and Cradock, six shipwrights
and a cargo of pitch and tar, cordage, sailcloth and nails.
Wood visited Cradock's plantation in 1633 and the cargo
just referred to confirms his statement of Cradock that
" here likewise he is at charges of building ships." In
1632 he had a ship of one hundred tons on the stocks
and here the year following he built the Rebecca of sixty
tons. All these vessels, it is believed, were built on the
later site of Foster's shipyard, and without ballast floated
over the oyster bank which crossed the channel farther
downstream.
Timber both for ship building and export was at hand
for the felling. Of this, Cradock wrote before the Win-
throp men cams, " There hath not been a better tyme
for sale of tymber these seven years than at present; and
therefore pittye shipps should come back emptye."^
It was in fish, ships and timber that Cradock, the world
trader, sought to turn to profit the resources of the new
land, and these largely occupied the early settlers at his
plantation at Mystic.
Cradock's plantation it remained until his death. In
I, Colony Records, Vol. I, page 404; 2, page 3S4.
1931.] MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND IVLXTIIROP. 9
this first decade and, indeed up to 1684, it never attained
the status of a town but was, in the language of the day,
a Pecuhar, a parish or district having authority to act on
most local legislation, but not to choose a representative
to the General Court. To the north of the river, Cradock
owned all of the land. To the south stretched Win-
throp's Ten Hills Farm. The Weirs at the Mystic they
owned in common. Here in 1637 or 1638 he built at
his own expense the bridge that bears his name, to facili-
tate the increasing traffic to and from his plantation.
From Medford House his agent, Mayhew, managed the
business of the plantation, but not to the profit of its
absentee proprietor. The year 1637 marked the strain-
ing of his patience. In January he wrote Winthrop of
the grief he was put to by "the most vyle bade dealings"
of Mayhew. In February he calculated that about eleven
hundred and fifty pounds should be to his credit but for
Mayhew's extravagances. We sense his indignation in
his words. "My servants write," his letter ran, "they
drink nothing but water, & I have in an account lately
sent me Red Wyne, sack and aquavitae in one year
above 300 gallons, beside many other intollerable abuses,
10 L for tobacco, etc." In March he sought Winthrop's
aid to end Mayhew's authority and observed that he is
much out of pocket by the venture. In 1641 he died,
and the days of Cradock's plantation were over.
Of this early Medford the accounts are scant. Of its
public records there are none, for the settlers were making
history, not writing it. For the public concerns of the
pioneer community struggling to establish itself in a new
land we turn to the records of the Great and General
Court and of the Court of Assistants, both of which
enacted laws and ordinances for the welfare of the com-
pany, the government of the plantation and the people
inhabiting it. What, then, were matters to which they
gave attention in those earliest days ?
The first meeting of the Court of Assistants in New
England was held at Charlestown, August 23, 1630, and
10 MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND IVINTHROP. [March,
the first meeting of the freemen in General Court at
Boston on October 19 of the same year. At this meeting
only ten had the right to vote. To each voter there were
ten others who, without voice in the government, desired
to be made freemen out of about eight hundred persons
settled in the colony.
The settlements were scattered in a region where the
friendliness of the Indians was uncertain, and in the
settlements themselves were hardy adventurers prone to
overstep the conventions of a settled community. Was
it civil government, or Indians or law-breakers to which
the Court gave first heed ?
To none of these temporal concerns did the law-makers,
alert to dangers both from within and from without, give
their first attention. The item of business that stood at
the head of the calendar at the Court held on August 23d
was the maintenance of the ministers, Mr. Philips and
Mr. Wilson. For them, it was ordered that houses should
be built with convenient speed at the public charge. For
Mr. Wilson, whose parish included Medford, and w^io
later owned a large part of Wellington, the Governor
undertook to see that this was done. For him, too, the
Court provided twenty pounds a year "till his wife come
over." To Mr. Philips, whose wife came with him, the
Court, among other items, provided three hogsheads of
meal, one of malt, four bushels of Indian corn and half a
hundred salt fish with twenty pounds for apparel and
other provisions. Thus was the maintenance of the
ministers provided.'
In so doing the law-makers carried out the policy of
the parent company. In April, 1629, Governor Cradock
had sent over to New England an official letter which
contained this declaration : —
" For that theppngating of the gospel is the thing (wee) doe pfess
aboue all to bee or ayme in setling this plantacon, wee haue bin
carefull to make plentyfuU pvision of godly ministers, by whose
faithfull preachings, godly conversacon, and exemplary lyfe, wee
trust, n )t onlt those of or owne nation wil be builtvp in the knowl-
edge of God, but also the Indians. "^
I, Colony Records, Vol. I, page 73; 2, page 386.
1931.] MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND IVIXTHROP. 11
It was at the second meeting of the Court, on Septem-
ber 7th, that the Assistants gave more temporal attention
to the Indians. Here, again, they bore in mind the com-
pany's pohcy. " Yow haue form caution giuen yow," the
same letter proceeds, "to take heede of bceing too secure
in trusting the Indians . . . and that yow may bee the
better able to resist both forraigne enemies and the nati ves,
if ether should assaile yow, wee pray yow lett all such as
Hue under or gounment . . . bee exercised in the use of
aarmes, and certaine tymes appointed to muster them."'
Accordingly Captain Patrick and Captain Underbill
were allowed at the public charge for half a year's pro-
vision, two hogsheads of meal, four bushels of malt, ten
pounds of powder and lead to make shot, also houseroom
and fifteen pounds, twelve shillings in money.'' By com-
parison, the ministers had the advantage in meal, malt
and money, and the military men in powder and lead.
It was for the maintenance of these Captains that the
Medford plantation was first taxed. The men from Mys-
tic, Charlestown, and Newtown held training on the first
Friday of the month at a convenient place about the
Indian wigwams,^ but some were delinquent, for Cradock,
himself, was fined three pounds because at divers times
his men were absent.'*
In Medford, the Company was not put to early use
against the Indians. Sagamore John was friendly. More-
over, it was the policy of the Company, as Cradock wrote,
" that no settler be permitted to do any injury of the least
kind to these heathen people." To this neighboring Saga-
more, Saltonstall, upon order of the Court, paid seven
yards of cloth for damage to the Chieftain's wigwam, and
again a hogshead of corn for damage done by his cattle.^
So scrupulous, in fact, were the colonists that Winthrop
declared there was not one foot of land but was farily
obtained by honest purchase from the Indian proprietors.
Nevertheless, the colonists were on guard, and in Med-
ford, as elsewhere, were forbidden to allow the Indians
I, Colony Records, Vol. I, page 392; 2, page 75; 3, page 90; 4, page ici; 5, pages 84, 102.
12 MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND IVINTHROP. [March,
the use of firearms on any occasion whatever; ' to employ
them as servants without license to the Court,' and to
furnish them strong water.^ On the other hand, in each
plantation, there was provided a trucking house where
the Indians might resort to trade.^ It was not until
1637 that war with the Indians broke out. The General
Court, out of a levy of one hundred and sixty men to
prosecute the Pequot War, called upon Medford to fur-
nish its proportion of three, and to each common soldier
going to the war granted twenty shillings a month and
his "dyot."5
It was not, however, altogether against dangers from
without that the early Court sought to protect the planta-
tion. There were from within dangers that lurk in human
nature itself. Chief among these was the thirst for strong
water. The Company in England had considered this
before Winthrop sailed, when Cradock wrote, " Though
there be much strong water sent for sale, we pray you,
to so order it that the savages may not for our lucre sake
be induced to its excessive use, and at any hand take
care our people give no bad example and if any become
drunk, we hope you will take care that his punishment
be made example for all men."^ At an early date the
Court anticipated the eighteenth amendment by seizing
the liquid stock in trade of one Richard Cloughes for his
selling great quantities with ill effect to sobriety.^ In
1633 it enacted a license law which forbade the sale of
any strong water without leave of the Governor.^ There-
after, the Court constantly infringed upon the personal
liberty of the bibulous by setting them in the bilboes.
Among these, however, can be identified no resident of
our plantation.
Indeed, not until May, 1638, does any resident of Med-
ford appear of record as guilty of misconduct. Then
John Smith for swearing, being penitent, was set in the
bilboes.^ This is to the credit of the plantation, for those
were days when men must tiptoe through life to avoid
1, Colony Records, Vol. I, pag^e 76; 2, page 83; 3, page 106; 4, page 96; 5, page 192;
6, page 406; 7, page 76; 8, page 106; g, page 233.
1931.] MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND WINTHROP. 13
over-Stepping some rule of conduct. For instance, for
shooting at fowl on the Sabbath Day, one was publicly
whipped.' The paternal law-makers went farther. They
denounced long hair on men^ and forbade them " to wear
immoderately great breeches." ^ They limited to a narrow
binding the lace that women might wear,'' and under pain
of punishment prohibited all persons from publicly taking
tobacco,^ which was consistent with Cradock's early
recommendation that " the same bee taken privately by
auntient men and none other."^ We sometimes say that
the Legislatures of today enact a multitude of laws. They
have their precedents in the sixteen thirties.
Among other offences against good conduct was idle-
ness. Indeed, the London Council of the Company, while
Cradock's men had hardly built their log houses on the
Mystic, had urged that the government in New England
in the infancy of the plantation settle some good orders
whereby all persons there resident apply themselves to
one calling or another and no idle drone be permitted
to live among them. Accordingly, an early Court decreed
that no person should spend his time idle under penalty
of punishment.^ Under the spur of this enactment, it
appears that workmen were not only diligent, but set a
premium on their virtue by demanding a high wage. This,
in the first year, the Court took steps to curb, limiting
carpenters, joiners, and bricklayers to two shillings a day,
or sixteen pence if meat and drink were furnished them.^
In 1 63 1, such wages were left free as men might reason-
ably agree,'' but two years later the Court again adopted
a schedule for these and other craftsmen, under which,
for instance, the best laborers had eight pence a day if
their diet was found, and " taylors " twelve pence.'° But
if labor was curbed, so were profiteers. The Court turned
its attention to the price of commodities in these words,
" Lest the honest and conscientious workmen should be
wronged or discouraged by excessive price of those com-
I, Colony Records, Vol. I, page 82: 2, page 126, and Commonwealth History, Vol. I,
page 272: 3, Colony Records, page 274; 4, page 183; 5, page loi; 6, page 403; 7, page 405;
8, page 74; 9, page 84; 10, page log.
14 MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND WINTHROP. [Marcli,
modities which are necessary for their Hfe and comfort,
we therefore, order that no person shall sell any of the
inhabitants any provisions, clothing, tools or other com-
modities above the rare of 4 pence in a shilling, more
than the same cost or might be bought for ready money
in England."' In regard to commodities of small bulk
and hazard in shipment, the Court concluded with the
admonition, " that all men be a rule to themselves in
good conscience, assuring them that if any man exceed
the bounds of moderation, he shall be severely punished.'"
To corn, the local food staple, the Court gave special
care, fixing the price at six shillings a bushel.^ Without
leave of the Governor of Assistants, the inhabitants were
forbidden both to send it out of the plantation '■ or buy it
from any ship that came into the Bay.^ These were war
measures in their battle for existence.
I have cited a few sidelights upon the laws under which
the men of this plantation lived in the sixteen thirtys.
There were those who were critical of the Court. One,
Thomas Dexter, was bold enough to say that the captious
government would bring them all to naught. For this
he was " set in the bilbowes, disfranchised & fined 40
pounds."^ Another, John Lee, taxed the Court with
making laws to pick men's purses. For this he was
whipped and fined. ^ There is no record of such dissent
in Medford.
At the end of the first decade, the Massachusetts Bay
Company, the trading corporation, had in fact become a
colony. In that time, fully four thousand persons, bring-
ing with them commodities valued at two hundred
thousand pounds, left England for the new land. Of
these, the greater part came to the settlements of Massa-
chusetts Bay. How many made their homes in Cradock's
plantation cannot be determined. There is no clue in
the taxes levied by the General Court, for in 1630 taxes
were levied in a lump sum apportioned according to the
estimated wealth of the towns or plantations. Of the
I, Colony Records, Vol. I, page iii; a, page iii; 3, page no; 4, page 77; 5, payc S3;
6, page 103; 7, page 132.
1931.] MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND WINTHROP. 15
first tax of fifty pounds in September, 1630, Medford
bore three pounds, as for instance did Salem.' In 1633,
out of the total of four hundred and twelve pounds, Med-
ford bore twelve and Salem twenty-eight.^ In 1637,
Medford's share of a levy of one thousand pounds was
twenty-five, while Salem's had increased to one hundred
and twenty.^ It is apparent that the settlement at the
Mystic was not keeping pace with the other settlement
on the seaboard. In 1638, Medford's tax was the smallest
of all, six pounds, sixteen shillings, eight pence, out of
the total of four hundred pounds.'* In the year following,
we read that Mr. Matthew Cradock is freed from rates
for the year ensuing out of consideration for his charges
in building the bridge.^ In 1641, the new decade opens
with the order that Mr. Cradock's rates should be for-
borne until the next ship comes.^ Thus we may say that
early Medford was Cradock's plantation, and its pros-
perity largely that of his venture here.
Let us leave Medford of the sixteen thirties and gap
the three hundred years in which it has grown and justi-
fied the faith of its founder. Of the Medford that saw
Cradock's domain broken up among individual owners,
and of the later years and of the later comers, both from
within and without the nation who built its history upon the
early foundation, I must let Medford today speak for itself.
Today, then, upon this Tercentenary, we look back
from the end of three centuries to the beginning, and
from our own life to theirs of which Medford was a part.
Of the undertakings of the Puritans, Winthrop wrote in
his Journal of those days, "After God had carried us in
safety to New England, and we had builded our houses,
provided necessities for our livelihood, reared convenient
places for God's Worship, and settled the civil govern-
ment, one of the next things we looked after was to
advance learning."
To what development have come these purposes of
the founders ?
I, Colony Records, Vol. I, page 77: 2, page no; 3, page 209; 4, page 247; 5, page 257;
6, page 330.
16 MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND WINTHROP. [March,
Civil government has been settled. By virtue of, and
in times in spite of, the charter which Winthrop brought
over, there evolved the Town Meeting "for the ordering
of the town's affairs,"' and the Great and General Court
of today, for the ordering " of the publick affayres of the
commonwealth." Through the Senate succeeding the
Court of Assistants and the House of Representatives
succeeding the deputies formerly elected by the Towns,
the freemen of today exercise the right to make laws
granted by Charles the First to the Freemen of 1630 in
Court assembled. In that year, not a dozen out of the
eight hundred or more possessed that right. Moreover,
for the first decade and longer, only freemen who were
members of the church were granted admission to the
General Court. In fact, the great body of colonists were
without the privilege of the vote. Least of all, was it the
thought of Winthrop that suffrage, however liberal, should
include the Puritan women. He cites the case of a young
matron, " who had lost her witts by giving herself to the
reading and writing of many books," and observed more
in sorrow than in anger " if she had attended to her
household and to such things as belonged to women and
had not gone out of her way ... to meddle in such
things as are proper for men, she had kept her witts."
Civil government has been settled, but it would be a sur-
prised and apprehensive Winthrop, who today would find
in place of the theocratic and undemocratic government
of his time, the representative democracy of our genera-
tion. To this fullness has the civil government of the
Puritans developed.
Places of worship had been set up. At the last Gen-
eral Court held in England, in February, 1630, the Massa-
chusetts Bay Company provided a fund, out of which as
a public charge, should be defrayed the building of
churches. At the first meeting of the Court in New
England in August of that year, provision was first of
all made for the maintenance of the ministers, "for,"
I, Colony. Records, Vol. I, page 172.
1931.) MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND WINTHROP. 17
wrote Winthrop, " we came to abide here and to plant
the gospel." The school boy who was asked, " Why did
the Puritans come to this country ? " was a historian
when he replied, " To worship in their own way and
make other people do the same." Religious toleration
was not a feature of the Bay Colony in 1630, but if in-
tolerant, the founders were not inconsistent, for in the
words of John Fiske, "They came to found a state which
was to consist of a united body of believers." Their rigid
theory necessarily succumbed to a more liberal spirit ;
and it would be an incredulous, but farther-seeing Win-
throp, who today would find in religious liberty one of
the corner stones of the strength of his Commonwealth.
Learning has been advanced.
Out of their English background, the early colonists
brought with them a traditional regard for education.
Among them were graduates of the schools and universi-
ties of the homeland. So strong was the appeal of their
inheritance and environment that after the passing of
only six years the pioneer colony through its General
Court agreed to give four hundred pounds toward a
school or college at Newtown which has become the
great University at Cambridge in our day. A few years
later was adopted a law requiring each town having fifty
households to appoint a person to teach children to read
and write and every town of one hundred households to
establish Latin schools.' Upon these early enactments
rests the public school system of Massachusetts and the
free schooling which is now so generously offered to the
younger generation of Medford plantation of today. Once
more, it would be a proud and grateful Winthrop should
he view today the extent to which, from his early begin-
nings, the advancement of learning, as a function of
government, has progressed.
But even preceding these — civil government, places
of worship and learning — there was the elemental con-
cern of shelter and livelihood which occupied the found-
I, Commonwealth History, Vol. I, page 284.
18 MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND WINTHROP. [Marcli,
ers. From their village homes in the English counties
of Suffolk, Essex, and Norfolk, came to the early log
cabins of Massachusetts Bay this Company, representing
in the country gentry, the ministers, tradesmen, yeomen
and craftsmen "a cross section of the English people."
And here for the first five years, never free from the fear
of famine during the winter months, they went about
their undertaking to establish the Commonwealth. Theirs
was the life of the times but in pioneer surroundings.
They knew hardship, discomfort, inconvenience and iso-
lation. The pace of their life was measured by their
means of communication, transportation and the hand
processes of production. The tradesmen, the yeomen
and the artisan, save as the details of their calling were
regulated by government, provided the necessities of
their livelihood by pursuing their independent way.
Doubtless it was the cost of waste, duplication of effort,
and inefficiency outlawed by modern standards, but under
the corporation which brought them over, developed the
individual proprietor. In his economic effort, energy,
self-reliance, resourcefulness and persistence found their
stimulus in the life of their time.
We are the successors to their generation, but not to
their manner of life. For us is comfort, convenience and
sanitation, communication that is as instant as electric
energy, transportation that is swifter than the eagle's
fhght. To us has been born the modern machine, w^hich
grown to amazing uses now gears the pace of our life
to our machine-made world. To the machine we owe
mass production. For mass production, high-pressure
salesmanship provides a market, and when the resources
of the consumer are drained, he pledges his future earn-
ings to extend that market. Distribution on the same vast
scale accompanies mass production. In economic effort
we live in a state of intensive efficiency. We eliminate
waste, duplication of effort, and even the individual when
he reaches a lower standard of efficiency. Ours is the
day of the machine and the merger. The individual
proprietor is threatened.
1931.] MEDFORD OF CRADOCK AND WINTHROP. 19
In this Tercentenary year, we are passing through a
recurring cycle of economic depression, all the more poig-
nant because of our recent careless prosperity. Today,
the nation, state and municipality are repeating what the
London Company did in May, 1629, when they urged
out of zeal for the public good that there be settled "some
good orders whereby all persons resident upon our planta-
tion, may apply themselves to one calling or another."
Then, when there was much to do, it was of public con-
cern to keep men from idleness; now when there is
less for the individual man to do, it is of public concern
to keep him busy. Let others discuss the causes of this
economic depression arising in the aftermath of a world
war. Let us remember one fact, — that here is but one
problem against the many that confronted the founders.
They had but the genius of their own kind and with that
alone laid the foundations of the Commonwealth and the
institutions of today. Since their day, there has been
blended into our people the genius of other races. To-
gether we form one people, divided neither by inheritance
of race or religion. To the blended genius of such a
people, intent upon providing for the common good, the
problems of today are as nothing compared to those of
the distant yesterday which we commemorate.
In that yesterday the earliest comers were ever mind-
ful of posterity. They built not for themselves alone but
for the generations to follow. So, too, may we in the
tolerant spirit of our democracy raise to greater height,
the common good both of ourselves and those who follow
us. In that undertaking, like Matthew Cradock of early
Medford, we " shall joye in the expectation of the good
that shall come to others."
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay — (Colony
Records).
History of New England — John Winthrop.
Life and Letters of John Winthrop — Robert C. Winthrop.
The Winthrop P'leet — Banks.
The Massachusetts Bay Company and its Predecessors — Troup.
20 NOTES BY THE WAY. [March,
Builders of the Bay Colony — Morrison.
Commonwealth History of Massachusetts — Hart,
Beginnings of New England — Fiske.
History of Middlesex County — Drake.
History of Medford — Usher.
Men and Machines — Chase.
Medford Historical Register:
Maps of Medford at Different Periods — IVilliani Cushing Wait. Vol I,
page 1 19.
Governor Cradock's Plantation — Walter H. Cushing. Vol. I, page 138.
Bridges in Medford — John H. Hooper. Vol II, page I.
The Ford at Mystick — John H. Hooper. Vol. IV, page 1.
Roads of Old Medford— /t?//;; H. Hooper. Vol. II, page 53.
Some Old Medford Houses — Johii H. Hooper. Vol. VII, page 49.
Matthew Cradock Estate— Walter K. Walker. Vol. IX, page 1.
Pine and Pasture Hills — John H. Hooper. Vol. XVIII, pages 25, 60.
Medford Condita. \(il% — Moses W. Mann. Vol. XXIII, page 65.
Why Mystic — A/oses IV. Mann. Vol. XXI, page 49.
The Cradock House, Past and Future — Ruth Dame Coolidge. Vol.
XXIX, page 37.
Some Errors in Medford History — John H. Hooper. Vol. XIX, page 25.
The March of Miles Standish — il^/^^^^ W. Mann. Vol. XXXII, page 17.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
Since the last issue of the Historical Register the
demolition of the old wooden building on High street
known as Grand Army Hall has been completed, and in
its place a fine new structure which will house the Med-
ford Co-operative Bank is being erected.
The old building, which to our best knowledge was
built previous to 1857, housed .the old Hook and Ladder
Company and the Mystic Hose Company. The roster
of the members of the Hook and Ladder Company read
like a blue book of Medford. In the year 1 866, Daniel W.
Lawrence was foreman and treasurer. The company
consisted of twenty-four members. The Hose Company
had twenty-one members; Gordon Hayden was foreman
and Joseph C. Miller, clerk and treasurer.
The lower part of the building was used as a lock-up
and Heman Allen was chief police. It is a matter of
record that Mr. Allen suggested that new quarters be
found for a lock-up, as the health of the prisoners was en-
dangered because of dampness and he feared the town
would be liable for damages from those who suffered
1931.] NOTES BY THE WAY. 21
therefrom. The total cost yearly of the police force to
the town was thirty-seven dollars and twenty-five cents,
and five dollars of that amount was paid for gas to the
Hose Company.
The building stood at that time on the spot which is
now the driveway of the Armory. It was purchased by
General S. C. Lawrence and given to the Grand Army,
moved to the site next to Andrew F. Curtin & Sons'
store, and remodeled suitable for occupancy. In addition
to being used by the G. A. R, it was the home of several
fraternal orders, among them being the Red Men.
The passing of the old hall was the cause of regret by
many who had enjoyed festive hours within its walls.
Changes in transportation between Medford and Wo-
burn will go into effect as soon as the buses are secured,
the city of Woburn having granted permission to the
Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Company to oper-
ate same over their streets. The city of Medford granted
a permit some months ago.
Relative to this modern manner of travel, we note that
on January i8, 1888, the North Woburn Street Railway
Company petitioned for a location of tracks between
Winchester and Medford via Purchase (now Winthrop)
street; and the same was granted March 5, 1888, after a
discussion relative to the schedule. The Railway Com-
pany wished to limit the service to six months, viz., from
May to October inclusive, but it was not acceptable to
Medford. Upon agreement, the road was completed and
opened June 19, 1888. The fare was six cents, five tickets
for twenty-five cents. The running time between the
square and Oak Grove Cemetery v.-as fifteen minutes;
from Oak Grove Cemetery to Winchester, fifteen min-
utes ; and forty-five minutes from Winchester to North
Woburn ; total distance, eight miles.
West Medford is now using bus service, which seems
to meet with general approval, and the tracks are being
removed from High street as rapidly as practicable.
— T. M. C.
22 [March,
OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS OF MEDFORD.
By Hall Gleason.
(Continued from Medford Historical Register, December, 1930.)
IS52. Champion. Ship, 106] tons. Owners, William Perkins and Isaac Schofield of Boston.
Built by .1. Stetson for above. Sold British .Acct. October. 18M.
Beverly. Medium clipper ship. '.76 tons. Owners, Israel Whitney and William Perkins
of Boston. Built by P. Curtis. Boston to S. F. 144 days, arrived October 1. 1852.
Calcutta to Boston 83 days, arrived January 4, 1856, the second fastest passage on
record. Boston to Sands Head, off Calcutta, in 86 days, arrived Novemljer 23, 18.57.
Believed to be a record. Calcutta to S. F. 80 days, arrived September 4, 1858, within
one day of record. In 18^i2 she was chased by the Confederate privateer Flo. ida but
escaped. Name clianyed to Alexander, of Batavia. CoolidKe Os: Slater of Boston
reputed owners. Owned in !8')7 by .A. A. Keed. Later her name changed to Aino-
natit, of Port Louis of Mauritins. Owned by Wm. F. V\ e!d & Co., Boston. Owned
in 1S72 by L. E. Bakor, Varmouth, N. b. Last report 1873.
Sir John Harvey. Screw steamer, 700 tons. Owners, Thomas J. Jones, William R.
Clarke and H. E. \\ oodward, Boston. Built by J. O. Curtis.
Onward. Medium clipper ship, 874 tons. Owners, Reed & Wade of Boston. Built
by J. O. Curtis. Boston to S. F 125 day.s. arrived December 1, 1852. N. V. to S. F.
150 days, arrived January 25, 1854. N. Y. to S. F. 158 days, arrived October 15, 1856.
Owned in 1857 by Joiin Ogden. Sold to U. S. Government in 18fil, and became a
cruiser of the fourth class. In January, 1863, sht- captured tlie British hri^i Ma,ic/ciene,
but the capture was not justified and the briK restored to her owners. Sent out in
search of the Confederate privateers /'/('/ /V/iz, Alabama ■&'[\A Skenandoah on different
occasions. -After the war she was used as a store-ship for the navy. Sold No-
vember 1, 18'-J4, for:?1.850.
Star of the Union. Extreme clipper ship, 1079 tons. Owners, Reed & Wade, Boston.
Sold to Samuel G. Reed & Co. May, 1860. Built by J. O. Curtis. N. Y. to S. F". 122
days, arrived June 3, 1853. N. \ . to S. F. 124 days, arrived October 14, 1854. Sold
to New Bedford parties March. 18.54. In collision with British bark Simon Hatley
off Cape Horn. Reported condemned and sold, 1866.
Whirlwind. Extreme clipper ship, %0^ tons. Owners, W. and F. H. Whittemore
and Charles B. Newell of Boston. Built by J. O. Curtis. Sold to N. Y. .Arrived at
S. F. March II, 185.\ in 119 days from Boston, and asrain, January 13, 18.54, in 129 days.
From N. Y. to Melbourne in 72 days, second best time on record, in March, 1858.
Competitor. Clipper ship, 871 tons. Owners, William F. Weld & Co. Built by J. O.
Curtis for above. Sold to German Acct. Decemb<'r, 18h3. Name changed to Lorelei,
Purchased by William ¥. Weld & Co. .April, 18f)8. Name changed to Competitor.
British Acct. Boston to S. F. 115 days, arrived July 20, 1853. N. Y. to S. F. in
122 days, arrived September 23, 1854. Boston to S. F. 138 days, arrived October 15,
1855. Last report 1900.
National Eagle. Medium clipper ship, 1095 tons. Owners, Fisher & Co. Sold to
Bates, Hoi brook & Candage, (October, 1865. Sold to D. G. & \V. B. Bacon, bold
to J. H. Sears, 6^/^/. Built by J. T. Foster. Sold to N. Y. parties Boston to S. F.
1.S4 days, arrived May 20, 1854. Wrecked in Mendolin's Gulf, Adriatic Sea, March 22,
1884, while bound for Fiume, .Austria, from N. Y.
Ellen Foster. Medium clipper ship, 996 tons. Owners, J. and A. Tirrell & Co. Regis-
tered November 9, 18.53, Lombard & VVhitmore. Sold to Howes & Crowell January,
18,57. Built by J. T. Foster. Boston to S. F. in 152 days, arrived October 31, 1852.
Sold to Peruvian Acct. July, 1867. Wrecked on Puget Sound, December 22. 1867.
Gem of the Ocean. Medium clipper ship, 702 tons. Owners, William F Lincoln &
Co. Built by Haydcn & Cudworth for above. Boston to S. F, 120 days, arrived
December 2, 1852. Sold to Newburyport parties October, 1854. Sold to S. F. parties
.August, 1867. Seattle for S. F. W recked .August, 1879, on Vancouver Island.
Alexander. Ship, 596 tons. Owners, Baxter Brothers, A'armouth, Mass. Built by
Hayden & Cudworth. Liverpool for Singapore with coal. Struck Frederick Rocic
in the Straits of Rhio on February 5, 1864, was beached and became a total wreck on
East Island.
Golden Eagle. Extreme clipper ship, 1121 tons. Owners, William Lincoln & Co.
Built hv Havden and Cudworth. Sold to New Bedford parties. Boston to S. F.
1.56 davs, arrived May 9. 1853. N. Y. to S. F. 128 days, arrived July 23. 1854 N. Y.
to S. F. 105 days, arrived .August 25, 185,5. Captured and burned February 21, 18^>3,
near lat. 29° 18' N., long. 45° 15' W., while bound for Cork with guano from How-
lands Island, by the Alabama.
1853. Sea Flower of Boston. Ship, 1024 tons. Owners, Benjamin C. White and Henry H.
Jones, <^rt/., of Boston. Built by Jotham Stetson. Sold foreign. Last report 1885.
1931.] OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS. 23
li=^3. Wild Ranger. Clipper ship, 1044 tons. Owners. Thatcher & Sears, et a!., of Boston.
Built by James O. Curtis, .\rrived at S. F.. October 25, lS,S.i, in 12.S days from Boston,
and again January 2(i, 1855, in 125 days from N. Y. Sold British .Acct. 1862 and re-
named Ocean Chief.
Eagle Wing. Medium clipper ship, 1174 tons. Owners. Theodore Chase & Co. of
Boston. Built by J. O. Curtis. London to Hongkong 84 days, Boston to S. F.
105 days, arrived .April 5, 1854. Sailed from Boston February U, 1865, for Bombay
and was never heard from.
George Peabody. Ship, 1400 tons. Owners, William F. Weld & Co. Built by J. O.
Curtis. N. Y. for S. F. .Arrived at Valparaiso May 28. 1881. in a leaky condition
and was condemned. See newspaper, March 9, 1884.
West Wind. Medium clipper ship. 1071H tons. Owners, J. and A. Tirrell & Co. of
Boston. Built by J. T. Foster. .Arrived at S. F. from Boston September 26, 18.5%
and November 22, 1855, in 135 and 12":> days respectively. In 1861-62, 133 days. In
1856-57, 122 days. Sold British .Acct. 1863. Renamed Lord Clyde.
Morning Star. Clipper ship. 1105 tons. Owners, Thomas B. Wales & Co. of Boston.
Built by J. T. Foster. Boston to S. ¥. 148 days, arrived November 27, 1854. She
then-after made five similar runs in l.^S days. 102 tlavs, 125 days. 105 days and 115
days. On the 102 days' run slie was olt the California coast several days in Ijght
winds and calms. In 1860. had it not been for light winds and calms for the final
ten diys of the run she would have made the passage in two figures. V\ bile at Callao,
in 1^57, the mate was stabbed by one of the crew, the remainder of them drawing
knives and pistols. The mutiny was finally quelled by an aruu-d force from H. B. M.
sh'\p Monarch. In 1863 she was captured by the Confederate privateer .'i/a/'.rwa,
but the cargo being owned by neutrals she w'as allowed to proceed. Sold to British
.Acct. June, 1863, for £6.500 sterling and name changed to Landsborough. Reported
lost in 18'X).
Hortensia. Ship, 701 tons. Owners, Perritt & Co. of New Orleans. Built by J. T.
Foster. Sold Norwegian Acct. Rig changed to bark. Last report 1889.
Edward Everett. Bark, 245 tons. Owners, John H. Pearson, et al., of Boston. Built
by J. T. Foster for above. Sold to New Bedford parties .April, 1867. Whaler.
Foundered October, 1875.
Climax. Clipper ship, 1051 tons. Owners, Howes and Crowell. Built by Hayden &
Cudworth for above. Put into Callao, Peru, from the Chincha Islands, guano laden,
March 31, 18.55, leaky. Was condemned and sold tn parties in Peru who repaired
her. Renamed Antonia Terry. First vessel to use the double topsail rig.
Ringleader. Clipper ship, 11.54 tons. Owners, Howes & Crowell of Boston. Built by
Hayden & Cudworth. She was a very fast sailer, but encountered light winds on
all of her trips to San Francisco. On the first trip, 110 days, she was within 400 miles
of destination when 100 days out. On the fourth trip, 114 days, she was 700 miles
from the Golden Gate when 98 days out. Her passage of 78 days, Boston to Mel-
bourne, was also very fast. Left Hongkong May 3. 1.3ti3, for S. F. with a load of
coolies. On May 9th she struck on the Formosa Banks. One account says that as
soon as she struck she was surrounded by piratical Chinese fishing boats, the crews
of which drove the coolies ashore and began pillaging the ship. The captain reached
S. F". on the Emily Banning, while some 200 of the coolies reached there Septem-
ber 15 on the Don Quixote.
Don Quixote. Medium clipper ship, 1429 tons. Owners, John E. Lodge & Co. Built
by Samuel Lapham. Boston to S. F. 126, 107, 109 and 111 days. N. V. to S. F. 139,
119 and 139 days. Sold to F. Couisinary, Havre, France, and renamed St. Aubin.
Classed .Al in Lloyd's in 1874.
White Swallow. Extreme clipper ship, 1192 tons. Owners. William Lincoln & Co..
Boston. Built by Hayden & Cudworth. She made three runs from Boston to S. F.
and six from N. v. to S. F. The fastest was 110 days and the slowest l.SO: average
of the fastest four, 122 days. She sailed from Boston .April 18, 186U, and made land
40 miles south of the (iolden Gate in 104 days. In 1865 her passage was a momentous
one. She left N. V. with her rigging in poor condition, and according to the story of
the crew th>y were put to unnecessarily hard and dangerous work, forced by brutal
beatings with brass knuckles, belaving pins and the like. One grievance was that
they were put over the side on stagings while the shipwas going ten knots and roll-
ing and pitching heavily. Two men were lo^t overboard. The crew finally mutinied,
seized the captain and mates and put them in irons, altlioueh the captain was
allowed on deck to take observations and direct atfairs. all his orders being fully
obeyed. .A written agreement was then drawn up absolving the crew of all blame
and promised good treatment. On arrival at S. F . however, six of the ringleaders
were tried but were acquitted by the testimony of the passengers and admissions of
the officers. For many years tlie M'hite Sii'iillow case was famous in legal circles.
Boston to Hongkong, cargo ice. Foundered at sea 180 miles S. W. of Fayal, which
the crew reached in boats.
24 [March, 1931
MEDFORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
0Uittv^ for tfje ^ear 1931.
President.
MRS. RUTH DAME COOLIDGE.
Telephone, Mystic 0030. 7 Hastings Lane.
Vice-Presidents.
WILSON FISKE. HARRY E. WALKER.
EVERETT W. STONE. CHARLES H. PHINNEY.
Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer.
THOMAS M. CONNELL.
Telephone, Mystic 3571-M. 10 Tainter Street.
Recording Secretary.
MRS. lONE T. SYLVIA.
Telephone, Mystic 0238-W. 32 Gleason Street.
Directors.
EDWARD J. GAFFEY. CHARLES T. DALY.
RICHARD B. COOLIDGE. HALL GLEASON.
EDWARD B. ROLLINS. MISS RUTH LAWRExNCE.
MRS. EMMA M. GRAY.
Librarian and Curator.
MISS MARY H. DAVIS.
Commtttee£(.
Publishing.
HARRY E. WALKER. MOSES W. MANN.
JOSEPH C. MILLER. CHARLES T. DALY.
THOMAS M. CONNELL.
Library.
MISS MARY H. DAVIS. MISS MARGARET NEILL.
House.
EDWARD J. GAFFEY. CHARLES T. DALY,
THOMAS M. CONNELL. ANDREW F. CURTIN.
Program.
MRS. RUTH DAME COOLIDGE. THOMAS M. CONNELL.
Hospitality.
MRS. EMMA M. GRAY. MRS. EDWARD J. GAFFEY.
MISS KATHARINE H. STONE. MRS. ORVILLE J. WHITNEY.
MRS. E. V. McGRAY. MRS. ROGER SYLVIA.
MRS. M. T. NICHOLS. MRS. ANDREW F. CURTIN.
Vol. XXXIV.l
[No. 2
%
PUBLISHED BY THE.
NEDrORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY
M EDFORD. MASSACHUSETTS
i^^ijtW.
CONTENTS.
Page
EARLY OP'FICERS OF MEDFORD CO-OPERATIVE )
BANK \ Frontispiece
NEW HOME OF MEDFORD CO-OPERATIVE BANK)
THE MEDFORD CO-OPERATIVE BANK. Frank W. Lover ing, 25
A TERCENTENARY POEM. Marion NoUage .... 34
ELIZUR WRIGHT 35
HISTORIC MARKERS 37
A TIMELY EXCERPT 38
NOTES BY THE WAY 38
OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS OF MEDFORD.
Hall Gleason 39
PRESENT OFFICERS OF MEDFORD CO-OPERATIVE BANK.
Facing 40
Entered as second-class matter, under the act of July 16, 1894,
Medford Station, Boston, Massachusetts.
Meetings of the Society at the Society's home, 10 Governors
Avenue, on third Mondays at 8.00 P.M., from
October to May inclusive.
MEDFORD HISTORICAL REGISTER.
Published quarterly (March, June, September, and December)
BY THE
Medford Historical Society,
AT
No. 10 Qovernors Avenue, Medford, Mass.
Subscription price, &1.30 a year, postpaid. Single copies, 40 cents.
For gale at the Society Rooms and by the Treasurer.
Publication Committee.
HARRY E. WALKER. JOSEPH C. MILLER, MOSES W. MANN,
THOMAS M. CONNELL, CHARLES T. DALY.
Editor, MOSES W. MANN.
Exchange list in charge of Thomas M. Connell, id Tainter Street.
FORM OF BEQUEST.
I give and bequeath to the Medford Historical Society, in
the city of Medford, Mass., the sum of Dollars for
the general use and purposes of said Society.
(Signed) _ ___
J. C, MILLBR, JR., PRINTER, MEDFORD.
Early Officers of Medford Co-operative Bank
DANA I. McINTIKE
First President, 188r, to 1907
J. HENKY NORCKOSS
Second President, VX)7 to 1912
J. S. STURTEVANT
First Treasurer, 18<% to 1911
ELISHA G. PIERCE
Second Treasurer, 1911 to 192S
-""■^HL*- —
The Medford Historical Register.
Vol, XXXIV. JUNE, 1931. No. 2.
THE MEDFORD CO-OPERATIVE BANK.*
MARCHING along with a growing Medford through
the changes and developments that have marked
almost a half a century in this city of today's sixty thou-
sand population, the Medford Co-operative Bank, typical
of thousands of similar institutions in the United States
which are operated by and for the people with the objec-
tive of homes owned and money saved little by little,
reached on July 7th, 1931, its forty-fifth birthday.
The attainment of this notable milestone brings to
Medford in visible evidence a monument to the unceas-
ing labors of the men who have toiled so faithfully down
the years to make true the familiar advertising motto of
the co-operative form of banking, " Own Your Own
Home."
Wisdom in the usury of money entrusted to its care,
and the businesslike use of the profits thus accrued by
the bank, whose statement of conditions puts it closely
into the six million dollar class, have enabled the Medford
Co-operative Bank to erect for its own headquarters the
finely proportioned brick building, in architectural design
that of a New England colonial home, on High street
at the foot of Governors avenue, where for years the
Grand Army hall had stood.
The informal opening of this new banking house, tenta-
tively set for Tuesday evening, July 7th, 1931, marked
then at one and the same time the forty-fifth anniversary
of the institution's founding as well as complete realiza-
* This article, written by Frank W. Lovering, a Director of the Bank, a member of the Build-
ing Committee, and for years on the staff of the Medford Mercury, includes material furnished by
Forrest E. Thompson, Treasurer of the Bank; Thomas E Connell, Treasurer of the Medford
Historical Society and a staff writer for the Mercury; and Howard A. Goodspeed, architect, to all
of whom the author is greatly indebted.
26 THE MEDFORD CO-OPERATIVE BANK. [June,
tion of the ideal which has been its second preachment,
" Save and Have."
It having been deemed fitting that the facts about this
bank should be set forth on this occasion in the Medford
Historical Register, the writers have searched the dim-
ming, hand-written records of the formative days when
the late James S. Sturtevant, that indefatigable little man
who began the institution, was secretary; have followed
on in studied parallel with the old copies of the Medford
Mercury, wherein the late George W. Stetson, its editor,
set down his painstaking reports, and so to the present
time, making excerpts from the manifold typewritten pages
of the latter years; completing this with a description in
authoritative detail of the bank's new home as prepared
by Howard A. Goodspeed of Medford, the architect; and
closing with the names of those who carry on today.
The Medford Co-operative Bank was the thirty-ninth
of its kind to be established in Massachusetts.
Humbly, in that common meeting place, the select-
men's room of the now vanished old town hall, which
stood close to Main street and fronted on High street,
where today is the building containing the Medford city
offices, " there was quite a gathering of citizens," the
Mercury oi Friday, April i6th, 1886, records, "on Tuesday
evening [April 13th]. The meeting was called for the
purpose of discussing the advisability of establishing a co-
operative bank in Medford."
And continues the story of its birth : " Howard D. Nash,
Esquire, presided, and J. S. Sturtevant officiated as secre-
tary. After a full and spirited discussion of the needs
of the town and the benefits derived in other towns and
cities from such banks, it was voted as the sense of the
meeting that a co-operative bank should be established in
Medford.
" Committees were then appointed to take the necessary
steps at once and to report at a future meeting. There
is every indication that on or before May ist the bank
will be established."
1931.]
THE MEDFORD CO-OPERATIVE BANK.
27
The Mercury for Friday, April 30th, 1S86, records that
" An adjourned meeting of the projectors of a co-operative
bank in Medford was held in Governor Brooks hall*
Tuesday evening. [April 27th, 1886.] There were some
fifty gentlemen present, who were enlightened on the
workings of co-operative banks by D. Eldridge, secretary
of three of these institutions in Boston. At the close of
this meeting, VOTED: 'That Messrs. J. S. Sturtevant,
H. D. Nash, J. A. Sullivan, W. H. Warren, J. H. Hooper,
I. W. Hamlin, B. C. Leonard, J. R. Teel, C. P. Lauriat
and C. Currier constitute a committee with full power to
perfect the organization of a bank.' "
The first act was to file an agreement with the Com-
missioner of Corporations of the State of Massachusetts
for the formation of a bank with a capital stock accumu-
lation of one million dollars. This agreement is among
the framed records of the Medford Co-operative Bank.
The following men attested to it and showed their faith
in the proposition by subscribing to many " shares " of
the " current series " stock :
John H. Hooper
P. R. Litchfield
J. Henry Norcross
Charles Currier
Joseph E. Ober
VV. H. Warren
D. I. IMcIntire
Fred H. Kidder
Thomas B. Dill
R. C. Leonard
Charles N. Jones
E. S. Randall
J. H, Archibald
Eli Ayers
Pearl Martin
Asa Law
John W. Bragdon, Jr.
G. H. Sampson
Ira W. Hamlin
Josiah R. Teel
Charles P. Lauriat
Howard D. Nash
John A. Sullivan
James S. Sturtevant
). H. Whitney
R. Gibson
B. E. Perry
William C. Craig
Geo. W. W. Saville
Frank E. Chandler
Charles F. Paige
Charles W. Murphy
Charles L. Hutchins
Morris W. Child
John A. Gaffey
George W. Stetson
J. E. Potter
Geo E. Davenport
William P. Martin
James W. Tufts
Edward W. Hayes
Josiah E. Woods
Lewis H. Lovering
Henry Withington
Michael F. Dwyer
F. C. Williams
May 1 2th, 1886, there was mailed to each of the sub-
scribers named a usual notice of the first meeting of a
corporation to be held on Saturday, June 5th, 1886, in
Legion of Honor hall,t High street.
•"Governor Brooks hall" was the meeting place of Governor Brooks Council, Legion ot
Honor, in the second floor of the present Masonic building, originally known as " Small's block."
t Then also called "Governor Brooks hall." See footnote above.
28 THE MEDFORD CO-OPERATIVE BANK. [June,
At this meeting there was a tremendous amount of
business transacted under the careful guidance of D.
Eldridge, spokesman of the occasion, and the " father" of
the first co-operative bank to be estabhshed in Massachu-
setts. James S. Sturtevant presided, and Howard D.
Nash was appointed temporary clerk.
June loth, 1886, the bank actually got under way. That
evening twenty-five of the subscribers assembled, and
under the proper authorities and form adopted the neces-
sary regulations and by-laws containing eighteen articles
and numerous sections covering the entire scope of co-
operative bank business as it was conducted at that time.
The following ofificers and directors were then elected:
President, Dana I. Mclntire
Vice-President, J, Henry Norcross
Secretary and Treasurer, James S. Sturtevant
Directors ;
James W. Tufts Ira W. Hamlin Charles P. Lauriat
James H. Hooper Charles N. Jones Eli Ayers
William C. Craig Henry Withington Joseph E. Ober
Charles Currier Fred C. Williams Howard D. Nash
Geo. W. W. Saville Thomas B. Dill W. H, Warren
Auditors : J'^^" ^- Sullivan
William P. Martin Fred H. Kidder Edward W. Hayes
The officers thus elected were duly sworn to the per-
formance of their duties before D. Eldridge, justice of
the peace. So the Medford Co-operative Bank was
formed and organized in proper manner under the laws
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and was now
ready to commence business.
June 23rd, 1886, the first authorized meeting of the
Directors was held in the assessors' room* at the town
hall. At this meeting President Mclntire appointed as
Security Committee, John H. Hooper, chairman ; J. E.
• For a while business was carried on with the assessors' room as headquarters. (Mr. Sturte-
vant had previously devoted a desk in his hotne on Riverside avenue to this purpose.) The records
of the bank are hazy as to the length of time the assessors' ofiRce was used, but November 3, 1886,
a safe w.».s " pLaced in the assessors' room of the town building" for the use of Mr. Sturtevant. He
was an assessor for about one year following a political upset in town meeting. Later, quarters
were occupied in the ground floor ol .Small's block (upstairs was the town's armory). This long,
narrow " banking house " was the right-hand half of the present flower shop of M rs. (jreen. Rich-
ards' plumbing shop occupied the left half of the present flower store. Bank and tin-knocker were
separated by a stout partition. The new home of the Medford Trust Company at 23 High street
was occupied in 1913, and the Medford Co-operative Bank took lease of quarters in the second
story. The first shareholders' meeting held there was April a, 1913, and the first directors' meeting
on the evening of April 9, 19T3.
1931.] THE MEDFORD CO-OPERATIVE BANK. 29
Ober, Charles P. Lauriat, John A. SulHvan, Heny With-
ington; and as Finance Committee, Thomas 13. Dill,
Chairman ; Ira W. Hamlin, Charles N. Jones.
With the organization completed, the date for the first
receipt of moneys and the sale of funds was set for the
evening of July 7th, 1886, at which time the first dollar
was left on deposit and the first share of stock was sold
and issued.
The whole sum deposited that evening was sold at pub-
lic auction — three loans totalling $1800.00 — at an in-
terest rate of 6% per annum and a premium of $.05 to
$.10.
All this happened forty-five years ago, and therefore it
is only fitting that on this, the Medford Co-operative
Bank's anniversary, the public and many present share-
holders of the institution be informed of the conditions
surrounding the establishment of this bank which has
grown continuously till in 1931, with assets of nearly
$6,000,000.00, it is the nineteenth largest co-operative
bank in the commonwealth, and there are two hundred
and twenty-seven of them.
During these forty-five years the nation has passed
through many periods of stress, of depression, of war,
which have severely affected the financial standing of the
United States as well as of the world. Great industries
have ceased business ; others have been born ; science
has scrapped old ways and discovered new ones ; large
banks and financial houses have risen and toppled to
their fall ; enterprises without number have found it need-
ful to close out rather than continue at a loss.
The co-operative banking system, born in Philadelphia
more than one hundred years ago under another name,
has in every instance weathered the storm ; and the Med-
ford Co-operative Bank has passed through the turmoil
and upon reaching smoother seas and fairer sailing has
found itself sounder-built, more substantial than before.
The institution has experienced conditions that de-
manded the wisest judgments of its captains and the sin-
30 THE MEDFORD CO-OPERATIVE BANK. [June,
cere advice of its Directorates. These have been secured
from the services of officials v^rhose keen interest in the
affairs of the bank and in the community it serves have
redounded to the generous credit of all concerned.
The record of the Medford Co-operative Bank has made
it one of the strongest in the state, and as the assets in-
creased year by year the management began to realize the
time was fast approaching when the institution would
need its own quarters, must " own its own home." For
nearly seventeen years it has occupied the upper story
of the Medford Trust Company building at No. 25 High
street, in the center of the city.
When it was decided to buy a site the so-called Grand
Army hall property opposite the foot of Governors avenue
was decided upon and was purchased in 1926. The old
building there proved to bring sufficient revenue to carry
the property through the several years of ownership at
little or no expense to the bank. In 1930 the Directors
felt the cost of building construction was about to drop
quite appreciably, and in consequence an architect was
chosen from several other Medford men in the profession,
each of whom had been commissioned to submit a design
he believed to be in full keeping with the historical lore
of the city and the best traditions of New England.
Howard A. Goodspeed of 55 Wolcott street, West Med-
ford, was awarded the contract for the plans, and from them
has been erected the fine colonial building, a residence
in exterior appearance, which over coming years will be
the Medford Co-operative Bank's first real " home." The
general contractors, Frankini Brothers Company of Med-
ford, were in charge of the work.
The Building Committee consisted of the President,
former Mayor Lewis H. Lovering, William P. Hart,
Walter F. Gushing, Leroy H. Robbins and Frank W.
Lovering. These men comprise, also, the present Secur-
ity Committee. Mr. Thompson, the Treasurer, was
chosen clerk by the Building Committee, and aided it
materially with suggestions as construction progressed.
1931.] THE MEDFORD CO-OPERATIVE BANK. 31
The new banking house embodies several features of
Medford's well-known examples of the architecture of the
Colonies. It has the double chimneys and the deck rail-
ing found on the Hall house nearly opposite; and the
Dutch gambrel perfected in the roof of the Cradock house
on lower Riverside avenue.
Windows are typical of the period and like those in
the old Seccomb house which stood on the site now par-
tially occupied by the building of the Medford Trust
Company. The entrance doorway and circular windows,
although not found in local precedents, are typical of the
period. Admittance to the building is directly into the
banking room through revolving doors. This room ex-
tends the entire length of the High street front and is
panelled in gumwood to a height of twelve feet. The
room has a barrelled ceiling of antique hand-moulded
plaster with an ivory tint, which blends with the brown
of the woodwork and the brown and black rubber tiled
floor. A ceiling sash pierces the center of the spacious
room and admits overhead light from a large skylight,
concealed from exterior view by the deck railing extend-
ing between the twin chimneys.
A Flemish chandelier drops from the center of the
ceiling sash for artificial illumination.
The counter screen, directly ahead as one enters the
banking rooms, is of polished wrought iron and brass
with a frieze of pierced cast ornament. To the right,
beneath the large triple west window is the oflficers' space,
separated from the public with wrought iron and brass
railing; and leading from this area is a conference room
with glass panels set in a screen similar to the counter
screen.
The vault at the rear of the counter work space is
equipped with a heavy Mosler door with wide, polished,
steel architrave. A money safe and a nest of private
safe deposit boxes for the officials and employees of the
bank occupy one portion of the heavily re-inforced con-
crete vault.
32 THE MEDFORD CO-OPERATIVE BANK. [June,
At the rear of the building in an ell overlooking the
Mystic River Basin is the machine room, with a ceiling
of acoustic plaster, retiring facilities for women, a special
room for the Investment Committee, and toilet accom-
modations.
A side entrance gives access to the building for meet-
ings of the Board of Directors, the Security Committee,
or on other occasions when the main banking rooms
are closed.
From the hallway into which the side entrance admits,
a colonial flight of stairs leads to the Directors' Room
on the second floor. On the east side of this is a coat
room and storage space. Adjacent to the hallway are
toilet accommodations. The room is perfectly propor-
tioned and, like the main banking rooms, has a barrelled
ceiling, ivory-tinted, gumwood panelling and cornice, and
a floor of rubber tiling.
There is a spacious fireplace at the front and triple
doors let to an iron balcony of colonial type over the river.
The Directors' Room is furnished with chairs and
table of the Windsor period, the whole blending delight-
fully into such a meeting place as tradition asserts the
early Medfordites were wont to gather in on occasions
of moment.
In the basement of the building besides the storage
vault are the heater room containing the latest in oil
burning boiler and equipment, service room, fan room
and janitor's room. At the rear are recreation room with
toilet, and a complete kitchen.
The building is heated by the vapor system, and
thorough ventilation is secured with methods carefully de-
signed by ventilating engineers. The plumbing, modern
in all respects, has chromium-plated fittings.
The electrical system is designed to meet the special
and exacting requirements of a building of this nature.
All intercommunicating telephones are of the dial type,
used in connection with the regular telephone system.
The bank is forty-two feet on High street, and sixty-eight
feet deep, with the entire first floor of reinforced concrete.
1931.] THE MEDFORD CO-OPERATIVE BANK. 33
The cost complete approximated $80,000.00.
As a matter of record it may be set forth that the first
President of the Medford Co-operative Bank was Dana
I. Mclntire, 1886-1907. He was succeeded by J. Henry
Norcross, 1907-1912. Former Mayor Lewis H. Lovering
became President in 1912, and continues in that office.
James S. Sturtevant was Secretary-Treasurer from
18S6 to 1907. In 1907 the dual oi^ce was divided. Mr.
Sturtevant remained as Treasurer through 191 1, and
Elisha G. Pierce, chosen as Secretary in 1907, became
Treasurer in 191 1, continuing until his death in July,
1928. At the time Mr. Pierce was made Treasurer the
office of Secretary was discontinued as to title, and that
of Clerk of the Corporation was established. Upon Mr.
Pierce's death, Forrest E. Thompson, who has been for
several years connected with the bank, was chosen Treas-
urer and Clerk of the Corporation (1928) and serves in
those positions now (1931).
The officers of the Medford Co-operative Bank as of
1 93 1 are as follows :
Lewis H. Lovering, President
Walter F. Cushingf, Charles S. Taylor, Jolin W. Rockwell, Vice-Presidents
Forrest E. Thompson, Treasurer and Clerk
Willard T. Crossman, Assistant Treasurer
Directors :
Lewis H. Lovering Alden W. Teel Edgar H. Savage
Charles S. Taylor Frank W. Lovering Frank G. Grady
Walter F. Cushing John J. Mulkerin William N. Curtis
David G. Melville Alwyne E. Ritchie Winthrop I. Nottage
John \V. Rockwell Lerov H. Robbins Charles L. Oxnard
William P. Hart Henry P. Van de Bogert John C. G. DeWolfe
Security Committee:
Lewis H. Lovering William P. Hart Frank W. Lovering
Walter F. Cushing Leroy H. Robbins
Finance Committee :
John W. Rockwell, Chairman; John J. Mulkerin, David G. Melville.
Attorneys :
Edward N. Carpenter, George M. Nay, Carpenter. Nay and Caiger, 73 Corn-
hill, Boston.
Actively engaged in the handling of the bank's clerical
duties are :
Carolyn E. Weeks, Margaret ^L Gowans, Evelyn B. Ranisell, J. Olive
Crocker.
34 [June,
A TERCENTENARY POEM.
Written by Marion Nottage and awarded the second prize, a silver cup, in the Ter-
centenary Poem Contest conducted by the Medford Mercury.
Three hundred years since that intrepid man
Flung Medford's banner to the sky,
Yet those long days from wilderness to now
Are but a breath in Time's slow sigh ;
Forests of mighty oak, golden and green,
Long crowned this vale without a name,
The land grew rich, the spilling stream more wide,
Before the tawny Indian came.
An early morn, washed by the rising sun.
Knee-deep in summer's fragrant sedge,
Immovable and bronze, rider and horse
Mirror as one in the tide's edge ;
The Indian with arms stretched wide and high
Greets dawn with thanks for peace new found :
"Grant to the Missituks zeal here to make
A valiant happy hunting ground."
Though circles of their campfires glow no more
In the clear starriness of night,
Still through the valley flows the stream they named
The Mystic, marking in its flight
The ebb and flow of years, of rain and drought.
Of smiling sky and iron-bound clouds;
Its memories compass lives of fairer men
Who sought inevitable shrouds.
No more slim schooners glide upon its breast,
Or lighter craft the red men steer,
The early settlers with the Indian blend
In memory of yesteryear.
Biit now the river has regained young life,
And bears again a youthful freight.
The Mystic lakes resound to swimmer's splash,
To scud of sail and ring of skate.
And Medford speaks through laughing children's voice
Of pride in its fast growing youth,
A city old in years yet young at heart
In strict adherence to the truth ;
And as to sea the peaceful Mystic flows,
Whose banks with dwellings fair abound,
Great Spirit, grant Thy lenience once again.
To bless our happy hunting ground.
1931.] 35
ELIZUR WRIGHT.
Mr. George S. Delano, in his article, " Men Whom
We Have Known," published in the volume " Medford,
Past and Present," printed in 1905, writes thus of a man
whose name has lately come again to the notice of the
people of Medford: " Elizur Wright we knew well, — a
man of genius in many ways, a generous citizen, the
father of Middlesex Fells. No man can have a more
beautiful, expressive, or lasting monument than the Fells
lands ; yet, as a reminder that we appreciate the man
who, by gift of time, energy, genius, and money, caused
public action to define itself in the preservation of our
grand forests, a monument built by public subscription
on Pina hill would be in keeping with our appreciation
of him."
It is interesting that this proposal of a monument to
the memory of Mr. Wright should be renewed more than
twenty-five years later, and this time to honor him, not
as the father of Middlesex Fells, but as the "father of
life insurance." The National Association of Life In-
surance is sponsoring a plan to raise a fund of one mil-
lion dollars for a memorial.
In Volume IV, No. 3, of the Historical Register
may be found an extract from a paper read before the
Historical Society by Mr. Wright's daughter, Miss Ellen
M. Wright, in which the pioneer services in the cause
of forest preservation in general and of the Middlesex
Fells in particular, rendered by Elizur Wright, are well
set forth. He planted the seed and the splendid Metro-
politan Park System of Massachusetts is the fruit of that
seed.
Mr. Wright died in December, 1885. The following
are excerpts from the Medford Mercury of that month :
" For the last half century Mr. Wright has been a promi-
nent figure among the public men of this state, and both
in public and private was honored and respected by all.
He was born in South Canaan, Litchfield County, Con-
necticut, February 12, 1804. His father moved to Tal-
36 ELIZUR WRIGHT. [June,
mage, Ohio, in iSio, and here young Wright lived on a
farm until he was eighteen years old, when he entered
Yale College. He graduated in 1826, and during the
next two years was a teacher in the Lawrence Academy,
Concord, Massachusetts. From 1829 to 1833 he was a
professor in Western Reserve College, Hudson, Ohio.
Having warmly embraced the principles of the Aboli-
tionists, he removed to New York in 1S33 and became
secretary to the American Anti-Slavery Society, in which
he continued for five years. During this time he was
also editor of the Quarterly Anti-Slavery Magazine. He
removed to Boston in April, 1839, and became editor of
the Massachusetts Abolitionist, a paper which dealt effec-
tive blows at slavery.
" For several years he remained connected with the
newspaper press, and in 1845 established the Chronotype,
on which he continued to do yeoman's service for the
hated cause. The Chronoiype was merged with the Com-
monwealth in 1850, and he remained editor for some time
after. In 1858 he was appointed to the office of insur-
ance commissioner, holding it until 1866. He was recog-
nized as the best informed man on insurance and kindred
subjects in New England, and he published several books
relative to these matters. In 1841 he published a trans-
lation in two volumes of ' La Fontaine's Fables,' a work
which became known universally. He also published
' The Lesson of Santo Domingo, or How to Make War,'
in 1861 ; 'Eye-Opener for Wlde-A wakes,' in i860; and
'A Curiosity of Law,' in 1866. In 1843 ^^ ^^^ allied
with the Liberty party, and published a popular song,
dedicated to the presidential candidate, entitled 'An Ode
to James G. Birney.' Mr. Wright was an occasional
contributor to the Mercury, and his letters were always
read with much interest."
1931.] 37
HISTORIC MARKERS.
As part of the Medford celebration of the 19th of
April for 1931, the Medford Historical Society replaced
two of the original markers on the sites of the first and
second meeting houses. So well had the original signs
been made that with a little repair and repainting, they
were ready again for service. The Medford Boy and
Girl Scouts sent a delegation, with a Boy Scout Bugle
and Drum Corps, to meet on the site of the first meeting
house at the corner of High street and High street
place. There they formed at attention while workmen
generously loaned by Mr. Blodgett, Building Commis-
sioner of the City of Medford, securely screwed the sign
in place. This now reads
HERE STOOD
THE FIRST MEETING HOUSE IN MEDFORD
16% — 1726
DIMENSIONS 27x30 ft. COST 80£
REV. BENJAMIN WOODBRIDGE
FIRST MINISTER
Then the President, Mrs. Richard B. Coolidge, gave a
short talk to the scouts on the first meeting house and
the historic landmarks in that part of the city. Present
also were James W. Norton, President of the Board of
Aldermen, Mr. Thomas M. Connell, Treasurer of the His-
torical Society and Scout Executive Harry T. French.
The little cavalcade then marched, bearing the sign of
the second meeting house, to a position near the brook.
Investigation proved that the second meeting house stood
on the land now occupied by two houses near the brook,
but as permission was not granted on the original site of
the sign, the Historical Society placed the sign with simi-
lar exercises on the land of Mr. Lund, the second house
from Meeting House Brook. This sign reads in the
original wording
HFRE STOOD
THE SECOND MEETING HOUSE IN MEDFORD
1726—1770
REV. EBENEZER TURRELL
It is to be hoped that we can keep alive the original
interest of the society in the marking of all important
historic sites.
38 NOTES BY THE WAY. [June,
A TIMELY EXCERPT.
From Robert C. Winthrop's "Life and Letters of John
Winthrop" we make the following quotations, because
they describe an interesting first event in the history of
Medford, which occurred just three hundred years ago:
We soon afterwards find him (Winthrop) making note of a most
interesting occurrence^ in the progress of the little plantation, and
in the history of New England navigation and commerce: —
"Julv4. The governor built a bark at Mistick, which was
launched this day, and called the Blessing of the Bay."
The attentive reader can hardly Iiave omitted to observe the
beautiful coincidence which exists between the dates of some of the
most memorable occurrences \\\ our early colonial history and those
of some of the great events of our more recent national career. Thus
the governor and company of Massachusetts set out from Salem for
the bay on the 17th of June, and probably encamped that night not
far from what was afterwards known as Bunker hill. Thus, too,
the first Thanksgiving Day of the colony was on the 2 2d of Febru-
ary, and the Blessing- of the Bay was launched on the 4th of July.
The change of old style into new would, indeed, destroy these
coincidences; but as long as the dates shall stand, as they still do,
on the printed page, the associations which they suggest cannot fail
to be cherished with an almost superstitious fondness.
Mistick, where the Blessing of the ^rtiy was built, and launche(^
on the 4th of July, 1631, was the summer residence of Governor
Winthrop for some years.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
Since the last issue of the Register the old Floyd
house, located on High street between the Christian
Science Church and the new St. Joseph's Parochial
School, has been torn down. The old house was over
one hundred years old, and occupied by the Floyd family
for many years. It is being replaced by an apartment
house of large size.
The Medford Historical Society acted as host to the
Bay State League at the League's spring meeting, held
Saturday, April 25. Seventy delegates present, repre-
senting twenty-two societies, were greeted by Mrs. Ruth
1931.] OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS. 39
Dame Coolidge of the local Society, and the Hospitality
Committee functioned during the social period.
The completion of the new Daniel A. Gleason School
on Playstead road, West Medford, adds another to a list
of Medford's modern school buildings.
It is of colonial design, two stories high over a ground
floor. It has ten class rooms, five on each floor. The
plan provides for additions to the building without mak-
ing extensive alterations. It is 165 feet long by 54 feet
wide, with a playground 250 feet by 160. The ground
floor has a playroom for boys and one for girls, and toilets
for both sexes on all three floors.
It has rooms which may be used for additional classes
if necessary. The heating plant is of the latest type, and
the cupola and the two chimneys make for suitable venti-
lation. The first stor)' has a principal's ofifice and wait-
ing room, also a medical room, fitted with plumbing,
etc., which may be used as a dental clinic.
It has an electric clock system, with a master clock,
and program regulator, fire-alarm system and intercom-
municating telephone service. As a whole the building
is not surpassed by any like structure in suburban Boston.
OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS OF MEDFORD.
By Hall Gleason.
(Continued from Medford Historical Register, March, 193L)
185.^. Kingfisher. Extreme clipper ship, 1286 tons. Owners. William Lincoln & Co. Sold
to P. Spraeue & Co. October. 18.58. In later years Samuel G. Reed & Co., also of
Boston. Built by Hayden and Cudworth. She made four passages Boston to S. F.
and two from N. Y. .'\verage for the six, 126?^ days: fastest, 114 days: slowest. 135
days. Sold to Uruguay and renamed /rt/wz? Cibils. Broken up in 1890.
Edith Rose. Ship, .SIO tons. Owners, Crowell. Brooks & Co. of Boston, 1853. Sold
to Howes & Crowell, October. 1857. Sold to William .Appleton & Co., November,
18S7. Sold to S. Hooper & Co. 1861. Built by Havden & Cudworth. Sold June,
1863, to . Sold .March. 1866, to . Last report 1886.
Fleetwring. Medium clipper ship, 8% tons. Owners. Crowell, Brooks & Co. Sold to
Howes & Crowell, 1857. Built by Hayden & Cudworth. She mado fourteen passages
from Boston or N. Y. to S. F.: two of 113 days ; one each of 114. 121 and 122 days,
and two of 128 days. S. F. to N Y. 103 days, two to Boston in 112 and 119 days.
Last .American owner, Vernon H. Brown of N. Y. Changed to a bark and sold to
British .Account.
Herald of the Morning. Medium clipper ship. 12**4 tons. Designed by Samuel H.
Pook. Owners, Thatcher Maeoun & Co. Built by Hayden & Cudworth. On her
maiden voyaife. Boston to S. F. in 106 days, when 100 days out she was within 1.80
miles of the Golden Gate. N. Y. to S. F. .Arrived at S. F. 100 days, 6 hours, anchor
to anchor: 99 days, 12 hours, pilot to pilot: best day's run, 340 miles. The only
40 OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS. [June, 1931.]
1853. Medford-built vessel to make the passage in less than 100 days. Arrived May 16,
1855. Boston to S. F. in 116 days. Arrived March 18. IS59. Boston to S. F. 108 days.
Arrived May 25, 1860. Sold to Norwegian .•\ccount, her rig changed to a bark. In
1890 she appears under the British flag, W. J. Smith, owner. In 1859, wliile off Cape
Horn, she was struck by an iiumense sperm whale which appeared to be badly
injured. The ship lost part of her stem and her pumps had to be kept going until
her arrival at de.stination.
Robin Hood. Extreme clipper ship, 1181 tons. Owners, Howes & Crowell. Built by
Hayden & Cudworth. Her maiden passage Boston to S. F. in 127 days. Thereafter
she made eleven runs from N. Y. to S. F.. two of which were made in 107 days.
From S. F. she made five direct runs to N. Y., the fastest being 88 days in 1862. Her
time on the others was 107. 108, 117 and 117 days. Destroyed by fire at Baker's
Island, Pacific Ocean, August 30, 1869, while loading guano for Queenstown, Ireland.
Lamplighter. Bark, 365 tons. Owners, Lombard, f/ a/. Built by Hayden & Cud-
worth. N. Y. for Gibraltar. Captured and burned October 15, 1862, by the Alabama
in lat. 41° 10' N., long. 59° 17' VV.
Osborn Howes. Medium clipper ship, 1050 tons. Owners, Crowell Brooks & Co.
Sold to Howes & Crf well. Built by Hayden & Cudworth. Boston to S. F. 153 days,
arrived lanuary 20, lii55. N. Y. to S. F. 124 days, arrived April 30, 1856. Sold to
British Acct. August, 1S64. Last report 1870.
Rambler. Ship. 1119 tons. Owners, Baxter Brothers of Yarmouth, Mass., and Israel
Nash of Boston. Sold to Carleton 18<^.0 (O. K. 1864). Built by Hayden & Cudworth.
Name changed to Fanny.
Elmwood. Bark, ,339 tons. Owners, Edward Bartlett and Augustus Hemenway. et al..
Boston Built by Melzar P. Delano.
Wm. H. Starkey of Boston. Pilot schooner, 78 tons. Owners, Matthew and Reuben
S. Hunt of Boston. Built by John Wade, Jr.
Ocean Telegraph. Extreme clipper ship, 1495 tons. Owners, Reed, VVade & Co. of
Boston. Built by Hayden & Cudworth. "No expense was spared to make her one
of the most perfect and beautiful ships ever built. The bow raked boldly forward,
flaring gracefully, and was ornamented with a beautiful carved female figure with
forks of liglitning plaving around She was very sharp, with a long, clean run taper-
ing like that of a pilot l)oat. Her light and graceful stern was ornamented with
carved work surrounding a figure of Neptune. She had a fine sheer, and every line
and moulding harmonized her whole length." She made eight passages to S. F. from
N. Y. The average of seven of these is under 117 days, and of the eight is 121 days.
She made five passages from S. F. to N. Y., of which four were under 100 days. The
average of the five is 96.8 days. Portions of a number of these runs were very close
to record. Fastest outward passage to S. F. 105 days, 20 hours. Fastest return
passage 90 days. In 1855 she made the run from Callao to N. Y. in 58 days, believed
to be the fastest on record. Sold to Jas. Baines & Co. of London for £7060 and re-
named Light Brigade. Changed to a bark in 1875. Condemned and converted
into a coal hulk at Gibraltar in 1883. Last report 1891.
Ocean Express. Medium clipper ship, 1697 tons. Owners, Reed, Wade & Co. of
Boston Sam'l G. Reed & Co., successors. Built by J. O. Curtis. A gilded eagle
was her figurehead Her rig was changed from single topsails to Howes double
topsails after her first voyage. She had hard luck with head winds and calms on all
her California passages. Her runs from N. Y. to S. F. were 135. 125. 13f), 1.39, 148
and 143 days. From Boston to S. F. 137 days. In 1857 she made ,3'i4 miles in 24
hours. In 1861-62 she was engaged as a U. S. army transport. Sold to Peruvian
.Acct. in 1872. Reported having made the run from Callao to California coast in 31
days, which is close to the record. Under Costa Rica colors for a time. Sold to
German Acct. and name changed to Friedrich in 1876. Sold subsequently to Nor-
wegians. Reported abandoned in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1890. Largest ship
built in Medford.
Enoch Train. Steam tug, 384}^ tons. Owners, Boston Steam Tow-Boat Co. Built
by J. O. Curtis.
Good Hope. Ship, H'^S tons. Owners, James Burritt, e/ a;/., of N. Y. Built by James
O. Curtis. Name changed to Frederick Hasselnian. N. Y. to S. F. 143 days, arrived
November 11, 1855. Lost near Quebec in 1881.
Norwester. Clipper ship, 1267 tons. Ownor.s, J. T. Coolidge & Co. of Boston. Sold
to R. F. C. Hartley, etat., of Boston in 1864. Built by S. Lapham. N. Y. to S. F.
in 122. and 195 days. Boston to S. F. 1.32, 131 and 1 ^4 days. Boston to Calcutta in
91 days, claimed to be second best on record. Return voyage in 95 days. New
Orleans (or Liverpool with cargo of cotton, burned at Key West, November23, 1873.
Emma. Ship, 857 tons. Owners, James Wellman, ^^ a/., of Charleston, S. C. Built by
Joshua T. Foster. Last report 1885.
Hon. LhWiS H. LU\ EKING
President of tlie Medford Co-operative Bank Since 1912
FORREST E. THOMPSON
Present Treasurer and Clerk Since 1928
Vol. XXXIV.]
[No. 3.
PUBLISHELD BY THE.
HEDfORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY
M EDFORD f1 ASSAOtUSETTS
%fMC)H.
CONTENTS.
Page
THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. [A Play.]
Wilson Fiske and Ruth Dame Coolidge 41
NOTES BY THE WAY. Thomas M. Connell .... 52
OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS OF MEDFORD.
Hall Gleason 54
Entered as second-class matter, under the act of July 16, 1894,
Medford Station, Boston, Massachusetts.
Meetings of the Society at the Society's home, 10 Governors
Avenue, on third Mondays at 8.00 P.M., from
October to May inclusive.
MEDFORD HISTORICAL REGISTER.
Published quarterly (March, June, September, and December)
BY THE
Medford Historical Society,
AT
No. 10 Qovernors Avenue, Medford, Mass.
Subscription price, &1.50 a year, postpaid. Single copies, 40 cents.
For sale at the Society Rooms and by the Treasurer.
Publication Committee.
HARRY E. WALKER, JOSEPH C. MILLER, MOSES W. MANN,
THOMAS M. CONNELL, CHARLES T. DALY.
Editor, MOSES W. MANN.
Exchange list in charge of Thomas M. Connell, io Tainter Street.
FORM OF BEQUEST.
I give and bequeath to the Medford Historical Society, in
the city of Medford, Mass., the sum of Dollars for
the general use and purposes of said Society.
( Signed)
J. C. MILLER, JR., PRINTER, MEDFORD.
The Medforcl Historical Register.
Vol. XXXIV. SEPTEMBER, 19:-;i. No. 3.
THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOVv^N MEETING.
A PLAY.
Copyrishted by Wilson Fiske nnd Ruth Dame Coolidse.
The Prologue and the First, Skcond and Fourth Scenes by
Wilson Fiske, the Third Scene by Ruth Daaie Coolidge.
FOREWORD.
THE composition of "The Old Time Medford Town
Meeting " was first suggested by Rev. Mr. Dethlefs,
Minister of the First Parish in Medford.
The series of representations celebrating Medford's
tercentenary year had been inaugurated by "A Seven-
teenth Century Church Service" in the auditorium of
the First Parish Church on Sunday, February 23, 1930,
under Mr. Dethlefs' direction. This met with so much
favor as to draw forth many requests for its repetition,
both from people who had attended the service and from
some of those who were unable to gain admission for
lack even of standing room.
But the church meeting was strictly a religious service
in form, and singularly dignified and reverent in charac-
ter, and Mr. Dethlefs hesitated to take any action which
might tend to make it appear dramatic or show-like.
However, he was willing to arrange for some other form
of memorial by which the First Parish might close the
tercentenary season it had so happily opened. It occurred
to him that, having begun with a church meeting, it might
be fitting to finish with the one other absorbing function
of Puritan New England, a town meeting, and during
the presentation in June of Mrs. Coolidge's " Pageant of
the Mystic " he asked me if I would undertake to write
something appropriate to that purpose.
I was by no means confident of my ability to produce
anything satisfactory in the line of pageant or play, but
OCT 13 ICCl
42
THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. [Sept..
expressed my interest and agreed to do what I could.
Much diligent and very interesting research among the
ancient town records suggested the idea of setting forth
the doings of some one actual meeting, adding to the
records only such procedure as must necessarily be pre-
sumed to have had place in carrying out the business of
that meeting. This told a story truly, and made a pic-
ture— which was very much black-and-white until Mrs.
Coolidge's fancy and her brush added the color and
perspective by portraying the women and the home.
The " Town Meeting " was presented by members of
the First Parish at their Parish House, under the direc-
tion of Mr. Dethlefs, December 3, 1930, for the benefit
of the Parish, the cast being as follows : —
STEPHEN WILLIS, Town Clerk
JOHN BRADSHAV^, Constable
JOHN HALL ....
PETER TUFTS, Selectman and Rep:
CALEB BROOKS .
THOMAS WILLIS .
STEPHEN FRANCIS
JOHN WHITMORE
MARY BRADSHAW
MOLLY BRADSHAW
HANNAH FRANCIS
JEMIMA HALL
ANNA TUFTS
JOHN BROCUS
MERCY TUFTS
MADAM WAUE
ABIGAIL .
WILLIAM PATTIN
NATHAN WADE .
JOHN FRANCIS .
EBENEEZER BROOKS, Mr.
. Mr. EVERETT W. STONE
Mr. PAUL S. FISKE
Mr. PHILIP W. JOHNSON
esentative, MR. LOUIS C. DETHLEFS
Mr. WILSON FISKE
. Mr. LAWRENCE B. MOORE
. Mr. WALTER R. MAGOUN
. Mr. EDWAIU:) M. PETERS
Mrs. GEORGE F. WESTON. Jr.
Miss REBECCA NICHOLS
. Mrs. ARTHUR L. FINNEY
Mrs. CLARA W. JACKSON
. Miss DOROTHEA DEIGNAN
. Mr. SIDNEY T. GUILD
. Mrs. EDWARD W. HAYES
Mrs. WILSON FISKE
Miss RUTH ALDEN COOLIDGE
. Dr. EVERETT A. TISDALE
Mr. PERCY S. BRAYTON
Mr. WILLIAM P. CLARK
WILLIAM BRADFORD COOLIDGE
And on April 15, 193 1, it was repeated at the same
place, through the courtesy and with the co-operation of
the First Parish members, by, and for the benefit of, the
Medford Historical Society, the cast being the same as
before, with these exceptions:
1931.] THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. 43
Miss Katherin Howe appeared as Anna Tufts.
Mr. Donald Fiske appeared as John Francis.
At the first presentation the prologue was read by
Mr. Fiske; at the second by Hon. Frederick W. Fosdick,
who was introduced by Mrs. Coolidge.
—WILSON FISKE.
THE PROLOGUE.
A Medford Town Meeting of the Seventeenth Century may be
known to us by date and by its results, because the town records of
the last quarter of that century are still witli us, and bear evidence
of painstaking efforts at precision and completeness. Some of them,
by the way, are remarkable for their admirable chirography, as
they are for their peculiar orthography and sometimes construction.
But the reports of the meetings are for the most part mere records
of the enactments of that most puissant legislative body, the town.
They do not give us insight into the processes, by debate or other-
wise, through which these results were had, nor note the many
touches of homely quaintness which must have characterized their
progress, and which we should so much enjoy to read. Motions
lost were not recorded.
Therefore a representation of sucli a scene must be, as to these
details, wholly imaginative. But usually the place, the personnel
and the costuming we know somewhat in detail, and we know
something of the form of procedure. Members of the First Parish,
familiar with the forms and requirements of its present-day meet-
ings, will readily recognize these parish meetings as the direct de-
scendants of the town meetings of the days when town and parish
were one.
The particular meeting which we have chosen for presentation
in full was the first meeting after the completion of the first meeting-
house in Medford, and it seems to have been interested almost
wholly with business concerning that edifice, which we must re-
member was built to serve the purposes of both church and town
hall.
The " covenant " with its builders called for a building thirty
feet by twenty-seven feet, and sixteen feet high. To get an idea
by comparison we may consider that this auditorium in front of the
stage would almost exactly ccjntain two such buildings. The house
had but one room at that time, no gallery and no pews. It had
real glass in tlie windows. The roof was shingled and the walls
clapboarded and brick-filled. The floor was of native pine. Of
course, when used for town meetings the space covered by the pul-
pit and by the deacons' seat in front of that, was unused. But the
44 THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. [Sept.,
table in front of the deacons' seat might well be useful to the clerk
and moderator. The pews were built later, one by one, and always
at the expense of the occupants. The right to build each pew was
granted specifically by the town as a special mark of consideration.
The building of the pews necessarily restricted the floor space for
the seats, and led to the building of the gallery as the church popu-
lation increased. When the meeting-house was built the " ratable"
heads and estates were twenty-seven. This might give a total popu-
lation of perhaps one hundred and fifty and a church attendance
which might easily overfill the little meeting-house.
We do not know that there were any prescriptive rights to special
seats within its one room at the town meetings, but the seating of
the congregation at public worship on Sunday was a solemn and
momentous question, not easy of handling, probably seldom ad-
justed to universal satisfaction, usually productive of heartburnings
and differences of opinion not quite in keeping with that irijunction
of St. Paul's "In honor to prefer one another."
Our forbears were but scantily democratic in their inherited ideas
of social rank and station, to which the)' clung tenaciously, however
boldly they repudiated the political principles of their mother coun-
try. VVe know that the first placing of this congregation was not
wholly acceptable, and required revising a few years later.
The time of which we treat was some seventeen years before
the town had any settled minister, and before what was known as
the "gathering" of the church. But the "church" at that time
meant always the religious organization, and never a building. The
building was in no sense sacred, and was subject to the customs
and control of the church onlv when it was used for religious ser-
vices; which, however, might very well be its most frequent and
important use.
In those particulars on which information is obtainable, we have
tried to present the picture with accuracy on all significant points.
Peter Tufts was moderator at this meeting. Stephen Willis vjas
town clerk (which title he pronounced " dark" and usuallv spelled
with two c's — clerck).
The selectmen were Peter Tufts, John Francis and Nathan
Wade; the tithing man was Jonathan Tufts; Nathaniel H;dl was
surveyor of highwavs; and John Francis and Ebeneezer Brooks
were fence-viewers.
Thomas Willis was in fact the newly elected constable. But
Thomas Willis appears before us ratlier as the donor to the town
of the meeting-house lot. F(jr this reason, and to avoid confusion
of his name with that of his brother Stephen, we have taken the
liberty to extend the term of office of John Bradshaw (or Bradshur,
or Bradshoe, as it was variouslv written), who had been town con-
stable until within a few weeks previously.
1931.] THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. 45
We may even know fairly well who else were present. The
town meetings were called by the selectmen, in the name of the
Crown, and the summons thereto was served by the town constable.
All the " ratable " males w'ere included, and absentees from the
meeting were fined for non-performance of public duty. Inci-
dentally, any refusal to accept office was also punished by a hand-
some fine. Here in matters political was democracy indeed, beside
which our own attempts tliereat decidedlv pale. Under this system
the town " rates" or tax lists would give us very nearly the person-
nel of the meetings of corresponding dates. For instance, we have
the "rate" authorized by the identical meeting represented, and
we have the list of original subscribers to the bidlding fund of the
meeting-house, with the amount of each contribution. It may not
be amiss to explain that ''town rates" meant taxes levied by the
town, while "country rates" were imposed by the General Court.
The transactions of the meeting presented have been followed
with equal faithfulness. With the exception of one clause borrowed
from the record of a subsequent meeting and used to illustrate a
characteristic trait, the resolutions passed are taken from the town
record of that meeting and so far as possible are verbatim — even
literatim — copies thereof. No business but the business of the
day has been presented, and none omitted. The methods of voting
are authentic.
The same care to keep within the record applies to that portion
of a second town meeting which is presented for your acceptance.
And the episodes set forth between the two will sufliciently justify
themselves without apology, even though their details are neces-
sarily based on tradition rather than the town records. The locale,
the characters, their relationships, and apparently their views, if
not their action, are historical. The locale of the meeting of the
committee men will be obvious if we recall that a considerable por-
tion of the ancient highway northwestward from the bottle-neck at
Cradock Bridge is still called Woburn street.
The Bradshaw house still stands, albeit more modern buildings
have destroyed its view of the meeting-house site. The two other
dwelling houses named in the text complete the trio of Medford
residences then and now functioning as such, and have now nearly
completed the fulfillment of Madam Wade's prophecy.
And now, having shown our hand, we '11 play it, and hope for
yours.
46 THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. [Sept.,
SCENE I.
The Town Meeting in the New Meeting-house. May 25, 1696.
^^ Diligent In business, ferifent In spirit, serving the Lord."
Curtain.
Interior of the new meelmg-house discovered ; perhaps not quite finished ;
a table ; no fixed seats ; several stools, chairs and Impromptu seats of differ-
ent kinds ; with some attetnpt at orderlmess afid neatness under difficulties.
Enter the men of the town, singly and In groiips, with greetings for each
other, and any casual, appropriate conversation. Possibly ofte or two still
swallowing a hurried breakfast after doing the chores.
Enter Willis, tow7i clerk, 7vlth book, bundle of pens. Ink-well and sand-
box, all which he deposits on the table. TJien he looks abotct to see If the
room Is In order for the meeting, and makes some s?nall chatiges In the setting.
The men stand about In groups without order, and of course are particularly
171 disorder when Stephen Willis advajices to table and raps the ineetlng to
order.
Stephen Willis. John Bradshaw, Constable, thou wert required
By the Selectmen, in due ordered course.
To notify tlie people of our town,
The freeholders and other habitants,
That here within their meeting-house they do
Convene in general town meeting; now
To see how may the town be minded well
To act upon those questions in the writ
Set forth — Hast thou so done ?
Bradshaw. Aye Master Clerk,
All this hath been most faithfully performed.
Ill name of his most gracious Majesty,
Yea, William, even him of Orange, King
Of England, Ireland, Scotland and of France,
By grace of God ; Defender of the Faith ;
By order of our town's Selectmen, and
In virtue of mine olifice and the law ;
I, Bradshaw, duly chosen Constable,
With fifteen days of notice, as required,
Did warn and summon all and singular
The men of this our Medford, that they meet
At seven of the clock in the forenoon.
Upon the five and twentieth day instant,
That is to say, of May, the year of grace
One thousand and six liundred ninety-six,
1931.] THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING.
47
And of the reign of our good King the Vlllth,
Within their meeting-house upon the hill
Hard by the Marble Brook ; therein to take
Such lawful action on the town's affairs,
(Being within the purview of the writ),
As may be for the common good and to
The glory of Almighty God — Amen.
And this same writ have I upon the door
Of our said meeting-house displayed, and eke
Have ta'en such further means for its report
As by the law commanded.
Willis. Wherefore we,
Thus timely warned and legally, and now
Being so met, do stand in lawful case
To hold discourse upon our town's affairs,
And so to act as may our conscience fit.
And first, by all use, custom and the law,
We now proceed to choose from out our men
A Moderator. I await your wish
Hereon.
John Hall. I do propose that we elect
To moderate our meeting, Peter Tufts,
Our Representative at General Court.
Willis. Which nomination, I perceive at once
Is seconded by Goodman Whitmore, and ( IVhitmore nods)
If other nominations there be none.
We may proceed to vote. What do I hear ?
Leftenant Tufts is chosen by acclaim ! {All, Aye, Aye.)
So be it then — Leftenant Peter Tufts
Is chosen Moderator, I proclaim.
Tufts {exchanging places with Willis).
Let us invoke a blessing from on high. {Reads a prayer.)
Have we at hand a copy of the writ ?
Aye, sir, it lies before you on the desk.
My thanks — 'Tis here set forth we are to see
What steps the town will take to "dignify,"
Or place our people in their meeting-house.
What is your pleasure here ?
It doth behoove
Us that we act upon this weighty point
With all discretion and decorum due.
'Twere seemly our inhabitants be placed
With such respect to age and quality,
W^ILLIS.
Moderator
C. Brooks,
48
THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. [Sept.,
Nor not without regard for generous gifts
Toward the building of our meeting-house,
As that our meetings shall be surely marked
With proper dignity and aspect grave.
Considerations like to these require
Much earnest, even prayerful argument.
More fitted to deliberations apt
Of wiser heads amongst us, and a corps
Less numerous than this our forum. I
Do therefcjre mcjve appointment now by us
Of a committee bidden to this task.
Willis. Aye, but, in such case who shall fitly place
The placers ? Shall they justly seat themselves ?
Not so, I trow. Our wiser men would not
So undertake to do.
Brooks. Indeed I am
Persuaded thou art right, nor did I think
To put such situation to our men.
I would amend my motion to provide
That our Selectmen first of all shall place
Those men, appointed then to place the rest.
Moderator. How many shall on this committee be.
And who ?
Brooks. The Moderator I would say ;
The rest, I am content they shall be named
By wisdom of the Moderator — and
For number I would counsel five in all.
Moderator. You hear the mind of Brother Brooks. Are there
Objections to this method ? If not so
We may proceed to vote on't. Those who would
So many be appointed so, for such
Most weighty service, now will show their will.
Erecting each a hand to show the same. {A pause.)
Or, otherwise if minded, by the same
Signification, now. Plainly it is
Affirmatively voted. {A Pause.) I do name
To this committee Caleb Brooks, John Hall,
Our Town Clerk, Stephen Willis, and to these
Good men and true add Stephen Francis' name. [A patise.)
There hath been courteous application made
That Major Nathan Wade have liberty
To build within the meeting-house a pew.
Is this in keeping with the town's desire ?
1931.] THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING.
49
John Hall.
Moderator.
Thomas Willis.
Moderator.
Bradshaw.
Francis.
Moderator.
I move to grant such liberty, with this
Proviso, Major Wade invite some one
Or two to sit with him.
Do we agree
With tliis ? {A paiisr.) It is so voted — Major Wade
We find hatli liberty to build a pew
When he shall see good reason so to do. {A pause.)
It now appears that to the land whereon
Our meeting-house doth stand, no title yet
Is vested in the town. Much do we owe
To our good Brother Thomas Willis, that
He hath provided for our use this place.
Nor would we he should feel the least distrust
There might be aught uneasy to our minds ;
But yet in fairness to the town, and him,
It seemeth we should make the record clear.
Against all accidents.
I am content,
Nay, much desirous to provide defense
Against such ills — and I do move to make
Instructions to our good Selectmen now
To that good end.
Well, then, 'tis put to vote
That the Selectmen duly " go to get
Sufficient title to the ground whereon
This meeting-house is built." In favor, "Aye";
Opposed " No." {A pause.) Unanimously aye.
And so in the afifirmative the clerk
The vote will duly place on record. {A pause.) Next,
The writ recites that certain persons' heads
Are free by law from country rates, because
Of age, or otherwise ; and we are called
To say if these same heads by us shall be
Now rated to the meeting-house, and to
The other charges of the town as well.
Unless there be good reason contra shown
I do so move ; that is to say, that they
Be rated to the charges of the town.
Which motion I support.
'Tis duly moved
And seconded. {A pause.) If there be no debate
Let those in favor vote by show of hand —
Enough — And now against the motion — None !
Note, Master Clerk.
50
THE OLD TIME MED FORD TOWN MEETING. [Sept.
Hall.
Bradshaw.
Whitmore.
Brooks.
Whitmore.
And now it doth appear,
The carpenters that built the meeting-house
Have work performed more than they bargained for.
The writ doth bid us see what shall be done
To satisfy such charges just hereon,
As may be found.
The workmen who have reared
By labor of their hands this edifice
To be our house of worship, and as well
Our place of business, if they have wrought
Beyond the obligation by them ta'en,
Not meaning such excess to be their gift,
(For each of them already has set down
His name in contribution to the fund,
And each, like us, is subject to the rate
Imposed therefor), in fairness should receive
Just payment for the work by them so done.
But if the work performed beyond their gage
Hath not been authorized, nor may not be
Full needful to the house, we should beware
How that we spend the substance of the town
Unwarranted by our necessities.
Tho' we be blessed in many comforts now
Our fathers found not easy in their day,
Yet are we fain to watch with care our purse,
Being but ill bestead in that.
I would
We have from the committee by the town
Appointed to the building of the house
Opinion on the value of this work.
How saith our Brother Brooks ?
Why, that the work
Was proper and most needful to the house
And greatly forwards our convenience in't.
In sooth, we felt it must be had, and by
Our acquiescence sanctioned it, I think.
So stands the case.
To me it seems most wise
We put the settlement of this affair
In hands of our Selectmen : and I move
'"Tis left with the Selectmen to agree
With the said workmen on the price of work
That 's done, more than their bargain as 'foresaid ;
And that the said Selectmen are empowered
To make a town rate for their payment" just.
1931.] THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. 51
Moderator. The motion you have duly heard. Is there
Debate on any furtiier point ? If not
What is your pleasure on 't ? Is 't seconded ?
Several. By me ! By me ! By me !
Moderator. 'Tis so indeed.
By show of hands we '11 indicate our will.
In favor, now. (Patcse.) And now opposed. {Pause.) The ayes
Are in majority by far. [A pause.) The Clerk
Will note 'tis in affirmative.
Is there
Aught else at this time we should do? {A patcse.) Not so,
I find. A motion to adjourn would now
Be timely. {A pause.) 'Tis so moved, and voted ; I
Do therefore rule this meeting is dissolved.
( Curtain . A II slatiding. )
SCENE II.
A Meeting of the Building Committee on the Oborn Road.
March 6. j^^
'^Man thai is born of woman."
{Enter right, Johtt Bradshaw and Stephen Francis.)
Francis. It seemeth. Master Bradshaw, we two are set, with Brother
Whitmore — nay, here cometh Master Whitmore now.
{Enter Whitmore , left.)
Good even. Brother Whitmore, and well met. Thy name but now was on
our lips.
Whitmore. Good even, good friends ! My name upon your lips ? But
why ?
Francis. Why, thou knowest, — but I bethink me now, thou wert not at
town meeting this forenoon. Thou shouldst have good excuse for that, else
standest thou in danger of a fine for non-performance of a public duty I
Whitmore. I am but now returning home from Cambridge, where my
good wife's father lieth ill of a fever. Surely a journey of charity excuseth
much.
Bradshaw. Aye, so it should. We trust by God's mercy thou has left
Master Eliot in mending health. But thou shouldst know at once: — The
meeting this day voted that the town will build a gallery in our meeting-
house, with three seats in the gallery. The seats to run through from one
end of the gallery to the other, and a pair of stairs made to go up at each end.
52 NOTES BY THE WAY. [Sept.,
And the seats to be parted in tlie middle, the one half for men and the other
half for women. And the town did choose thyself and Brother Francis here
and me to agree with whoso may build the gallery as 'foresaid.
Whitmore. Meseemeth all this will make much work and cost ; what
with two pairs of stairs and the partition in the midst; and all to gain but
three seats across.
I suppose, natheless, we fain would make room below for the pews of
Madame Wade and Master Thomas Willis. Our town must fail not in the
honor due both quality and service.
Francis. Aye truly. But before me riseth another doubt as well ; may-
hap a greater. Talk not of trouble till thou hast seen the sorrows of a seating
committee ! Thou knowest I did my endeavor, with much prayer and travail
of spirit, on the placing committee, with our honorable Representative Tufts,
and the Clerk, and Master Brooks, and Brother Hall, to seat the congrega-
tion as might be fitting to their stations. And yet I misdoubt me there is not
one satisfied, save those that sit in the women's pew in the one corner, and
Tliomas Willis' in the other, and the deacons' seat between the two ; and
their seats be prescribed. The men might be dealt with, by good fortune
and patience — but the women!!! And now I foresee we must e'en go
through it all again, apportioning the gallery seats.
But the women must be borne with — the good Lord bless them.
Bradshaw. Amen! 'Twould be no marvel, when we come to the
placing, if the town saw fit to change its mind ; but our present duty is laid
out.
Let's to our task then, like the steadfast men we be. {Exeunt.')
( To be coniinued.)
NOTES BY THE WAY.
Recent gifts to the Society include a watch imported
from England in 1820 by Dr. Luther Stearns, a member
of the well-known family whose name is intimately con-
nected with the history of Medford. It has a silver case,
and is a valuable addition to the Society's collection.
Among other gifts received from the grandson of
Major George L. Stearns is the dress sword which the
major wore when on recruiting service during the Civil
War. As is known, the major was active in recruiting
the colored soldiers during the rebellion. Major Stearns
was a friend of John Brown, and perhaps it was from
him that he got the " Pike," which is also one of the me-
1931.] NOTES BY THE WAY. 53
nientos received. The pole, which is about six feet long,
carries on the end a double-edgfed dajjgcr about eight
inches in length, and is a most formidable weapon.
Entirely different from this relic of war is an exquisitely
made yarn-holder, evidently used by the major's wife. It
is collapsible, and may be mounted on a stand. Surely
an emblem of industry when knitting Vv-as an art and not
an affectation.
Since the last publication of the Historical Register
bids have been called for the building of two new schools
in Medford. A new James A. Hervey school, containing
eight rooms, is to be erected in West Medford upon the
site of the old school bearing the same name, which has
been demolished. It will cost approximately $80,000,
and is designed by Francis Whitten, Jr., of Hutchins and
French. Mr. Whitten designed the new Gleason school
on Playstead road, which was opened in September. The
second school to be erected is located in the Forest park
section, on Governors avenue, near the Lawrence Me-
morial Hospital. This building will replace the portable
school used at present. It will contain six rooms, and
provisions have been made for a community hall, for use
by the residents in that district. It was designed by
McLaughlin and Burr, and will cost around $90,000
when completed.
When contracts for these schools have been awarded
the work will go forward at once.
It is expected they will be completed and ready for
occupancy beginning next school year.
With the removal of the car tracks on High street
from Winthrop square to Medford square, and the resur-
facing of the street, which is progressing at the present
time, Medford will have another fine thoroughfare to her
credit. The street is already completed from Winthrop
square to West Medford station and is one of the most
attractive streets to be found in any suburb.
54 OLD SHIPS A. YD SHIP- BUILDING DAYS. [Sept.,
A foot-bridge is being erected over the railroad tracks
near the Boston and Maine station in West Medford for
the benefit of the school children attending the Gleason
school and for residents of that section of the city.
OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS OF MEDFORD.
By Hall Gleason.
(Continued from Medford Historical Register, June, 193L)
1S53- Asterion. Medium clipper ship, 1135 tons. Owners, David Snow & Co., Boston. Sold
Auirust, 1S(.(I. to Buckiin & Crane of N. Y. N. Y. to S. F. 131 days. Wrecked on a
reef near Baker's Island, Pacific Ocean, September 24, 1863. An account of her loss
is sjiven by Capt. W. H. McLain in his " I-ieminiscences." ''In 1863, at the ape of
seventeen, he sailed as one of the crew in the Asterion for Howland's Island. On
her return she was Inst on Baker's Island. . . . The crew had great difficulty in
fisfhting their way through the surf to the beach. A few stores and some wreckage
drifted ashore and out of the latter rude huts were constructed. For over two
montlis they dragged out a miserable existi nee, their principal food being snakes,
which they dug from their holes in the ground, and sea birds which they caught, h
constant lookout was kept for passing vessels and finally a sail was sighted which
they were able to signal and which took them off. It was the Herald of the Morning."
Ship, 1300 tons. Not sold. Built by J. T. Foster.
1855. Sancho Panza of Boston. Medium clipper ship, 876 tons. Owners. John E. Lodge &
Co. of Boston. Built by Samuel Lapham. Sold British .Xcct. March, 1863, and re-
named Ninitod. Sold later to Germans, rig altered to bark. Sailed from Pictou,
N. S., for Liverpool on October 31, 18V0, and never heard from.
Young Greek of Boston. Bark, 4.5SJ^ tons. Owners, Alpheus Hardy & Co. of Boston.
Built by J. O. Curtis. Sold British Acct. April, 1864.
Conquest. Ship. 1064 tons. Owners, .Mpheus Hardy and Joshua Sears, et al., of
Boston. Built by J. O. Curtis for above. Wrecked at Harbor Island December 2,
1865, while boinid for New Orleans from Boston.
Pleiades. Ship, S'J? tons. Owners, Benjamin N. .Allen and .'\nibrnse H. White, ?/«/.,
Boston. Built by J. T. Foster. Destroyed by lire May 1(., 1S59, near the Isaac's,
Bahamas, while bound for Queenstown with cotton from New Orleans.
Luocothea. Ship, 950 tons. Owners. . Built by J. T. Foster.
Zephyr. Bark, 4145^ tons. Owners, Sylvester K. Small of Boston. Built by Hayden
& Cudworth. Sold and hailed from San Francisco Mav, 186S. Newcastle, N. S. W.,
to S. F. Wrecked on Mayne Islands February 13, 1872.
RivaL Ship, 983 tons. Owners, Howes & Crowell of Boston. Built by Hayden &
Cudworth. Sailed from Rangoon, Burmah, March 27, 1872, for Falmouth, England,
and was never heard from.
Electric Spark. Medium clipper ship. 1216 tons. Owners, Thatcher Magoun & Son
of Boston. Built by Hayden & Cudworth. Sister ship to clipper Thatcher Magotni.
Maiden voyai;e, Boston to S. F., 106 days, and the only one in which she did not
meet unfavorable conditions. Crew niutincd on a voyage from S. F. to Callao in
1857, and had possession of the ship for two weeks. Captain Titcon)b was locked in
his cabin and would have starved except for a supply of preserved food of wliich
the cook and steward, who were part of the mutineers, were ignorant of. Struck
Conninbeg Rock near the Wexford coast, Ireland, September 26, 1869, was beached
and became a total loss.
Goddes.s. Ship, 1126 tons. Owners, Baxter Brothers. 1855. Sold to N. C. Nash & Co.
February, 1861. Built bv Hayden & Cudworth. Sold to Norwegian .'\cct. Septem-
ber, 18t)4. Name changed to Nordens- Droiming.
Thatcher Magoun. Medium clipper ship, 124S tons. Owner, Thatcher Magoun.
Built bv Hayden & Cudworth. Her figurehead was a life-like image of the father of
sliip building on the Mystic, and who died the year she was launched. She made
five passages from Boston to S. F., the fastest being 113 days and the slowest 1.S2
days : seven from N. Y. to S. F., fastest 117 and slowest 149 : two from Liverpool in
150 and 115 days. The average of the fourteen is 128.7 days. S. F. to N. Y. in %
days in 1869. Sold to Norwegian Acct. and renamed Hercules. Reported lost off
the coast of Africa in the early '80s.
Goodspeed of Boston. Schooner, 283J^ tons. Owners, David Hinckley, et al., of
Boston. Built by Hayden & Cudworth.
Captain Paine. Bark, 512 tons. Built by Hayden & Cudworth.
1931.1 OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS. 55
1S56. Silver Star. Ship, 1195 tons. Owners, Reed & Wade, ^< a/.. Sam'l G. Reed, successor.
Built by J. O. Curtis. Wrecked while loading suano, November 10, 1860, at Jarvis
Island, South Pacific Ocean, lor tiio U. S.
Flying Mist. Medium clipper ship, 1183 tons. Owners, Theodore and George B.Chase
of Boston. Built by J. O. Curtis. Her figurehead was a full-length female in flow-
ing garments. She received favorable notice in all theports she visited. Boston
to S. F. in 115 days in 18.S7. during which she made only .S/4 miles in elevfn days and
was off the California coast for three days. N. Y. to S. F. in 123 days in 1S59. Blown
ashore and became a total loss at Bhiff Harbor, New Zealand, with a cargo of sheep
and merchandise from Glasgow, Scotland. The crew, the 18 shepherds, and 820 out
of the 1760 sheep aboard were saved, the rest of the cargo lost. Last of the Cali-
fornia clipper ships built in Medford.
Bold Hunter. Ship, 797 tons. Owners, Paul Sears and Reuben Hopkins, et al., of
Boston. Built by James O. Curtis for above Cai)tured and burned October '^,
18*>\ about lat. 19° N., long. 20° 3S' \V., bv Confederate cruiser Georsiavi\\\\fi bound
for Calcutta with coal from Dundee, Scotland.
Young Turk of Boston. Bark, 384 tons. Owners, .^Ipheus Hardy & Co. _of Boston.
Built by James O. Curtis. Made passage Boston to Gibraltar, 1859, in 15 days.
Addie Snow of Boston. Ship, 989 tons. Owners, David Snow, et al., of Boston. Built
by J. T. Fnster. Lisbon for Santos with salt. Struck some rocks near Fort Lage,
mouth of the harbor, on August 18. 18bl, was beaclu'd and became a total wreck.
Hesperus. Ship, 1019 tons. Owners, Thomas B. Wales & Co. Built by J. T. Foster
for above. Destroyed by fire January 8, 1861, at Woo Sing, China, while discharging
coal from Liverpool.
HS7. Bunker Hill. Ship, 994 tons. Owners, James Lee, Jr., of Boston and James O. Curtis
of Medford. Built bv James O. Curtis. Sold January, 1863, to Henry Gardner.
(Capt. William P.Davis.) Burned at Manilla February .3, 1875, and sold foreign.
Name changed to Elcano. Last report I39I.
\AzT.\e. Bark, 502 tons. Owners. C. Taylor & Co., 1859. Built by James O. Curtis-
Sold October, 1803.
Wild Gazelle of Boston. Bark. 490 tons. Owners, Alpheus Hardy and Joshua W.
Davis. £■/«/., of Boston. Built by James O. Curtis. (Tonnage new law 414.44.) Sold
to Baltimore. Baltimore to Paysandu. Abandoned at sea in a sinking condition
September 7, 1872.
1S58. Nautilus. Ship, 551 tons. Owners, Lombard Whitney & Co. of Boston. Built by
J.O.Curtis. Sold to German .'^cct. January, 18f)3. Name changed to O/Zw/e. Sold
Norwegian Acct. Name changed to Christian/a. Last report 1894.
Curib. Bark. 212 tons. Built by J. O. Curtis.
Industry. Ship, 1070 tons. Owners, Theodore Chase & Co., 1858. George B. Chase,
e/ a/., successors. Sold to Vernon Brown & Co. July, 1868. Built by J. O. Curtis. Sold
December. 1870. Last report ISSl.
Templar of Boston. Ship 791'^ tons. Owners, Thomas B. Wales & Co. of Boston.
Sold to Baker & Morrill of Boston February, 1866. Built by J. T. Foster.
1859. Mary Edson. Bark. 369 tons. Owners, Moses Nickerson of Boston: Ryder & Hardy
September, 1,S^4. Built by James O. Curtis. Sailed from N. Y. with petroleum and
lumber November 14, 1873, for Beyrout and was nevi-r heard from.
Cambridge. Screw steamer, 858 tons. Sold to U. S. Government July 30, 1861. Bull*
by J. O. Curtis. Sold Philadelphia June 20. 18f6. Name changed to Mitutetonka-
Owners, Sprague, Soule & Co. Last report 1885.
Mogul. Ship, 798 tons. Owners, William Perkins & Co. Built by J. T. Foster. Sold
to British .Acct. May, 1863. Quebec for Tyne. Abandoned at sea November 24, 1880.
1860. Rebecca Goddard of Boston. Bark, 487 tons. Owners, 1860-1870, lasaigi & Goddard;
May, 1S70, Laforme & Frothingham: Kideout. Roberts & Cn., IS-a^: C. S. Glidden.
Built by James O. Curtis. (New tonnage 412.89.) Converted into a schooner, three
masts, barge, 1893. 1894 1896 hailed and owned Pensacola. 1- la. last report 18%.
Mermaid. Ship, 503 tons. Owners, Lombard, Whitney & Co. Built by J. O. Curtis-
Sold to French .-Xcct. June, 1863. Name changed to Blanche.
Young Rover of Boston. Screw steamer aux. bark, 418^ tons. Owners, Alpheus
Hardy and Joshua W. Davis of Boston. Sold to U. S. Government July 27, 1861.
Sold to Curtis of Boston June 22, 1865. Built by J. O. Curtis. Boston to the
East Indies. Wrecked, June 29, 1866, on a reef ten miles south of Monefa Reef, near
Zanzibar.
Matilda. Ship, 874 tons. Owner, J. Wellsman of Charleston, S. C. Built by Joshua
Foster.
Punjuab. Ship. 780 tons. Owners, Thomas B. Wales & Co. of Boston. Built by J. T-
Foster. Sold to British Acct. lune, 1863. Name changed to iJ^warM. Hong Kong
for S. F. Lost December, 1862.
Mogul. Bark, 500 tons. Built by J. T. Foster.
56 OLD SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING DAYS. [Sept., 1931.
1861. Cutwater. Ship, 9&S tons. Owners, Henry Hastings & Co. Built by J. O. Curtis for
above. Sold to German Acct. in 1SS2. Name chanyjed to Port Royal. Arrived at
Grimsby December 17, iSS7. from Pensacola and was probably condemned.
Quisnell. Ship, 1025 tons. Owners, James Funk, «/ a/., of N. Y. Built by J. T. Foster.
Last report 1S%.
1862. Somersetshire. Ship, 1034 tons. Owners, E. S. Innes, et al ,o{^. Y. Built by James
O. Curtis. Sold foreign and renamed Georse Gilroy. Condemned in 1889.
Pearl. Bark, 5.% tons. Owners, Georgia G. Ryder. Isaac Hardy. «/«/., of Boston. Built
by J. O. Curtis. Last report 1893.
D. C. Molay. S. S.. 1300 tons. Built by J. T. Foster.
Agra. Ship, 951 tons. Owners. Thomas B. Wales & Co. Built by J. T. Foster. Name
changed to Heinrich. Last report in 18%.
Tanjore of Boston. 907 tons. liiiilt by J. T. Foster. (Tonnage new law 957.76.) Sold
foreign and renamed ^;i/;a. Sold to Holland in 1874 and renamed Betzy and Arnold.
1863. Nesutan. Ship, 947 tons. Owners, James O. Curtis, et al., of Medford. Built by J. O.
Curtis. Sold foreign. Last report 1895.
NepauL Ship, 996 tons. Owners, '1 homas B. Wales & Co. of Boston. Built by J. T.
Foster. Sold to British Acct. .-Xpril, I6i)4, and owned by Emmons & Son. Name
changed to A/?<^/«/;. .>old to German Acct. Name changed to Z,/«a. New River,
N. B., to Liverpool, 17 days, in 1864. Abandoned waterlogged August 27, 1887. in
lat. ,%° 20' N., long. 71° 10' W., while bound for Dordrecht from Fensacola with
lumber.
Cosamundal. Ship, 600 tons. Built by J. T. Foster.
Eastern Belle. Ship, 1030 tons. Owners, Walthew Cuthbert & Co. of Liverpool, Eng.
Built by J. T. Foster. Last report 1880.
1864. Fall River. Screw steamer, 952 tons. Owners, Old Colony S. B. Co. of Fall River,
Mass. Built by J. O. Curtis. Last report 18S6.
1865. Horatio Harris. Ship, 1076 tons. Owners, J. S. Sturgis & Co. Built by ij. O. Curtis.
Sold Holland .^cct. Name changed to Samarang. N. Y. for Sharpness. Sanic near
the entrance of N. Y. Harbor November 7, 1880, after a collision with steamer
Ger))tanic.
Nellie Hastings. Brig, 467 tons. Owners, Henry Hastings & Co. of Boston. Built
by J. O. Curtis. Abandoned, sinking, after a heavy gale, March 13, 1875, in lat. 49°
38' N., long. 14° W., while bound for Singapore from Liverpool.
1866. Madawaska. Brig, 511 tons. Owner, H. Hastings. Built by Hayden & Cudworth.
First voyage Boston to Kichibucto, arrived June 18, 1866. Lost i875.
1867. John Worster. Bark, 611 tons. Owners, Henry Hastings & Co. Built by J. O.
Curtis for above. Last report 1895.
Mystic Belle of Boston. Ship. 754Ji tons. Owners. 1867-1878, William Hammond &
Co.; 1878-1890, Edward Lawrence. Jr.; 1890-1898, George M. Winslow. Built byJ.T.
Foster. Converted into schooner barge, three masts, in 1890. 1899- 1902 owned and
hailed from N. Y.
1868. Springfield. Ship, 1043 tons. Owners, Henry Hastings & Co. of Boston. Built by
James O. Curtis^ Sold to German Acct. 1880. Name changed to Christina. Biance.
Last report 1897.
Don Quixote. Ship, 1174 tons. Owners, William Hammond, ^^ a/., of Boston. Built
by J. T. Foster for above. Sold German Acct. about 1879. .Afterward sold Norwe-
gian. Rig changed to bark. O. K. 1903.
1869. Cashmere. Ship, 936 tons. Owners, Henry Hastings & Co. Built by J. O. Curtis for
above. Rig changed to bark. 1881. Abandoned September 12, 18S5. in Van Die-
men's Straits after being dismasted in a terrific typhoon while bound for Hiogo,
Japan, with oil from Philadelphia.
J.T.Foster. Ship, 1207 tons. Owners. Nickerson & Co. Built by J. T. Foster.
Sold Swedish Acct. in 1874. Name changed to Grepen. Rig changed to bark. .Alive
in 1900.
1873. Pilgrim. Ship. 956}^ tons. Owners. Henry Hastings & Co. of Boston. Built bv J. T.
Foster. Rigged a bark in 1880. Sold to N. Y. parties about 1888. Wrecked on
Turk's Island May 20, 1893, while bound for Cienfuegos, Cuba, with coal from
Philadelphia.
Note : The term clipper ship refers to the fast type of ship built for the California trade
between 1850 and 1856. The information concerning them is largely from "American Clipper
Ships," by O. T. Howe and F. C. Matthews.
The abbreviation S. F. is for San P'rancisco; N. Y'. for New York.
Owner's residence is Boston when not given.
Vol. XXXIV.]
[No. 4,
PUBLISHE-D BY THE.
nEDfORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY
MEDFORD MASSACHUSETTS
TmSST
CONTENTS.
Page
GOVERNOR JOHN BROOKS Frontispiece
MEDFORD AND GEORGE WASHINGTON. Rtith Dame
Coolidsie and Richard B. Coolidge 57
THE OLD TIME MEDPORD TOWN MEETING. [A Play.]
IVi/son Fiske and Ruth Dame Coolidge 66
Entered as second-class matter, under the act of July 16, 1894,
Medford Station, Boston, Massachusetts.
Meetings of the Society at the Society's home, 10 Governors
Avenue, on third Mondays at 8.00 P.M., from
October to May inclusive.
MEDFORD HISTORICAL REGISTER.
Published quarterly (March, June, September, and December)
BY THE
Medford Historical Society,
AT
No. 10 Governors Avenue, Medford, Mass.
Subscription price, &1.50 a year, postpaid. Single copies, 40 cents.
For sale at the Society Rooms and by the Treasurer.
Publication Committee.
HARRY E. WALKER, JOSEPH C. MILLER, MOSES W. MANN,
THOMAS M. CONNELL, CHARLES T. DALY.
Editor, MOSES W. MANN.
Exchange list in charge of Thomas M. Connell, io Tainter Street.
FORM OF BEQUEST.
I give and bequeath to the Medford Historical Society, in
the city of Medford, Mass., the sum of Dollars for
the general use and purposes of said Society.
(Signed)
J. C. MIIXER, JR., PRINTEK, MEDFORn.
(,()\. JoHX BROOKS.
Host of Washington in Medford.
The Medford Historical Register.
Vol. XXXIV. DECEMBER, 1931. No. 4.
MEDFORD AND GEORGE WASHINGTON.
Ruth Dame Coolidge and Richakd B. Coolidge.
[Presented, with amplifications by Richard B. Coolidge, before the Medford Historical
Society at the Peter Tufts or Cradock House, November 23, 1931.]
PERHAPS no figure looms up from the past with
the romance, charm and dignity of George Wash-
ington. Many a historic novel of the Revolution intro-
duces him ; many an old house in the early colonies claims
to have harbored him overnight. Our Medford Royall
House has a tradition that George Washington slept in
the upper guest chamber, and that he found the some-
what elusive General Lee within its walls, but no authen-
tic record exists to corroborate the very possible incident.
Fortunatel}^ however, the presence of Washington in
Medford rests not only upon quite conclusive inference,
but upon documentary proof.
Washington came to Massachusetts three times, and
twice at least of the three times he came to Medford.
He very possibly came all three.
His first visit to Massachusetts was in February, 1756,
when as a young of^cer of twenty-four, already colonel
and head of the colonial forces in Virginia, he came to
Boston to consult Governor Shirley on a question of
technical military precedence. Washington had met the
governor before in Virginia when, before the disastrous
battle of the Monongahela, Braddock had called the
colonial governors to a council of war. Here in Alex-
andria, Governor Shirley had met Washington.* Gover-
nor Shirley's son and namesake had been secretary to
General Braddock, and in the following battle had been
killed in the height of action. Now Washington, who
had brought off the remnant of the once proud British
* Irving' s Washington,
58 MEDFORD AND GEORGE WASHINGTON. [Dec,
army, came to General Shirley, commander-in-chief of
the king's forces in America since the death of Braddock,
and was entertained probably by the governor for about
ten days.*
If we think of Washington only as a grave, unsmiling,
careworn general we must change our conception of him
when, in the eager enthusiasm of young manhood, with
two of his aides and black servants, all resplendent in
new liveries, he galloped along the rough, frozen roads
of the eastern colonies. Washington was not only a
magnificent horseman but a connoisseur of fine horses,
and was always magnificently mounted, so that the little
cavalcade was well worthy of the attention which it re-
ceived all along the route.
In Boston he had a sad errand in telling Governor
Shirley the details of the death of his son in battle.
Apart from this, his stay must have been an absorbing
and keen delight to him. He visited the Great and
General Court of Massachusetts, in which the plans of
military operations for the next year were being ably
debated. In this Washington was intensely interested,
not only from his military interest in the coming cam-
paign, but from his knowledge of the Virginia legislature.
The histories add that he received " the most hospitable
attentions from the polite and intelligent society of the
place, and visited various points of interest, such as Castle
William in the harbor."
At this time Isaac Royall was on the governor's coun-
cil, and Royall's Tory neighbor, Robert Temple of Ten
Hills, the next estate, was Shirley's son-in-law. What
more natural than that Washington, whose diary shows
that he sometimes rode sixty miles a day, and who usually
rode from Rockingham to Princeton, five miles, in forty
minutes, should ride about the countryside of Boston
and receive the hospitality of the governor's family and
friends.? And the country seat of Isaac Royall was one
of the show places of the suburbs, mentioned by another
* Spark's Washington, Vol. I, p. 132.
1931.] MEDFORD AND GEORGE WASHINGTON. 59
traveler of Washington's time as being " One of the
Grandest in North x^nicrica."* This, however, is the
purest surmise.
Washington's second visit to Boston was in 1775, as
commander-in-chief of the American army. Boston, in
which Washington had visited among the Tories, was
already invested with a long line of siege-works and re-
doubts. At the top of Winter Hill, beyond the Medford
line, was a fort. " On our side," wrote Washington to
the president of Congress, July 10, 1775, "we have thrown
up intrenchments on Winter and Prospect Hills, the
enemy's camp in full view at the distance of a little more
than a mile. . . . The troops raised in New Hampshire,
with a regiment from Rhode Island, occupy Winter Hill;
a part of those from Connecticut, under General Putnam,
are on Prospect Hill." He also wrote in the same letter,
" Upon my arrival I immediately visited the several posts
occupied by our troops." In another letter to Richard
Henry Lee in Congress he wrote, "Our lines on Winter
and Prospect Hills and those of the enemy on Bunker's
Hill are in full view of each other, a mile distant, our
advance guards much nearer and the sentries almost near
enough to converse." We know, in addition to this, that
General Stark had his headquarters at the Roy all House
and his men in Medford, so that Washington, visiting
the outposts of his army, must have come into Medford,
and in this survey he probably visited the American
general who now occupied the fine country seat of Isaac
Royall. This, however, is inference, very probable, but
not authenticated.
A more certain proof of Washington's presence in
Medford comes with a deed of heroism familiar to every
Medford school child. There lived in Medford at this
time a brave, determined woman whose name was Sarah
Bradlee Fulton. She had already helped her husband
and brother when, after the Boston tea party, she and
her sister had transformed them quickly from redmcn
* Journal of Capt. Francis Goelet, October 21, 1750.
I AM f ' ■• \-' ^
60 MEDFORD AND GEORGE WASHINGTON. [Dec,
to colonials ; after the battle of Bunker Hill she had
helped to nurse the wounded soldiers brought back to
Medford from the scene of battle. About where the
Central Fire Station now stands was a large open space
which had been turned into a rude field hospital, and
there, from her home almost across the street, in a house
whose site is now marked by a tablet, Sarah Bradlee
Fulton came to help as nurse. Many of the unfortunate
dead were buried together and their bodies later moved
to the old Salem street cemetery, but others of the
wounded were saved by the heroic efforts of the Med-
ford women.
Miss Helen Wild writes * : —
During the siege of Boston, Major Brooks, later our honored
governor, was given despatches by General Washington to be de-
livered inside the enemy's lines. Late one night he came to John
Fulton, know^ing his patriotism and his intimate knowledge of
Boston, and asked him to undertake the trust. He was not able to
go, but his wife volunteeied. Her offer was accepted. A long,
lonely, dangerous walk it was to the waterside in Charlestown but
she reached it in safety, and finding a boat, rowed across the river.
Cautiously making her way to the place she sought, she delivered
her despatches and returned as she had come. When the first
streak of dawn appeared she stood safe on her own doorstone.
In recognition of her services General Washington visited her.
It is said that in the fashion of that day, John Fulton on that occa-
sion brewed a potation whose chief ingredient was the far-famed
product of the town. The little silver-mounted ladle was dipped
in the steaming concoction and the first glass from Mrs. Fulton's
new punch bowl was sipped by His Excellency. This was the
proudest day of Sarah Fulton's life. The chair in which he sat
and the punch bowl and ladle were alwa3'S sacred, and are still
treasured by her descendants.!
Another very human relationship of Washington was
with John Brooks, who rose to the rank of lieutenant-
colonel in the Continental army, and later, major-general
of the militia of his state. During the war he was close
to Washington in many campaigns, helping to fortify
* Historical Register, Vol. I, No. 2.
tThe account of this visit of General Washington to Mrs. Fulton in the
house on Main street was related by Mrs. Fulton to her grandson, Francis
Wait, uncle of Judge William Gushing Vv'ait.
1931.] MEDFORD AND GEORGE WASHINGTON. 61
Dorchester Heights, acting so distinguished a part in the
retreat after the battle of White Plains that his regiment
received the distinguished acknowledgments of Washing-
ton for its gallant conduct. With Washington, too, he
suffered the winter of Valley Forge. But one of the
moments in which he best served his commander was at
the end of the war when, at Newburg, in March, 1783,
the officers of the American army, exhausted by the cam-
paign, not only in hardships and sacrifices but likewise
in purse, for most of the ofHcers had spent in their coun-
try's service all they owned and all they could borrov/,
were finally, by some rebellious patriots, urged to retain
their arms and take by might what was due them by
right. To Washington it seemed the crowning disgrace
of the war, if the men who had served for freedom should
turn their arms to self advantage, no matter how in-
herently unjust was their treatment. On this occasion
the commander-in-chief, to whom this day was one of the
most anxious of his life, rode up to Colonel Brooks with
intent to ask how the officers stood affected. Finding
him, as he expected, to be sound, he requested him to
keep his officers within quarters to prevent them from
attending the insurgent meeting. Brooks replied, " Sir,
I have anticipated your wish and my orders are given."
Washington, with tears in his eyes, took him by the
hand and said, "Colonel Brooks, this is just what I ex-
pected from you."*
Colonel Brooks was to be one of Medford's greatest
men — seven times governor of the Commonwealth —
but his friendship with Washington was to have still
another expression. In October, 1789, as first president
of the United States, Washington set out on a tour of
the country, partly " to acquire knowledge of the face of
the country, the growth and agriculture thereof, and the
temper and disposition of the inhabitants toward the
new government," partly as a measure of health. It is
always to be remembered that Washington was a success-
* Brooks' History of Medford.
62 MEDFORD AND GEORGE WASHINGTON. [Dec,
ful farmer, a careful overseer of his own estate, a com-
mander-in-chief who had given thorough inspection to his
troops in time of war. So this tour may be considered a
personal inspection by the new chief overseer of the
nation, a personal reconnaissance of the states committed
to his charge.
October 15, 1789, he wrote in his diary,* " Commenced
my journey about 9 o'clock for Boston. . . . Was accom-
panied by Major Jackson, Mr. Lear, and six servants as
a retinue." At Worcester he found an aide of Major-
General Brooks of the Middlesex militia to arrange
details for a military parade on his arrival. To this Wash-
ington was averse, feeling that he came not in a military
but a civil capacity. He sent word " to inform General
Brooks that as I conceived there was an impropriety in
my reviewing the militia or seeing them perform manoeu-
vres otherwise than as a private man, I could do no more
than pass along the lines." The next day he noted that
the militia " made an excellent appearance with General
Brooks at their head."
The formal visit to Boston was made and the general
proceeded. On Thursday, October 29, he had a busy
day. First he visited Cambridge. "After leaving Cam-
bridge, at the distance of four miles we passed thru
Mystic,! then Maiden, next Lynn." On Friday the 30th
he passed over the bridge between Salem and Beverly
and comments in his diary, " This bridge is larger than
that at Charlestown but shorter than the other over
Mystic. All of them have drawbridges." This bridge
was the newly finished one at Penny Ferry, now Maiden
or Wellington bridge. It had been built in 1787, and it
was by this road that Washington now traveled to
Maiden and Lynn.
The record of this visit of General Washington is re-
corded in a very interesting manner. Caleb Swan, who
lived in the old house still surviving as a part of the
* Washington's diary.
t Medford is commonly called Mystic in the old records. Cf. Goelet's diary.
1931.] MEDFORD AND GEORGE WASHINGTON. 63
Home for the Aged at Winthrop square, had a "Brooks'
History of Medf ord " which he interleaved, and in which
he recorded many notes of passing interest as commen-
taries on the text of the history. I am adding to this
paper a copy from the interleaved paper, yellow with age,
which he wrote concerning the visit of Washington: —
The visit of General Washington to General Brooks in 1789 —
(mentioned page 69) — was in the forenoon. He came on horse-
back, escorted by several gentlemen from Boston. Their horses were
taken to the barn of Mr. Isaac Greenleaf nearly opposite the house
of Dr. Osgood — where Capt. Ward from Salem afterwards built
his house and died — and now owned and occupied by Mr. Thatcher
Magoon, Jr.f
Mrs. Samuel Swan was then at school in the Town School kept
by Mr. Prentiss — now Mr, Train's house — and next west of Genl.
Brooks house.* — She remembers the children were all brought out
in line in front of the School to see General Washington (every
scholar held a quill in their hand — ) Mr. Greenleaf's son Isaac,
now living in Medford aged So — also remembers the visit — and
that the horses were brought to his Father's barn.
Benjamin L. Swan remembers hearing of this visit, from Gover-
nor Brooks himself — while he was on a visit to Medford, he called
on General Brooks, who invited him to go and see his fine bed of
Mangel Wurtzel in his garden and while there, the General told
him the last time he saw General Washington was on the above
visit to him.
Mrs. Howe told Dr. Swan she remembers hearing Mrs. Ingra-
ham speak of seeing General Washington on this visit. — June 15,
1859 ^Irs. Howe also remembers hearing Mrs. Ingraham sav she
received a polite bow from General Washington as he passed her
house — She was gaily dressed for the occasion.
Mrs. Howe also recollects Governor Brooks telling her that
General Washington breakfasted with him.
Mrs. Abner Bartlett says Mrs. told her that Col. Brooks
requested Mrs. Brooks to have some Indian corn cakes at breakfast
as General Washington was fond of them.
One Other record of Washington's visit is still left to
us. Next the meeting-house, on its eastern side, stood
the home of the minister, David Osgood, the fine old
* General Brooks lived at this time in a house to the West of the meeting-
house, formerly called the Jonathan Watson House. The meeting-house was
on the site of the present church of the First Parish (Unitarian). The scliool
was to the west of General Brooks' House, the site later occupied by the
Train House.
t Now St. Joseph's Convent.
64 MEDFORD AND GEORGE WASHINGTON. [Dec,
house that is still the home of the minister of the First
Parish. The house was almost new when Washington
saw it, as the Rev. Mr. Osgood had built it for himself
in 1784, and doubtless the minister and his famih^ stood
by the door to see the president ride by. At all events,
Dr. Osgood kept a diary, beginning January i, 1777, and
ending December 5, 1822. This diary is still in the safe
of our Medford Public Library, and there in tiny script
can still be seen the entry, "Oct. 29 1789. Gen. Wash-
ington pasf thro' ye town & calls (or called) upon Gen.
Brooks. Fair."
There is one final service only, one debt of devotion
that Medford could pay, and that was the sad service of
remembrance. On yellowed paper in the library is the
copy of the oration which General Brooks delivered in
memory of General Washington on the day appointed
for the recognition of his service to America. It must
be that many of the boys and girls who had watched
the president riding through Medford with a military
escort crowded into the meeting-house, close beside the
home of General Brooks where Washington had once
breakfasted, to pay honor to him after death. A com-
mittee chosen by the town gave the following directions
in a circular printed and circulated in the town:
1. At one o'clock p.m. the stores and shops of the town to be
shut. The bell is to toll from one o'clock till the procession shall
arrive at the meeting-house. The inhabitants to assemble at Union
Hall, with a black crape or ribbon upon the left arm above the
elbow, as mourning. The scholars of the town school to join the
procession in a body. The procession to move at two o'clock under
the direction of the committee.
2. Females, of all ages, are requested to wear black ribbons
and to be seated in the meeting-house before the arrival of the
procession.
3. Male strangers are i-equested to join the procession.
4. After the procession is seated, music suited to the occasion.
5. Prayer by the Rev. Dr. Osgood.
6. Music.
7. Eulogv, by the Hon. John Brooks, E«q.
8. Music. After which, the bell to toll till sunset.
1931.] MEDFORD AND GEORGE WASHINGTON. 65
The " Brooks' History of Medford " proceeds to say :
Everything was thus done by tlie town which could express
grief at the loss or respect for the memory of the venerated chief.
Gen. John Brooks, the companion in arms of the illustrious warrior,
and one of his favorite friends, was the person, of all others, to
deliver the public eulogy, and it was done on the 13th of January.
On that day all business was suspended as on the sacred Sabbath,
the shops closed, the flags at half-mast, the meeting-house robed in
black, and every inhabitant dressed in mourning apparel ; and these
badges were continued for thirty days. In forming the funeral pro-
cession, the children of the town preceded ; the military with muf-
fled drums were in attendance as an escort ; and the officers of the
town, the chaplain and the orator were accompanied by strangers
of distinction. The meeting-house was crowded to its utmost capa-
city and the funeral music and impressive prayers were in proper
keeping with the solemnities of the commemoration.
The eulogy was afterwards printed with this title-page:
An eulogy on General Washington, delivered before the inhabi-
tants of the town of Medford, agreeably to their vote and at the
request of their committee on the 13th of January, 1800. By John
Brooks, A.M., M.M.S. sand A.A.S. Printed"^by Samuel Hall,
No. 53 Cornhill, Boston.
The Rev. Dr. Osgood, who had served his parish faith-
fully from the outbreak of the Revolution, also preached
an appropriate sermon to his parish on Washington.
This was printed by vote of the town, with Washing-
ton's farewell address, and a copy was given to each
family. These old expressions of Medford's grief are
still found in our public library. "When February 22d
arrived, the meeting-house in Medford was open for re-
ligious exercises and the day was kept as sacred."* And
through the two hundred years that have passed since
that first celebration of his birthday, the name of Wash-
ington has lived in Medford not in tradition, but in the
authentic history of the town and the townspeople that
knew and loved and served with Washington.
* Brooks' History.
66 [Dec,
THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING.
A PLAY.
CopyriRhted 1931 by Wilson Fiske and Ruth Dame Coolidge.
{Continued from Vol. XXXIV, No. J.)
The Prologue and the First, Second and Fourth Scenes by
Wilson Fiske, the Third Scene by Ruth Dame Coolidge.
PRELUDE — SCENE III.
WHEN, on March 6, 1699/1700, the town authorized the building of
a gallery for the meeting-house, it was voted that this should be
divided, one half for the men and one half for the women, as was
the floor below. At the town meeting on January 31, 1700/1701, the men
voted to exclude the women from the gallery. Then something happened,
but exactly what can be determined only by the results. In little over a
month the men reassembled in town meeting and voted that the women
should occupy their half of the gallery, " notwithstanding any former vote to
the contrary."
What pressure did the patient and obedient wives of Medford exert on
their husbands ?
It is with great hesitation that I permit the following interpretation of
tliat pressure to go into the sacred pages of the Register. The women of this
little scene are carefully chosen from the old town records ; their ages, their
families, even their grandmothers, are accurate. The house where they met,
which commanded the meeting-house, is still standing, but the interpretation
of the women's wrath and rebellion and their plot of revenge is such rank
imagination that it could not stand save for the fact that it helped create a
touch of fun in a serious evening's program by the First Parish and the His-
torical Society, and may go into print as a transcript of the attempt of the
Society to make relive the days of olden Medford. The work of Mr. Fiske
is based on the records and is accurate ; mine, however, though based on
some records, is largely fancy.
RUTH DAME COOLIDGE.
SCENE III.
An Indignation Meeting at the Bradshaw Home.
T ^^ 1700
January 31, j^-j
^^ Reckon not ivithoul the hostess."
[John Bradshaw' s home near the first meeting-house, January 31, 1700.)
(S/ill siatid/ng at the corner of High street and Hastings lane.)
Molly Bradshaw, thirteen years, daughter of Mistress Mary Bradshaw,
is discovered S7ueeping up the hearth with a wing.
{Enter Mary Bradshaw, left.)
Mary. Molly.
Molly. Yes, Mother.
1931.] THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. 67
Mary. 'Tis well thou art almost a woman grown and able well to help me.
Molly. It is my duty and my pleasure, ma'am.
Mary. Thou knowest well today is town meeting, and because our liouse
doth stand so near the meeting-house, 'tis likely that some of the women of
the Parish do call upon me the time our men are at the meeting.
Molly. Yes, mother, and surely all the women wish to know how the
vote goes about the women in the gallery,
Mary. Aye, they are so earnest that they will venture out despite the
cold. Now child, thou canst help me today by churning butter and peeling
apples for a pie this noon.
Molly. Aye, father dearly loves deep apple pie.
Mary. And chiefly see to it that the younger children keep from under
foot. See that Ruth doth work upon her sampler, and that John and Jonathan,
albeit they are little, help in combing wool for my new coverlet.
Molly. Aye, mother, thou hast taught me Satan ever finds some work
for idle hands to do.
Mary. And see that little Sara crawl not near the fire.
Molly. Yes, ma'am,
{Enter John Bradshaw, left, bearing some extra wood for fireplace .)
Mary. Hast thou surely eaten plenty for thy breakfast, John ?
{Exit Molly, center; John pats her on head as she passes him and she ctirtsies. )
John. Thou art a rare wife, Mary, and hast lined me most thoroughly
with hasty pudding and with hot mince pie.
Mary, I do love to cook what pleaseth my husband.
John, Thou canst not please me better than with mince pie for break-
fast, and that thou knowest well,
Mary, I know that thou wouldst pleasure me as well — ](A\n — {button-
holing him).
John, What is it, Mary ? It grows toward eight o'clock and the meeting
is called promptly.
Mary. I know, John, that thou art a deacon of the church, and doest all
things as thy conscience bids, yet, if thou mayst, pray bear me in thy mind
when thou votest today.
John. Thou wouldst have me vote to let the women hold their half of
the gallery ?
Mary, Aye, Jolin, they dearly love their chance to sit up yonder, and
surely in God's sight they are equal with the men.
68 THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. [Dec,
John. Equal they surely be, yet good and helpful and able as they be,
still — they be women and the weaker vessel.
Mary. But, John, —
{Loud rappinf^ at door, enter Stephen Francis, a man of fifty-five, with his
young second ivife, Haitnah, both well swaddled iji wraps.)
Francis. We may come in ? Hannah here would come with me to call
on Mistress Bradshaw while I did go to meeting.
Hannah. I have been so long indoors, with the snowdrifts blocking the
road, that I long to see some other face than my good husband's.
Stephen. What 's that, Hannah ?
Hannah. {Hand under his chin.) 'Tis all thou hast and 1 like it well,
but sometimes I would see another, even if it were a woman's —
Stephen. Well, well, do as thou pleases, so long as thou dost interfere
not with man's work.
{Mary helps Hannah retnove wrap.)
Hannah. And Stephen, thou wilt vote for the women to stay in the
gallery, wilt thou not ? {She hangs on his arm.)
Stephen. No ! Thou belongest on the floor and so the other women.
Hannah. ( Who is used to wheedling.) But, Stephen —
Stephen. Paul says that women must cover their heads in church, but
he did not mean that they should sit up in the balcony and see how other
women are covering theirs. No, I say.
Hannah. But, Stephen, I only wished to see whether Madam Wade
had received a bonnet from England.
Stephen. {Throwing tip his hands.) Plague take the women. Next
thou wilt be demanding a bonnet from England for thyself. Come quickly,
Bradshaw, lest they press us further. {Molly brings in John' s cape and hat
and exits.)
Mary. John, thou wouldst not care to take my little foot-stove with thee
today ? {Lifts foot-stove from hearth.)
John. Foot-stove, ptah ! Wouldst make a woman of me today ? Tut,
tut ! keep thy luxuries for thyself, Mary, and {gently) keep thy own sphere
too. No woman graces it better. {Exeunt men, stage right. Maty goes to
window and watches him as he goes down the street. )
Hannah. 1 do confess I am sorely curious about the town meeting.
Mary. So feel we all. 'Twould not perhaps have been so hard had not
the men most freely granted us the right to sit in one half of the gallery
when first they built it new.
Hannah. Aye, in full town meeting too !
1931.] THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. 69
Mary, And now they suddenly repent and threaten to exclude the
women utterly from the gallery !
Hannah. Methinks we are like naughty cliildren wlio have whispered
in meeting. I confess myself still angry. I am not through with Stephen
Francis yet !
{Enter stage, right, Mistress Jemima Hall, wife of JoJin Hall, and sister-in-
law to Mary Brads haw.)
Jemima. Good morrow, sister Mary, I did ride up with John on a pillion
to spend the morning with thee. Hast thou no spinning that I may do ?
Mary. Thou art most welcome, and thy labor, too. Thy children are
well ?
(Enter Molly, left, with work ift her hand.)
IVIoLLY. Oh, mother, see, here doth come Mistress Peter Tufts and her
daughter, Anna ! * Master Tufts is helping them from out the sleigh.
Mary. 'Tis a great honor, Molly. We '11 welcome them. {Exeunt Mary
and Molly, right. )
Hannah. ( Who has dropped her work and is standing by the window.)
The men are stamping their feet. 'Twill be a short session I mistrust.
Jemima. I declare ! Anna Tufts hath with her John Brocus with whom
her banns were cried last Sunday — a fine strapping lad.
Hannah. Aye, but too masterful. I 'd as lief be an old man's darling,
methinks, as a young man's drudge.
Jemima. And look you ! There doth come Madam Wade t herself in her
sleigh, all wrapped in bearskin. This is honor indeed !
Hannah. Honor is it, or curiosity ? She doth fare abroad most mavel-
ously since her husband died.
Jemima. He died and left her the richest woman in town, and a pew on
the floor in the meeting-house, and the liberty to go where she would. Me-
thinks she doth not mourn as one that would not be comforted in her old age.
Hannah. She is coming up the steps and Mary is still helping Mistress
Tufts while she warms herself by the kitchen fire. Let us welcome her.
{Exeunt Hannah and Jemima, left. Enter, right, Anna Tufts, followed by
Johti Brocus.)
Anna. {Petulantly.) Most certainly thou hast a right to thy own opinion.
I never said thou hadst not.
John Brocus. But, Anna, thou knowest thou art the one woman in the
world for me, but when it comes to the others sitting in the gallery and wliis-
pering and ogling — they do corrupt the young men.
* Residents of the Cradock or Peter Tufts house at this time. Peter Tufts was representa-
tive to the General Court.
t Mistress of the Wade house, the brick house on Bradlee Road.
70 THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. [Dec,
Anna. The young men ! What dost thou mean ?
John, Thou must have seen last Sunday, even after our banns were read,
how WiUiam Pattin did stare upon thee.
Anna. WiUiam Pattin !
John. Aye, thou needst not start because I found it out. Mind thee, dear
Anna, after we are wed I shall not bear it that another man stare my wife out
of countenance. I shall protect thee, Anna.
Anna. And thou wouldst vote the women out of their places in the gal-
lery because forsooth William Pattin did make sheep's eyes at thy property —
John. Property! No sane man would call thee property, Anna, least-
wise not until after he had married thee [puts his arm about her). Sometimes
methinks the days of witchcraft are not done, and thou art a witch who hast
charmed the heart clean from my breast.
Anna. Then thou wouldst vote as thy little witch directs tliee for the
women in the gallery ?
John. What, and let William Pattin feast his eyes on thee and ogle at
thee all the sermon long ! No, not I !
Anna. {WrencJiino; herself free.) Then thou must know I'll have no
further banns read for thee and me ! I be no witch before marriage nor no
property after! And 1 shall be free to smile at William Pattin an 1 will!
John. But, Anna —
Anna. Nay, go, go, go ! I '11 have no more of thee, and 'tis well I found
out betimes the tyrant thou wouldst prove. Farewell !
(Johfi slams on his hat and exit, right.)
(Enter, left, Mercy Tufts, Anna' s stepmother, a7td Mary Brads haw.)
Mercy. W'hat was that, Anna, a lover's quarrel ?
Anna. Truly I do love him, mother, but I will not marry him an he
votes to drive tlie women from the gallery.
Mercy. I did think he loved to watch thee in the gallery, Anna.
Anna. He is jealous, mother, of William Pattin, and every maiden
knows that William Pattin only looked at me because Abigail Willis sat
beside me.
Mercy. And didst thou tell him William Pattin was wooing Abigail ?
Anna. (Sniffing.) Nay, why should 1 ? Let him think what he will,
if he do not think me true. I will marry no man who will not grant I am his
peer to sit beside him in the gallery.
Mercy. But thy father, Anna, hath set his heart upon this marriage,
and a father's will is law.
1931.] THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. 71
Anna. Mother, thou knowest father is too kind and fair to enforce this
marriage without my due consent.
Mercy. Aye, thy fatlier, cliild, I 'm sure will pleasure thee.
{Enter sia^e, left, Hannah and Jemima, escorihtg Madam IVade. Mary
Bradshaw goes to meet Jier while the others curtsy.)
Madam Wade. Good morrow, my good townswomen. {They help her
remove wraps. )
Mary Bradshaw. We do rejoice to see you here among us.
Madam Wade. As I do to see you. {She advances to a chair in center. )
My position in the town necessitates a knowledge of the town's concerns, and
I would do what woman may to see that they go well. ( Takes snuff.)
Mercy Tufts.* My grandmother, Anna Bradstreet, did believe that
town affairs should be the interest of every educated woman.
Madam Wade. Especially when the business of the meeting doth so
concern us women.
Mary Bradshaw. Aye, we women all do marvel what did cause the
men to doubt if it were seemly that the women sit in the gallery.
Madam Wade. Thou knowest my pew is on the floor near the pulpit
and I do not see what passeth in the gallery.
Mercy. I too do sit on the floor, but thou, good Mistress Francis, thou
sittest in the gallery and mayst guess perchance what did hap there to make
men change their minds.
Hannah. Because we saw too much.
Madam Wade. Why, tell us what thou sawest from the gallery, Hannah !
Hannah. Aye, marry, I did see thy new and charming bonnet, straight
from England, was it not. Madam Wade ?
Madam Wade. Well, I confess it was, my dear. But then thou knowest
my position in town doth demand that I should dress beseemly.
Hannah. That hat, dear Madam Wade, beseemed thee well. And I
said to Stephen such a hat as that would well become me too.
Madam Wade. And what said he then ?
Hannah. He said I paid more heed to Wade than Woodbridgef and to
bonnets than to Bible.
Madam Wade. How very unreasonable. What, pray, would be the use
of importing bonnets with great expense from the mother country and not
wearing them to meeting ?
* Mercy Tufts was daughter of Rev. Seaborn Cotton by his wife Dorothy Bradstreet.
daughter of Gov. Simon Bradstreet by his wife Ann Dudley, the poetess.
t Rev. Benjamin Woodbridge was the first minister of the first meetingr-house.
72 THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. [Dec,
Mercy Tufts. My grandmother, Anne Bradstreet, the first New Eng-
land poetess, as ye know, did say that women all should honor the Lord
with their best, and surely that would be with the best our wardrobes do
command.
Hannah. I am still angry toward Stephen Francis, but I think he will
buy me a new bonnet from London ere I be through with him.
Madam Wade. 'Twill cost him a pretty penny, but look thou get it from
him. Tell me what else thou sawest, for surely a good bonnet is naught amiss.
Hannah. Why, I did mark last Sabbath how our Anna here did blush
when the banns were read 'twixt her and her intended, and how John Brocus
did swell like a turkey cock with pride. {Laughter.)
Anna. Perchance he 'II lose some feathers ere he strut again. And didst
thou mark how William Pattin did make eyes at Abigail Willis ?
Mercy. Well, all the world doth love a lover, and I do believe the good
Lord doth himself. My grandmother, Anne Bradstreet, who was the daughter
of one governor and the wife of another, did write on lovers.
Madam Wade. And what else sawest thou, Anna ?
Anna, Why, beshrew me if I did not see John Hall go fast asleep last
Sunday and the tithing man come marching up {she i7nitates with a cane)
and tap him on the bald pate with the rabbit's foot. He jumped as he had
seen an angry spirit.
Jemima. He saw an angry spirit when he did get home. I did scold him
well for disgracing all the family by sleeping under Mr. Woodbridge's nose.
Madam Wade. But it might make him angry to be seen from the gal-
lery. And what else, Anna ?
Anna. And I did see good Mistress Bradshaw's children crowding round
her footstove striving which should warm his little hands.
Mary Bradshaw. It was so cold I gave them greater liberty than the
dignity of holy worship did mayhap permit.
Anna. And I could see the face of the Willis baby, that was christened
the morning after birth, grow purple as the frozen water from the font did
touch her.
Madam Wade. Poor infant ! Oftentimes I wish that the meeting-house
were as warm as my home and that of Mistress Tufts. Their good brick
walls are surely built to last three centuries.
Molly Bradshaw. {Entering left.) Oh, mother, I cannot make the
butter come I
Anna, Let me help thee, Mary. I do feel as I would love to beat on
something, were it only buttermilk. {Exeunt Anna and Molly, Annagesiicti-
laling with her fists.)
1931.] THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. 73
Mary Bradshaw. {Glmicing out of the ivindow.) The meeting; must
be long. I see no sign of life about the meeting-house save the swishing
tails of the horses in the shed.
Madam Wade. Wilt thou not sing us one of thy old ballads, Mistress
Hail, whilst we do wait ? Perchance our heedless tongues will rest a bit.
Jemima. I '11 gladly do so. Wilt thou hear the old tale of Barbara Allen ?
All. Pray sing.
{Jemima sings a ballad while Mary rocks the baby and the others are busy
at their tasks. As she closes, Abigail Willis enters, left, with Anna Ttifts.
They stand at door and listen to last few verses.)
Madam Wade. Charming, my dear.
Mary Bradshaw. I do love to hear thee sing, sister Jemima. And here
is Abigail. Thou art welcome, Abigail.
Abigail. {A small, shy maiden, curtsies.) Thank thee, Mistress Brad-
shaw ; and I rejoice I came in time to hear thee sing. Mistress Hall,
Anna. 1 marvel how in olden days these rejected lovers all did die of
love. I should not do so; nay, nor will John Brocus, either. {Exit.)
Mary Bradshaw, Is there aught that I can do for thee, Abigail ?
Abigail. My aunt did beg I would come here this morn and see if thou
didst have an extra share of camomile and thoroughwort.
Mary Bradshaw. Why, surely, I have plenty. But tell me, who is
sick ?
Abigail. The baby has been ailing ever since she was christened in the
meeting-house.
Jemima. Mayhap God saw and marked her for his own. Six children
have I borne and of the six he hath borne three away.
{Mary Bradshaw kneels beside cradle and puts her hand over the sleeping
child. )
Mercy Tufts. And I have had eight children and of those but two are
living. {Drops hands in her lap.) Sometimes I do think —
Madam Wade. I know what I do think — that God might longer spare
our little ones an they breathed not quite so soon the cold air of our meeting-
house.
Mercy. But supi^ose they died without baptism, would you consign
them, then, to everlasting wrath ?
Mary Bradshaw. 'Tis cruel hard for us New England women to lose
so many children. But we do strive to be good helpmates to our husbands,
and serve our God in peace and quietness.
74 THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. [Dec,
Hannah. Sometimes methinks the whole of this new world doth rest
upon the frail shoulders of us women. We card and spin, and weave and
dye, and bake and cook, and cut and sew. What woman of us but has ached
from stooping o'er the fire or standing by the loom ? Do we not labor all
day long as tireless as our husbands, and then by the light of the fire still
keep our fingers busy with knitting and spinning ? And at night the care of
the house and the children is still on us. We murmur not, but yet at times
we ask, have we not shared your labor, and is not ours a half of the reward?
( A II stop, spellboun d. )
Madam Wade. Thou speakest for us all.
Mercy. And we do ask but little, but a few seats in the gallery.
Mary Bradshaw. A little love and romance in our dull week's work.
Hannah. The worm will turn, will it not, at last ?
Madam Wade. Aye, and 'twas the last straw that broke the camel's
back. Wait till we hear how they vote. Are the doors yet open of the
meeting-house ?
Jemima. {At window .) Nay, 'tis still quiet.
Mary Bradshaw. The baby is asleep and I do wonder whether ye all
would care to see the coverlet that I am weaving on the loom in the spare
chamber. My dyes were good and the pattern is chariot wheels. Methinks
it is right pretty and I would that you might care to see it.
( A II women rise, speaking as they make their way out. )
Mercy. I do love chariot wheels.
Jemima. Is the dye of indigo ?
Hannah. My weaving is what makes me happiest.
{All exeunt, stage center, except Abigail, who is held back by Anna, entering
stage right.)
Anna. Oh, Abigail, I have broke my troth with John !
Abigail. Have broke your troth ? Why, surely, what did he ?
Anna. He would not vote to let the women share the foregallery and
did say that I and women all were men's property.
Abigail. And didst break thy troth for that ? Why, truly, Anna, if I
could have the man I loved I 'd gladly be his property — and sit on the roof-
top, if he so willed.
Anna. 'Tis fortunate thou lovest a kindly man, for William Pattin would
not say a cross word to a bear an it began to hug him.
Abigail. He 'd not say a cross word to me.
Anna. Not an thou wert a bear. He 'd say — even a bear has its good
points. {Opens her artns and simulates a hug.)
1931.] THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. 75
Arkjail. Fie, fie ! Why sayest thou William Pattin ? Dost thou think—
Anna. Think ? I know! I sit not in the gallery with mine eyes shut.
Thou naughty girl ! Didst think he made sheep's eyes at me ? {Looks otii
of window.^ Wait ! Wait a moment ! [Dashes from room, stage right.)
Abigail. {At -window.) 'Tis William himself and Anna is calling him
from the doorstep. Mercy, someone is coming from the meeting-house ! I
do believe — yes, it is none other than John Brocus! Alack! what will lie think?
{Enter Antta, stage right, leading William Pattin.)
Anna. Here is no partition to divide ye two as in the gallery of the
meeting-house. Thou hast cause to rejoice at the women in the gallery, hast
thou nut, William ?
( William li'alks toward Abigail ayid takes her hand.)
Anna. Thou wouldst vote fur the women in the gallery, wouldst thou
not, William ?
William. I did do so, and gladly.
Abigail. But thou knowst I would not sit save where my father and —
and — my liusband did deem it right fur me to sit. {Anna 7/takes a face and
retires to other part of roo?n.)
William. {Putting his arm about her.) But that is by my side, is it
not, Abigail ? Thou timid little maiden, thou dost know 1 have waited long
for a chance to tell thee so, and would not now had not Anna helped me out.
{He lowers his voice, while Anna ostentatiously turns her back and pokes
the fire. He kisses Abigail.)
Abigail. William, William, tliou must not ! Suppose that they should
find us ! {Abigail runs off stage, left. Enter unobser^/ed, stage right, fohn
Brocus. William wheels around and comes to Anna with out-stretched
hands.)
William. God bless thee, Anna. I do owe thee more than ever 1 can
tell thee.
John Brocus. Not long has it taken thee to profit by the breaking of
thy troth. Hailing another man, boldfaced, on the public street and bearing
him into the house where thou mightst be with him alone. Off with the old
love, on with the new. I am well rid of my bargain.
Anna. And I, too, thou jealous, suspicious tyrant.
( Williatn starts to speak but Antta silences him.)
John. Thou mayst be glad to know that the men have voted to exclude
the women from the gallery, false, prying, ungodly females. {Exit, stage
right.)
Anna. Nay, tell him not the truth, William. I beg thee conceal the
matter a few days.
76 THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. [Dec,
William. I am sorry, Anna,
Anna. Nay, grieve not. I am happy for thee and Abigail. {Exit Wil-
liam, stage right. Anna is silent a few momefits, wiping her eyes a little
tremulously.)
{^Reenter all the women, stage center, murmuring as they coitie, "Right
pretty.'' " Well woven.'' " Good color." " Fine design . " )
Anna. John Brocus hath been here and he doth say the men have voted
to exclude the women from the gallery.
Madam Wade. They never dared !
Mercy Tufts. 'Tis an injustice !
Hannah. All because 1 did so love to see the newest bonnets.
Mary Bradshaw. They think their consciences do guide them.
Anna. I think they be all jealous lest we look more freely than we might.
( Other women gather in back, discussing. )
Jemima. Tut, tut, child ! thou art angered over thy broken troth.
Anna. It angers me they tell me where to sit. No man shall bid me
marry him as if I were his dog.
Abigail. But I do believe she still loves John Brocus.
Anna. No, not I. {Women come forward.)
Hannah. I do believe that if we women all did bind ourselves together
in a pact we could compel our husbands to see reason. I can twist Stephen
around my finger.
Jemima. I am willing to assist, if we could make them to rescind the
vote. But what would you suggest ?
Mary Bradshaw. The way to every man' s heart is through his stomach,
every woman knows.
Mercy Tufts. We could not starve them.
Mary Bradshaw. No, but we could fail to serve them something they
did yearn upon.
Madam Wade. I will tell thee what will touch their stomachs most.
All. What is it ?
Madam Wade. Pie. Give them no pie till they rescind the vote.
All. No pie !
Mercy. No squash pie, golden from the oven ?
Madam Wade. No squash pie.
Mary Bradshaw. No pumpkin pie, spicy with cinnamon ?
Madam Wade. No pumpkin pie.
Jemima. No venison pasty ?
Madam Wade, No venison pasty.
1931.] THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. 77
Hannah. No apple pie, juicy and sweet ?
Madam Wade, No apple pie.
Anna. Nor of the blueberries we picked in the woods and dried on the
attic floor ?
Madam Wade. No blueberry pie.
Abigail. No mince pie ? ( Voice is almost tragic.)
Madam Wade. No mince pie.
All. I agree.
Abigail. But suppose our fathers order us to make them pie ?
Anna. We can have an accident ; there can be, — too much salt in the
pie, or — some pepper in the pastry.
Madam Wade. {To Abigail.) What hast thou in thy hand, child ?
Abigail. Some camomile and thoroughwort I am taking to my aunt for
little Susannah.
Madam Wade. Perchance a sprinkling of herbs from the kitchen ceil-
ing might befall the pie and do the men no great harm. {Laughter.)
{Enter Molly, stage right.)
Molly. See, the meeting is over and the men are coming. {Exit.)
Madam Wade. 1 will be gone. Thy coverlet is very pretty, Mistress
Bradshaw. And you will have more time, methinks, to weave when the
cooking is made easier. {Exit.)
Jemiaia. Farewell, sister. But I do not know what John will say when
he sees no custard pie.
Mary Bradshaw. Perchance 'twill make his disposition softer. {Exit
Jemima, right.)
Mercy. We'll do our part, though I do believe that Peter Tufts did
vote for us. He will not forget that my grandmother was Anne Bradstreet.
{Exit Mercy.)
Hannah. I'll seetliat Stephen Francis is a pieless man, and I '11 get me
a new bonnet from it, too. {Exit Hannah.)
Anna. Let them be pious for we'll see they're pieless. {Exit Anna.)
Abigail. She ever has her joke, dear Mistress Bradshaw. Thank thee
for the herbs, and if I needs must mix them in the pie —
Mary Bradshaw. Thy father may sweat a little for it, but 'twill do
him no real harm.
{Goes quickly to the door, calls ''Molly." Enter Molly with a dish of apples
she is paring. )
Mary Bradshaw. We will have no apple pie for dinner. We ' 11 change
that venison pasty into a stew with carrots and parsnips.
78 THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING. [Dec,
Molly. But mother, father likes not stew, and when Indian John gave
him the deer he did say that we then should have some venison pasty.
Mary Bradshaw. We shall have stew, with plenty of carrots. And
the apples, I have decided we shall make them into applesauce for the
children.
Molly. And our dessert, mother ? Why not the apple pie?
Mary Bradshaw. No pies at present, and mayhap our men may learn
the taste of a new kind of pie.
Molly. And that is ?
Mary BRADSHAVi^. Humble pie.
EARLY MEDFORD RECORDS.
1700
T~- William pattin of Cambridge and abigail willis of medford maried. — the 24th day of
June 1700, John Brocus & Anna Tufts was maried.—
SCENE IV.
The Town Again. March 3, j^
"Humble pie. ''
Curtain.
Town meeting in session. Peter Tufts, Moderator; John Bradshaw, Clerk.
Moderator. What is 't I hear ? Do I attend aright ?
Good Brother Francis, dost thou mean in fact
Thou wouldst the women still may freely sit,
Upon the Lord's day, in the gallery,
The men their neighbors; — being both beyond
The view of seats, of pulpit and of pew ?
Methought thou wert, aforetime, when on this
We held debate, most zealous for the strict
Observance of the strictest of the strict
Requirements of propriety. Dost thou
Abate thy zeal ?
Francis. I said not quite so much.
Nay, in my motion made but now, 1 did
Intend that forasmuch as it doth seem
There are amongst us some who like not well
The rule we late adopted, touching this
Vexed seating question, it were fit they have
Fair opportunity some plan to name
May better fit their views, and to the rest
1931.] THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TOWN MEETING.
79
May be not unacceptable. I moved
For reconsideration of our vote —
No more.
Rradshaw. Aye, Master Moderator, those
Who find our late resolve offensive, or
Who doubt its wisdom, or its good effect
Upon the peace we all would fain preserve,
Should have occasion better ways to show.
Pattin. 'Tis hinted there be those whose womenfolk
Do call themselves ill-fared that, if there be
Some fear of unbecoming levity,
Themselves, and not the men be thus sought out
For censure.
Francis. Are the men not prone as they
To slip the other side of modesty ?
And for their piety, their reverence,
Their dutiful obedience to the least
Requirement for the show of all respect
For things and times and places holiest
Will any hold our women are surpassed ?
Moderator. Thou reasons 't well. Wilt now a motion make ?
Francis. Why, no, I did but mention how I heard
'Twas held. I'll preach no soft indulgences
Nor counsel vacillations on our part
Not I.
Whitmore. Uneasy rests my patience in
The face of arguments like this. Too much
We hear of rights of women, — and their wrongs
As well. Bethink ye ! Independence lifts
Its hard and stubborn head amidst our homes.
Are not our wives and daughters softly bred ?
Protected by our laws, our loves, our arms ?
And shall, forsooth, the women play, for that.
The mentor to the men, and set the laws
For our behavior ? Let them sit below
And save themselves the stair.
Bradshaw. Thou art severe
Good Brother John. Thy withers are unwrung
I 'm sure. Thou art not wont thus fiery hot
To speak, I ever think of thee as one
All kind and gentle with his folk.
8 0 THE OLD TIME MEDFORD TO IVN MEETING. [Dec, 1931 .]
Brocus. And for
Thy scorn of independence, — was it not
For this our fathers braved tlie wilderness
And conquered it ? 1 've lieard thee tell the tale
An hundred times. And none can better tell't.
Bradshaw. 'Tis even so. But somehow I know not
What is to do. I would —
Moderator. Perchance I may
A venture make. If you — or some of us
Will move — I think we ' re ready for it now —
Reversal of our vote upon this point
Of seating in the gallery, why then
We '11 answer yea or nay, and show how we
Our own minds know, and mean our way to have.
Such move would bring a test. The mover e'en
May vote against it if he will,
Bradshaw. I make
Such motion ; with proviso that we vote
With corn and beans.
Moderator. The Clerk will so prepare.
(Each voter passes before the Clerk' s desk and receives one bean and one
kernel of corn. When all are served — )
Moderator. The Clerk will read the motion as 'tis put.
Each man will drop one ballot in the box.
The corn doth stand for aye, the beans for nay.
Clerk. (Reads) " 'Tis put to vote whether the town will part the
front gallery in the midst, the one half for men
and the other half for women, notwithstanding
any former vote to the contrary."
(All pass the Clerk again, each matt droppifig a ballot in the Clerk' s box.
The box is opened by the Clerk and emptied on the table. No beans are found.)
(During the reading of the motion Anna Tufts appears at a window up-
stage. The men being all attentive to the reading and therefore turned from
her, do not see her. As the men in voting file slowly past the Clerk' s box,
which is down-stage, Anna scales the window, climbs on the Clerk' s chair
and looks over their heads. She is the first to discover the result of the vote
and exclaims, almost with a shriek.)
Anna. There are no beans! THERE ARE NO BEANS!
(Anna jmnps quickly from the chair, terrified by her own temerity in
intruding upon the meeting. The Moderator, her father, recovering from
his incredulous a7nazement, reaches for her sleeve with some idea of disciplin-
ary action, while Brocus, her lover, tnakes as if to embrace her, eticouraged
by her discovery that he has voted as she demanded, but
THE CURTAIN is too quick for them both.
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Gear Flushing
Service
ALL MODERN EQUIPMENT
Bring Your Car to us. See the work done while you wait.
504 MEDFORD STREET NEAR FELLSWAY
MALDEN MEDFORD
It Will Be
a pleasure for us to know we have suited
you with glasses. flYour pleasure comes
with the wearing.
A. D. IRISH, Optometrist
418 HIGH STREET, WEST MEDFORD
Telephone Connection
W. MORSE PARKER, D. M. D.
465 HIGH STREET
WEST MEDFORD, MASS.
Tel. Mystic 0242-R
EDWARD J. GAFFEY
AND SONS
XDinbertakers
JVIedford = = Mass.
Telephone, Mystic 0031
West Medford
Telephone, Arlington 3917-\V
Office Phone, Mystic 3882 Res. Phone, Winchester 1057 M
WILLIAM F. DRISCOLL
TReal Estate anb Tfnsurance
Justice of the Peace
449 HIGH STREET WEST MEDFORD, MASS.
ORDER
Your Copy of the
BOSTON EVENING TRANSCRIPT
LBJeJ?
mailed to your summer address
YOUR HOME BANK
START A SAVINGS ACCOUNT NOW!
Deposits go on interest the first day of each month
in your home bank
CHECKING ACCOUNTS
SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES
EVERYTHING IN BANKING
Medford Trust Company
MAIN OFFICE
25 HIGH STREET, MEDFORD, MASS.
501 High Street
West Medford
BRANCH OFFICES
Stevens Square
East Medford
Magoun Square
South Medford
Hours, 8 A.M. to 3 P.M. Saturdays, 8 A.M. to 12 M.
Open Saturday evenings from 7 to 9
70; RIVERSIDE AVE.
MEDFORD
PHONE.-MVSTIC 1 123 - 1124 or 1870
We carry a complete line of
ANTHRACITE AND BITUMINOUS COAL
DOMESTIC AND IMPORTED FUELS
r
Our I^Jpfti:)!
Leader if>" J^
Cream of
Anthracite
WALKER GOAL & FUEL COMPANY
BENJ. F. WALKER HARVEY C. VOORHEES
President Treasurer
FRANK L. MASON
Credit Manager
JAMES W. NORTON
A TTORNEY AT LAW
BERNARD NORTON
CONSTABLE
5 HIGH STREET, MEDFORD, MASS.
11 07- J
Telephones, Mystic 5091
4594
For anything: in the jewelry line
visit the
New Jewelry Store
MOREY HIRSCH
JEWELER
Up-to-date Repairing:
8 High Street Medford Square
Live Music Archive
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