Robert Vose and his times

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Robert Vose

AND HIS

Times

Compiled by
ELLEN F. VOSE and
MARY H. HINCKLEY

L Robert Vose in England.

IL His Arrival in New England
and Settlement in Milton.

in. Milton in 1662.

IV. Second Meeting House and
Vose's Lane.

V. Customs in Robert Vose's
Time—Close of Life.

Reprinted from The Milton Record, Nov.— Dec, 1910.

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ROBERT VOSE IN ENGLAND

Robert Vosc was born in Lancas-
hire, England, about 1599. He was a
resident there in 1650, though the
statement has many times appeared
that he came to America in 1635 with
Richard Mather. The first appearance
of iiis iiame m New Eiu^land was in
1654, when lie purchased from the
heirs of "me worshipful Mr. John
Qlover" of JBoston, "for the sum of
thiee hundred and fowre score pounds
sterl," over 500 acres of land in that
part of Dorche&toj- called Unquatiquis-
set or Unouity, which, In 1G62, was
incorporated in the town of Milton.
The obligation v/as dated 13 July,
1654. He was at float time a "gentle-
man of Dorchefcier," so had been in
New England long enough to estab-
lish a residence, but the exact time
of his arrival i.s unknown.

He was the youngest son of Thom-
as Vose of Lancashire; apparently
a man of c'l)ility and influeace, and
belonged to the period which wit-
nessed the siruggles of the Reforma-
tion.

The Puritan'sin of Lancashire was
confined largely to the southern part.
A group of L'uiii.ans had sprung up
in and about To\teiU Park near Liv-
erpool, and Richard Mather, when
only a boy, taught ihc-ir children. Ma-
ther was won over to Puritanism and
in preparation for the ministry en-
tered Erasonose college, Oxford, but
before he completed his course his
friends induced him to become their
minister at Toxteth chapel. As this
ancient chapel was considered in sorae
respects private property and was not
only retdi'u^d by nonconforming min-
isters after the passing of the Act of
Uniformity, [hji was licensed under
the Act of Toleration ac a preaching
place for dissenteis, Richard Mather,
at first, was not much troubled for his
nO'niconformity. But he was not the

sort of man to confine bis ministry to
a village congregation and was a fre-
quent preacher in many of the neigh-
boring churches and cliajjels: fcr
this he was finally so "scolded,"
and thre.^tencd with fine and impris-
onment if he did not desist, that in
1035 he sailed for New Eigland and
settled in Do; Chester. A.s schoolmas-
icr and minister' in IL'iiyland, Richard
Mather officiated in the parishes of
which the Voses were residents, and
is found a witness to the will of Ed-
ward Vose, an uncle of Robert Vose.

Thomas Vose, Robert's father, ap-
pears as a donor for the mainteTancc
of a 'ireacJ'ing minister in two l>an-
cashiro i^arishes and for a free school
at Much Woolton. The duty of a
preacning nnnisier was not only to
solemnize th(} parochial services but
lo itinerate in the neighborhood and
preach in its several churches and
chapels, the doctrines of the Reforma-
tion.

"It was not until after the outbreak
of the great Civil war in the summer
of 1042, and until the consequent
plundering and raiding by the armies
on either side that the attention of
the House of Commons was called to
the cfises of Puritan ministers dis-
turbed or ejected by the Royalist
army in various parts of the country."
"The first mention of the subject of
relief 'of the ministers that are plun-
dered' is contained in an order of the
Commons of 27 Dec. 1642, appointing
a collection on their behalf in all the
parishes in and about Londoi. l<"'our
days later a committee was appoint-
ed to consider of the fittest way for
llic relief of such good and well af-
fected ministers as have bee i plun-
dered, and likewise to consider wnat
malignant persons have benefices here
in and about this town, whose livings
being sequestered, these may supply
the cure and receive tJie profits,"

ROBERT VOSE AND HIS TIMES

"The explanation of the hitherto
most unexplained problem of Common-
wealth church history lies in the
growth of the powers of the body thus
created coming to be as it did, with
its legitimate successors, the trustees
for the maintenance of ministers, a
board of Ecclesiastical Commission-
ers for a completely disestablished
and a partially disendowed English
Church."

By virtue of an act of Parliament
l)assed on the 8th of June 1649, en-
;itled, "An Act for the providing
maintenance of preaching ministers
and other pious uses," commissioners
were appointed in each county to re-
port upon the state of each parish,
and to forward their reports to Lon-
don.

"The Lancashire Commissio i is
dated March 29, 1650, and the first
meeting was held in Manchester on
June 19, following. The Inquisition or
inquiry was taken before a local jury
of men of good standing and position
whose names are given, and before
whom witnesses were brought and ex-
amined." On the list of jurors with
twenty others are the names of John
and Robert Vose, gentlemen; they
were the sons of Thomas Vose. "By
the service of this commission the
condition of the more indigent and
deserving clergy was considerably
improved and would have been much
more improved if all their recom-
mendations had beei observed."

"The survey showed that there were
in Lancashire in 1650, 64 parish
churches and 118 chapels, of which no
less than 38 were without ministers,
chiefly for want of maintenance." The
following is an abstract from the re-
port concerning Farnworth, a village
in the township of Widnes, an an-
cient chapelry with a chapel dedicat-
ed to St. Wilfred. Withm a lew years
the church which is supposed to be
of the age of Henry VIII, has been
restored. The register begins in 1538.

"For the p'sent there is none that
supplyeth the Cure there. In respect
there is but three pounds six shill-
ings eight pence per annum w'ch is
allowed by Pattent out of the Reven-
ues of the Dutchy of Lancaster for

the preaching Mlnist'r there; and one
Donative of Tenn pounds given by
Thomas Vause (Vose) deceased, the
interest of which goes to the use of
the manteynance of a p'eaching Min-
ister att Farneworth."

The Report in regard to the chapel
in the township of Hale is, that it is
fit to be made a parish church and
Haiebancke and part of Halewood in-
cluded in the parish. "That the tyth
of thai pt ct Halewood amounteth to
nyneteen pounds p ann, and the small
tythes belong to the Viccarr worth
20s p ann; and wee find that there is
no Parsonage or Viccarage p'seitative
w'th'n the Towneshipp of Hale af-
foresaid, and that there is a whyte
rent of three shillings five pence in
Hale afforesaid; and that there is a
donative of fhve pounds given to the
Chappelrie for the manteynance of a
Minist'r by Thomas Vause (Vose) late
deceased; and remains in the hands
of Thomas Linley for the use of the
Minist'r afforesaid when there is any
that supplyes the Cure there, which
is for (the) p'sent vacant."

The small amount of money in cir-
culation in those days is showi by
the pay to borough members which
was usually 'two shillings a day be-
fides the expense of travelling to and
from Westminster. The knights ol
I he shire were allowed 4 shillings and
afterv/Trds 6 shillings a day, which
great expense on one occasion i i-
duced the careful freeholders of Lan-
cashire to unite with their neighbors
of Cumberland in sending one mem-
ber between them, each county paying
half his wages."

The school in Much Woolton which
received a donation by the will of
Thomas Vose was founded iu 1641.
Previous to the Reformation only
three grammar schools existed in the
county, and tiiey had recently been
founded. One of these three schools
was in Farnworth which became "a
sort of nursery for Lancashire Puri-
tans." Richard Mather was school-
master there at one time. "Before this
the only education to be obtained by
the poor was in the monasteries and
the tew boys educated there were us-
ually trained for the priesthood." It

ROBERT VOSE IN ENGLAND

would seem that writing by no means
kept pace with reading and learning.
Even in the towns few of the trades-
men could write. We get an inciden-
tal glimpse of the education of the
clergy of this period in the provision
made for tlie teaching of writing and
singing in the Free Grammar School
at Rivington. A stipend is alloted to
the curate of the church if he teach,
but if he will not or cannot teach to
sing and write another teacher is to
be provided. The statutes imply that
the purpose of the school (Rivington)
is to prepare its pupils for the church,
and the still unsettled state of doc-
trine is shown by "the eldest sort who
are ready to become ministers must
be perfected in Calvin's Catechism and
Institutions,"

Rev. E. E. Hale says, "the words
Grammar School and Free School,
carry with them in England different
signification than those to which we
are accustomed in America. In Eng-
land a large number, if not all of the
endowed schools are called 'gram-
mar schools' because tlieir founders
wished to have boys taught to read
Latin and Greek. It would be fair to
say that there was no English gram-
mar at that time, as in fact there has
never been. To endow a free gram-
mar school meant that the boys of
its neighborhood should be taught
without charge to read Latin and
Greek. It really happens in England
to this day, that a boy may go to an
endowed school and receive free edu-
cation in Latin and Greek whose
friends would have to pay for in-
struction in German and French in
the same school. With us a free
school means one which makes no pe-
cuniary charge for any scholar. In
England a free grammar school may
mean a school where the classical
languages so called, are taught to all
comers, while for other studies a pay-
ment is exacted. This was in general
the expression of a pious wish that
the languages of the Vulgate and Sep-
tuagint, the Latin and Greek versions
Of the scriptures, might be widely
known among the people."

At about the time Thomas Vose
made his donation to assist in the
foimding of a free school in Lan-

cashire, England, steps were taken by
the Puritans in Dorchester, New Eng-
land, to establish, with a different
basis, a free school here, said to be
the first public provision made for a
free school in America by a direct tax
on the inhabitants of a town. The
order relating to it reads as follows:
"It is ordered that the 20th of May,
1639, that there shall be a rent of 201s
yearly forevr imposed upon Tomson'a
Hand to bee payd by evy p'son that
hath p'prtie in the said Hand accord-
ing to the p'portion that any such
p'son shall fro tyme to tyme inioy
and posesse there, and this towards
the mayntenance of a sclioole in Dor-
chestr this rent of 2013 yeerly to be
payd to such a schoolmaster as shall
undertake to teach english, latiu
and other tongues, and also writing the
sayd schoolmaste to bee chosen fro
tyme to tyme p the freemen and that
is left to the discretion of elders and
the 7 men for the tyme beeing wheth-
er maydes shalbe taught with the
boyes or not."

^he rules and orders presented to
the town and confirmed by vote later
concerning the school were to the
end that, all things that concern the
school shall be ordered and disposed
in the way "most conducible for the
glory of God, and the trayning up of
the children of the towne in religion,
learning and Civilitie."

In 1647 the Colonial government
passed the following law in regard to
schools: "It being one chief project
of Satan to keep men from the know-
ledge of the Scripture, as in former
times keeping them in unknown
tongues, so in these latter times by
perswading from the use of tongues
that so at least the true sence and
meaning of the originall might be
clouded and corrupted with false
classes of deceivers, to the end there-
fore that learning may not be Buried
in the graves of our forefathers in
Church and Commonwealth, the Lord
attending our endeavors. It is there-
fore ordered by this Court and Author-
ity thereof, that every Township in
this Jurisdiction, after the Lord has
increased them to the number of fifty
householders, shall then forthwith ap-
point one within their towns to teach

ROBERT VOSE AND HIS TIMES

all such cliildren as shall resort to
Mm to Write and Read, where Wages
shall be payd, either by the Parents
or Masters of such children or by the
inhabitants in generall, by way of
supply as the major part of them that
order the prudentials of the town
shall appoint, Provided that those
which send their children be not
Oppressed by paying much more than

they can have them taught for in
other towns."

Thus we see, as Dr. Hale says, "just
the same wish expressed itself in our
early New England legislation, which
provided that boys should have a free
education in the classical languages to
the end that Satan might be foiled in
his wish to keep the Bible from man-
kind."

HIS ARRIVAL IN NEW ENGLAND AND SETTLEMENT

IN MILTON

Returning to affairs in England we
find that the knowledge and experi-
ence gained on the Lancashire church
surveys of 165U was valuable prepara-
tion for the work Robert Vose was to
perform later in New England. In
1650, as has been shown, he was still in
Lancashire, England. Whatever part
Richard Mather may have played in
the next important step in Robert
Vose's career is only matter of con-
jecture. But in 1654 we find Robert
Vose in Dorchester, New England,
purchaser of the large estate of the
late John Glover, and it is not sur-
prising to find Richard Mather a
witness to the deed of conveyance,
showing the two Lancashire men had
met again in New Eligland.

John Glover, Richard Mather and
Robert Vose were all from Lancashire,
but did not come to New England at
the same time. With Robert Vose
cam? his Avife Jane, two daughters,
and three sons; the eldest son died in
Milton, unmarried.

Robert Vose was now a man of
fifty and more, versed in civil and
ecclesiastical affairs; possessed of
material resources, and well qualified
to be a leader in the community
where he had cast in his lot.

By the purchase of the land belong-
ing to the heirs of John Glover, he
became the largest resident landhold-
er in Milton at the time of incorpora-
tion. His purchase consisted of thir-
teen separate parcels of land de-
scribed in a verbose deed of convey-
ance, occupying six pages of printed
matter, in which the names of Ann
Glover, executrix of the estate, and
her sons, Mr. Habakkuk Glover, Mr.
John Glover, Mr. Nathaniel Glover and
Mr. Pellatier Glover, their heirs, as-
signs, executors and administrators
are mentioned seventeen times and

Mr. Robert Vose, his heirs, assigns,
executors and administrators are
mentioned fifteen times. The follow-
ing are the different parcels acquired:
A farm of one hundred and
forty acres and dwelling house;
ten acres near Robert Redman;
one hundred acres on Providence
Plain; twenty acres of meadow
adjoining; thirty-five acres he pur-
chased of John Phillips adjoining the
farm; thirty acres adjoining the
above lot; one half of two lots of
common land on south side of the Ne-
ponset river; forty acres of meadow
near Mr. Stoughton's farm; forty
acres of upland near the Blue Hills;
a certain "scurt" of land near the
"playne;" three-quarters of an acre
for a landing place below Mistress
Stoughton's mill; six acres of salt
marsh, and other lands not specifi-
cally accounted for, amounting in all,
not including the latter, to over five
hundred acres.

In 1838, an ancient plan of Milton
on parchment was discovered among
the papers belonging to the Proprie-
tors of Dorchester, inscribed with the
■"^- memorandum: — "This plan
was drawn on a paper plat formerly
made by Mr. John Oliver for the
Town of Dorchester, and now by
their order is drawn on parchment
by Joshua Fisher, April 25, 1661." John
Oliver died in 1646. The following en-
try occurs in the Dorchester Town
Records: "9 (7) 1661, 40 shillings
that Lieutenant Fisher had for new
drawing of the map."

This plan furnishes the outlines of
the town of Milton at the time the
first grants were taken up. Among
these is outlined a part of the grant
to John Glover from the town of Dor-
chester in 1644 and sold to Robert
Vose in 1654. It is thus described in

ROBERT VOSE AND HIS TIMES

the deed: "All that Dwelling house
and farme Where now Nicholas Wood
dwells with ye barne Cowhouses out-
houses yards orchards gardins with
"Whatsoever privileges unto ye said
house is hereunto belongeing or Ap-
pertayneing wth seaven score acres
of Upland and meadow more or less,
within fence lying about ye said
house, upon wch ye said house stand-
eth, wth a parcell of Lande abou*
tenne acres more or less between tTie
ca!fe pasture and Robert Redmans."

handed down from father to son to
the fifth generation of Voses. It stood
at the junction of Canton avenue and
Brook Road, where the cellar was in
evidence up to the middle of the last
century.

The westerly bound of the home-
stead ran northwest from some point
on Canton Avenue, not far from the
Town Hall lot, straight to the brook,
probably including the land on which
the Vose school building stands; the
northerly bound followed the brook

SITE OF ROBERT VOSE'S HOUbE.

Nicholas Wood here mentioned came
over from the old country with Mr.
Glover, and, as his agent or farmer,
had charge of the cattle kept at the
farm west of Milton Hill.

This farm embracing a wide terri-
tory of one hundred and seventy-six
acres, as outlined on the plat, be-
came the homestead of Robert Vose.
The house here described was known
as the "old Vose house" and was

as it winds to its bend just beyond
Ruggles Lane; the easterly bound
ran from the last mentioned point,
along the westerly slope of Milton
Hill between Russell and School
Streets to Churchill's Lane, including
the Glover school lot and other es-
tates on School street, and the West-
on estate and land formerly of Mrs.
Francis Cunningham; the southerly
bound was the parallel line to the

HIS ARRIVAL IN NEW ENGLAND AND SETTLEMENT IN MILTON

point of beginning. Although Robert
Vose's territory extended south of it,
the parallel line is described as the
southerly boundary of the homestead.
The parallel line marked by a
stone wall, ran from the southwest-
erly slope of Milton Hill on the east
to the fresh meadows or present Can-
ton line on the west. After the town
of Milton was incorporated, the road
now known as Canton Avenue was
laid out on this central parallel line
from Atherton's tavern to Centre
Street. "The line continued from Cen-
tre Street to Vose's Lane and still on
straight, north of the Blanchard
estate to Randolph Avenue. From here
until it reached Churchill's Lane just
beyond where the sewer crosses, it
has become extinct by later trans-
fers."

Although Robert Vose was not a
church member, he was active and
zealous in the maintenance and ad-
vancement of the ministry. His ser-
vice on the Lancashire church sur-
veys had no doubt given him inter-
est and understanding of the needs
of the clergy, and in 1662i he made a
gratuitous conveyance of eight
acres of his estate to the town for
"ministerial purposes."

On the land thus donated was built
a parsonage or ministerial house, by
eighteen of the inhabitants or free-
holders of the town of Milton, who
"covenant and agree yt ye sd house
and land, shall be and remain to be
to ye use and behoof of such Minis-
ter as God shall successively from
time to time send amongst us." This
was in accordance with an order of
The first Court of Assistants holden
at Charlton (Charlestcwn), August
23th Ano Dm 1G30. Imp'r, it was
ppounded howe the ministers should
be mayntayned .... It was ordered
that houses should be built for them
with convenient speede, att the pub-
lique charge."

The location of the "ministerial
lot" had been accepted until recently
as on Vose's Lane and Centre Street;
it is so stated in the History of Mil-
ton; but Mr. John A. Tucker in his
exhaustive research has shown con-
clusively that the lot was in that part

of Robert Vose's farm described in
the deed of conveyance as "a parcell
of land about tenne acres more or
less lying between the calf pasture
and Robert Redman's." It took a part
of the tract now occupied by the Wes-
ton, Johnson, Apthorp and Peabody
estates on the east of Randolph Ave-
nue, reaching back to Churchill's
Lane, and by the Beck, Emerson,
Wood and Sigourney property on the
west side of the avenue. An old wall
at the rear of the last mentioned es-
tates was probably the bound on the
west end of this ten-acre lot, and be-
yond that was the lot called the calf
pasture. The southern boundary was
the swamp. The parsonage was on
Churchill's Lane and at the head of
the lane stood the first meeting-
house.

In 1681, after the ordination of Rev.
Peter Thacher, the first settled minis-
ter of Milton, the town voted to con-
vey to him twenty acres of the minis-
terial land near the centre of the
town.

Notwithstanding the possession of
this land, Mr. Thacher continued to
live in the parsonage on Churchill's
Lane until 1689, when he built a new
house for himself on Providence
Plain, on land which he had pur-
chased of Thomas Vose in 1683, and
which adjoined the ministerial land
given him. The old parsonage on
Churchill's Lane, having served its
purpose, was then sold to Robert
Vose's son Edward, who held adja-
cent lands.

Some of us recall the old house
that used to stand near the private
way running between Churchill's Lane
and Randolph Avenue; it was called,
"the Hollis House." Mr. Tucker says:
"It is said to have been an old Vose
house, audit is barely possible it was-
the same house which served for the
parsonage in Peter Thacher's day. Not
many years ago the house was burn-
ed. The parsonage or its successor
appears to have been the only house
on what was the eight acre ministry
grounds till Thomas Hollis, Jr., built
the Sigourney house about 1834."

When Robert Vose settled here
in 1654, there was not a recorded

1(.(;BERT VOSE AND HIS TIMES

road in this part of Dorcliester, south
of the Neponset, and no way across
the river except by a ford. Mistress
Stoughton had a foot-bridge with a
hand-rail by the mill. In 1664 there
were three recorded roads in the
town; the "country Heigh Waye" over
Milton Hill, now Adams Street, laid
out in 1654; "the way from the land-
ing place by the mill through Robert
Vose's farm" now Canton Avenue,
166(>; and "the way to John Ffennos
house leading to the Blue Hills." now
Churchiirs Lane, 1661.

Brook Road, leading from Vose's
Lane, by the Vose school building,
and crossing the brook is an ancient
way, shown by the following record:

At a meeting of the Selectmen the

8 (11) 1671, "The same day Thomas
Swiit Junr as selectman of Melton
came before the select men, to be re-
solved in a question concerning a way
runing through Goodman Vose his
farme from John Gil's barrs unto the
fowerteenth lott, whether ther should
not be alowance for the land which
the way taks upp; In answer thereun-
to the Select men of Dorchester saith,
that the use of the way and the right
thereunto was long before Goodman
Vosse, or Mr. Glover had a farme
granted or laid out, and therefore we
conclud that when the farme was
laid out, there was alowance in meas-
uer for the highway, and nothing de-
manded for alowance ever since until
of late."

MILTON IN 1662

In 1659 Robert Vose was one of tlie
four men chosen as a committee for
the laying out of the Common Lands,
and in 1662 he was one of the three
petitioners for the incorporation of
Milton.

The town then was for the most
part a wilderness, with a few scat-
tered farms and some open pasturage
land. The huge task these early set-
tlers undertook was to make this
strange wilderness habitable, and to
that end all shared the labor and
hardships alike. One of the first
things to be done, as shown by the
records, was to run the boundary lines
which at this early period, were not
definitely established, between Dor-
chester and Roxbury, Dorchester and
Braintree, or the several grants of
lots. There was laying out of lots,
and highways; fixing pales about the
lots; keeping in order all fences
about their own farms, as required by
law; keeping their cattle, horses,
sheep, swine and goats within pre-
scribed bounds; the cattle branded
and the swine ringed and yoked as
required; killing wolves which infest-
ed the region and for which a bounty
■was paid; (The same Day, 8: 12,
1657, the constable, John Capen, was
to pay unto Robert Vose for a wolfe,
1-0-0.") felling and hewing trees for
building timber and fencing as per-
mitted; bringing their land under a
state of cultivation and then making
war on the blackbirds that destroyed
their crops; ordering and conducting
the affairs of the town; meeting the
problem of taxes, of which that for the
support of the ministry was no small
I»art; and performing military service
during Indian hostilities. In the In-
dian disturbances of 1675-6 the outly-
ing districts even in Milton were
deemed unsafe on acocunt of them.
William Trescott, who lived on the
farm afterwards belonging to Hon.

James M. Robbins, asked for the
"abatement of his taxes 1675-6, be-
cause of the troubles of the wars,
whereby he deserted his place at
Brush Hill."

Nearly opposite Robbins Street is
a lane leading from Canton Avenue
towards the Blue Hills Reservation,
once known as "the way over to the
Old Wolfe Pets;" it runs in a south-
erly direction and in former times,
turning easterly, crossed Pine Tree
brook and continued through the
Town Farm lot and the Russell estate
to land formerly of Samuel Wads-
worth. In 1698 Gov. William Stough-
ton sold to William Sumner five acres
of land, described in the deed of con-
veyance as "South of the Brook that
runs under the Pine Tree bridge and
below the path that goes over the
Brook aboves'd a little below a little
fresh meadow" which lies at the place
known and called by the name of the
Wolfe Pitts." This locality is on the
southerly side of Canton Avenue in
the neighborhood of Harland Street.
West of Highland Street, now partly
included in the estate of Philip P.
Chase is a tract of land known as the
"Wolf Pit lot." The pits were covered
over with brush not strong enough to
bear the weight of a wolf, and baited
with the carcass of a sheep or some
other animal. Once caught in the
pit, it was impossible for the wolf to
spring out again.

It will give us an idea of the sparse
settlement of Milton at that time to
learn in what part of the town the
eighteen inhabitants lived who signed
the covenant in regard to the minis-
terial house and land, for they prob-
ably comprised the entire number of
freeholders then constituting the town
of Milton; the majority of them held
by turns nearly every town office, and
many of them lived to four score
years of age. Seven of the eighteen

llOiiERT VOSE AND HIS TIMES

names are borne by families, lineal
descendants, living in the town today.

First in the list of signers is Rob-
ert Vose, whose place of residence at
the junction of Canton avenue and
Brook Road, has already been de-
scribed.

Anthony Gulliver's house stood on
Squantum Street on the north side of
Unquity brook.

Samuel Wadsworth, who later lost
his life in King Phillip's war,
lived in a house that stood in the
triangle formed by Randolph Avenue,
Highland Street and Reed's Lane. The
house is said to have been burned in
1669.

Thomas Vose lived on Gun Hill
Street.

Robert Redman lived on Churchill's
Lane, and John Fenno was his neigh-
bor on the east side of the lane.

Robert Babcock's house stood on
the site of Mr. T. Edwin Ruggles's
house on Ruggles Lane. The oldest
part of the house is said to be the
original Badcock house. The brook
is styled in old records "Robert
Badcock's river."

James H often or Houghton, bought
of Nicholas Ellen and Mary, his
wife, who Tvas the widow of Rob-
ert Pond, the house and land on both
sides Lincoln Street that belonged to
Robert Pond. He may have lived
there.

Robert Tucker lived on Brush Hill
"at the upper end of the old high-
way where it joined Brush Hill Road."
His house, as indicated in his will,
stood on the southwest corner of
Robbins Street and Brush Hill Road.

David Himes's residence has not
been ascertained. Nothing has been
foand to show that he was a land-
holder. There is the record of his
marriage in Dorchester and the birth
of four children in Milton. Accord-
ing to the Dorchester records the
Widow Himes suffered under the
order relating to the entertainment
of strangers in that town. "The 9th
(7) 1667. The same day William
Sumner was desired to speak with
the Widdow Hims (who is lately come
into this town) to informe her that

she must returne to the place from
whence she came." This was in ac-
cordance with a Colonial law, "That
noe p'son should take into ther
house ore habitation any p'son with-
out the alowance ore consent off the
selectmen upon such penalty as the
selectmen shall see good to lay upon
them."

William Salisbury lived on
Churchill's Lane and abutted Robert
Vose on the south. Anthony New-
ton owned land east of him nearer
Gulliver's Creek. Both men were in-
terested in shipbuilding that was car-
ried on at a very early date, at or
near the landing place, now Gulli-
ver's Creek.

Thomas Swift lived on the south-
west side of Adams Street near
Dudley Road of today; the house
stood in the field about forty rods
back from the street.

William Daniel lived and kept a
tavern where the house of the late
Theodore Glover nov/ stands. The
Foye mansion occupied the same
site before the Glover house was
built. Tho only record we have of
the Rev. Mr. Bouse who preached as
a candidate here in 1670, is Good-
man Daniel's charge of one shilling
and sixpence, "for bread and wine
for Mr. Bouse." The town record
reads: "It was agreed by vote that
Mr. Bouse should be desired to be
helpful to us by way of trial." Rev.
Mr. Bouse appears to have been
weighed in the balance and found
wanting.

Richard Collicott was here very
early be^fore the arrival of the
Dorchester people. He was a fur
trader and Brought into close rela-
tions with the Indians. He is said
to have built the first house in Un-
quity, (Milton) on the west side of
Adams Street near the junction of
Centre Street.

John Gill lived in Unquity be>-
fore 1652. His house stood on the
north side of Adams Street, almost
opposite the opening of Pleasant
Street.

Henry Crane lived at what is
now East Milton, on the north side
of Adams Street. His house stood

MILTON IN 1662

back from the street between the
present residences of Messrs. Bax-
ter and Simpson. His eslate was the
limit of the town in ttiat direction.

Stephen Kinsley's house stood
on the north side^ of Adams Street,
on land now owned by Ernest Bow-
ditch. He was at first a resident of
Braintree. "In 1653 he was ordained
as a ruling elder of the Braintree
church, removed to Unquity at an
early date, and instituted religious
worship in the east part of the town
in connection with some of the in-
habitants of Braintree. The services
may have been conducted by himself
or by some clergyman of whom there
is no mention in oar records."

"Regular preaching services were
held in Unquity and Milton at ]east
twenty-two years before a church was
organized."

It is not to be supposed that the
brethren here were more contentious
than those elsewhere. But whatever
the reason, there was no church or-
ganization in Milton until 1678, six-
teen years after the incorporation of
the town, and then, according to the
records, "becaus of some oppossision
yt did appear," the Milton Church was
organized in the Mother church at
Dorchester.

Ministers were settled by the
towns in town meetings and
the salary was established and
voted, and in 1654, "that there
may be a settled and encourag-
ing maintenance of ministers in all
towns and congregations within their
jurisdiction, it is ordered that the
county court in every shire shall, up-
on information given them, of any
defect of any congregation or town
within the shire, order and appoint
what maintenance shall be allowed
the ministers of the places and shall
issue out warrants to the Selectmen
to assess the Inhabitants, which the
constable of the said town shall col-
lect ahd levy as other Town rates."

The Town Meeting was an open,
free, deliberative assembly, where
affairs of the church and local gov-
ernment were discussed and settled
with outspoken independence. Liber-
ty of discussion in town meetings,
at length had to be curbed. In 1645

it was voted by the inhabitants of
Dorchester that in order to prevent
"the disorderly Jarringe of our Meet-
inges and the intemperate clashings
and hasty indigested and Rash votes,
that votes of any concernment be first
drawne up in meetinge and then de-
liberately published 2 or 3 tymes and
Liberty given for any to speake his
mind moderately and meekly and then
the Signe to be required, and things
more orderly carried and dispach'd."

In the early days the meeting-
house was not considered a sacred ed-
ifice, "Until after the Revolutionary
War it was universally used as a pow-
der magazine." It was used for town-
meetings and also served as a store-
house. "Squirrels attracted by the
grain stored in the loft, ex-
ercised their nibbling habit on
Bible and pulpit cushions, so
that in some localities on every
Sunday afternoon the Word of
God and its sustaining cushion had ta
be removed to the safe shelter of a
neighboring farm house or tavern to
prevent total annihilation by these
Puritanical, Bible-loving squirrels."
On the meeting-house were posted
matters of public interest, marriage
intentions, notices, orders and regula-
tions, sales etc. The following has.
been preserved:

"Strayes.
Milton, Jan. 24. 1672.

There is in the hands of Thomas
Voss of Milton, two steers about 3
yeares old, the one red with two
Nicks in the off ear, and a short
tayle, the other black with two white
Leggs behind, and ye end of his tayle
white, a Piece cut out of his off ear,
they wer taken up the 26 Xbr last
and were Prized by Thomas Swift
and Samuel Wadsworth both at 4
pounds, haveing been cried three
times according to Law."

The wolf-killer was ordered to
bring the gory head, if he wished to
obtain the reward, and "nayle it to
the meeting house and give notis
thereof." On the green stood the
horse-blocks to aid the women and
the old men to mount and dismount,
and also "those Puritanical instru-
ments of punishment, the stocks,
whipping post, pillory and cage."

ROBERT VOSE AND HIS TIMES

■'Our Puritan fathers made it a mat-
ter of conscience to call the days of
the week by numerals, and to call
the months in the same way, as the
<^uakers do to this day . . . They
thought it was giving honor to the
heathen gods, and to pagan worship,
to call their days Sunday or Monday
■or Tuesday or Wednesday, or to call
their months January or March or
May. But while this scruple has been
so tenacious among the Friends, that
even Mr. Whittier continued to follow
it as long as he lived, our Puritan
fathers had laid it aside before their
colonies had completed their first cen-
tury."

Geo. E. Ellis, contrasting New Eng-
land history during its Puritan age
with the contemporary history of the
Puritans wiio remained in England,
says: "The influences of their exile

with deprivations and hardships, and
their freedom to follow out to ex-
tremes their own proclivities, pre-
judices and fancies tended to an ex-
aggeration of the natural austerity of
the Puritanism here while it was held
in restraint among Puritans at home.
The ivy-clad churches and towers,
the chime of bells, the sports on the
green, the village festivals, the bridal
revelries and the holiday delights, all
entering into the heritage of 'Merry
England,' were not without their soft-
ening and amiable working upon the
sentiments even of those least in sym-
pathy with them because of their Pur-
itan spirit. But the exiles here part-
ed with all these mute and pleading
influences which soften and enrich
the heart and cheer the routine of toil
and brighten the family home."

SECOND MEETING HOUSE AND VOSE'S LANE

Good Peter Thacher evideatly had
misgivings about his ability to shep-
herd the wilful Milton flock, for in
his address accepting the call to the
church, after a residence of nine
months among the people, he makes
this significant remark: "Notwith-
standing. . . my great discourage-
ments in the work of the ministry, not
only in respect of ye great duty and
difficulty of ye work in itself consid-
ered, but especially in ys place in
respect of those lamentable animos-
ityes and divisions which have been
in ys place, which both occasioned
your unsettlement untill now wch ye
Lord for his own name sake pardon,
and prevent for ye future.'"

About 1670 when the building of the
second meeting-house was under con-
sideration, the first action taken in the
matter was at a town meeting held
Sept. 30, 1670, when it was decided to
locate the new meeting house "neare
about Goodman Vose his loked barre
and also that the old meeting house
should be repaired."

"The vote of the town in regard to
this place for the meeting house not
being agreeable to Goodman Vose, the
town early the next year, Jan. 12,
1671, voted that the house should
stand upon the 'est side of Goodman
Vose's Lande at the corner of his son
Thomas Vose's stone wall next to
Henry Glover his house on the way
sid and Robert Vose did agree there-
unto.' This situation for a meeting
house would have had the advantage
of being near the cemetery. But
though the number of inhabitants was
limited there still appeared a lack of
harmony causing another delay, and it
was nearly a year later when a final
decision was made."

"This appears from the following
extract taken from the town records:
'At a public meeting in Milton the
nth of the nth mo, 1671, it was vot-

ed in the town that the meeting house
shall be sot upon Goodman Vose's
land near the locke bars and ye nei-
bors . . . did freely consent thereun-
to, also the town did purchase of
Goodman Vose 6 rods square of land
for to set the meeting house on and
for consideration the 6 rods square
the town was to allow Thomas Vose
his rat to the meeting house freely.'

The spot thus chosen was on the
corner of Vose's Lane and Centre
Street, and occupied about two-thirds
of the present Blanchard estate."

First and last the locating of the
meeting house on his land was to
Robert Vose the source of consider-
able annoyance. After the meeting
house was built, a highway was laid
out across his land to which he object-
ed as is shown by the following town
record: "And whereas, the above said
Committee, namely Capt. Hopestill
Foster, Capt. Richard Bracket and
Sargt. Thomas Gardinner in the year
1673, the matter being left to them
by the parties concerned as the rec-
ord saith did then order and alow an
open hyew^ay to lye and run from the
meeting hous down to robart voses
barn and from thence to the woods
gate but it being greeuious to sd Vose
the then present selectmen upon con-
sideration did agree with sd vose to
take of and remoue said way prouid-
ed sd vose would give land two rods
wide from the woods gate on the out-
side of his land next Robart Bad-
cocks land till it comes to the para-
rill line, to be an open hye waye
for the town's use w^hich two rods
wide of land hath beene left and
fenced out for sd use and seruis and
is now improued for a waye for the
town's use and it being neglected to
make a record of sd agreement and
remoueall of sd way in the time of it,
we the present select men in this

ROBERT VOSE AND HIS TIMES

present year, 1694 do alow and con-
firm the aboiie sd agreement and re-
mouall of sd way as aboue said and do
make record of the same this 26 day
of February 1694-5.

Thomas Vose, Town Clark."
This was the origin of Vose's Lane.

We have hints of Robert Vose's
personal qualities. That he was pub-
lic spirited and generous is shown by
his gift to the town of the ministry
lot. That he was a stubborn force
when opposed to a measure, is shown
by his attitude towards the town vote
in regard to the location of the sec-
ond meeting-house. We must infer
that he was a man of hasty temper
from the fact that Parson Thacher
advised him to stand up in the con-
gregation and acknowledge it.

"Father Vose was with me I spake
to him to acknowledge his passionate-
ness in the congregation." Parson
Thacher also jots down in his journal:
'Difficulty about Father Vose's admis-
sion to the church." Whatever the
difficulty was it was overcome, for on
.July 17, 168r, Father Vose was re-
ceived into full communion with the
Milton church.

In 1657 Robert's daughter Elizabeth
married Thomas Swift, son of Thomas
Swift, senior, the emigrant from Eng-
land, and in 1659 her father gave her
verbally nineteen and three-quarters
acres in the eleventh lot. This he
confirmed by deed Feb. 23, 1663. The
tract of land was south of the par-
allel line and extended towards the
Braintree line; it included the estate
of Mr. Tuell, part of the estate of Mr.
Wallace Pierce, and others. Traces
of the old wall that formed the bound-
ary line are still to be seen on the
land of Mr. Pierce.

In 1661 he gave his son Thomas,
probably at the time of his marriage,
six and one-quarter acres of land west
of the eighth lot, a gift which he con-
firmed by deed in April, 1672. Thomas
was then in possession of the premises
which were on the west side of Gun
Hill Street.

On May 23, 1666, Robert Vose was
admitted to the freedom of the Col-
ony. Very early it was enacted that
freemen should be restricted to

church members; it was in force un-
til about 1664. It may be inferred
that Robert did not become freeman
until this time because he was not a
churcli member.

In 1669 and 1677 he was one of the
selectmen of Milton, and in other
years served on various committees
appointed to look after the welfare
of the town.

In February, 1682, he gave his sorr
Edward, mentioning him as his "eld-
est son now living," the homestead of
seven score acres, and six acres of
salt marsh. Edward at the time was
living on the farm and for several
years had lived there; snrl a con-
tract of even date with this instru-
ment was made with his father, for
his maintenance during life.

Edward died m his eightieth year
leaving most of the homestead to his
son Nathaniel w^ho is to allow him "an
honorable and comfortable mainten-
ance." A portion of this land is still
held by Robert Vose's descendants of
the eighth generation.

In January, 1682, Robert Vose sold
to his son Thomas, for 228 pounds,
more than half of his entire estate
situated in different parts of the town.
As this deed locates parts of Robert's
estate not specifically placed, it may
be well to mention in what part of
the town they were situated.

Seventy-one acres, more or less, in
the northerly half of the 9th and 10th
lots, on a part of which, at tHat
time, Thomas's dwelling house stood,
was land south of the parallel line,
some eighty acres in all, extending
nearly to Pleasant Street in one direc-
tion and from Gun Hill Street probably
to the Sias lot, including the Barnard,
now Upton estate, and others. The
dwelling house stood on the west side
of Gun Hill Street, the clump of lilac
bushes and old well there probably
mark the exact site.

The one hundred acres on Provi-
dence Plain were granted Mr. Glover
in 1644. The tract is described in the
deed of Robert to Thomas Vose as hav-
ing two houses and a barn standing
upon the said land which is butted and
bounded: "North, Naponsett River;
east, Ezra Clapp; south, Balssons

SECOND MEETING HOUSE AND VOSE'S LANE

Brook; west, Dorchester Church land."
sections of an old stone wall some
fourteen rods west of Thacher Street
still mark, here and there, the original
boundary on the east; the western
bound followed the line of an old
stone wall, west of Blue Hill Park-
way. The "twenty acres of meadow
adjoining" extended up to and skirt-
ed Pope's ice pond.

The entire Vose lot of one hundred
acres on Providence Plain finally came
into the possession of the Thacher fam-
ily. To the twenty-three acres "with a
house and barn standing on the land"
which Parson Thacher bought of

Thomas Vose in 1683 for his home-
stead, thirty-four years later his wife
added by purchase of Henry, son of
Thomas Vose, seventy-seven acres of
upland and ten acres of meadow.
The house mentioned in the deed
of Thomas Vose to Parson
Thacher was presumably unfit for oc-
cupancy as he built a new house
there before removing from the par-
sonage on Churchill's Lane.

In his journal Jan. 13, 1699, he
wrote: "We had an exceeding great
feat of wind for near 24 hours which
blew down my little house and the
wind was southwest and very cold."

CUSTOMS IN ROBERT VOSE'S TIME— CLOSE OF LIFE

It was in 1G89 that Parsou Thacher
moved to his new house on' "Provi-
dence Plain" linown thereafter as
Thacher Plain, and here he lived un-
til his death in 1727, ani event thus
referred to by Judge Sewall in his
Diary:

•'lord's day, Dec. 17. I was sur-
prised to hear Mr. Thacher of Milton,
my old Friend, prayed for as danger-
ously sick. Next day, Dec. 18, 1727,
I am informed by Mr. Gerrish that
my dear friend died last night; which
1 "doubt bodes ill to Milton and the
Province, his dying at this Time,
though in the 77th year of his age.
Deus avertat Omen!

"Friday, Dec. 22, the day after the
fast, was inter'd. Bearers Rev. Mr.
Mehemiah Walter, Mr. Joseph Bax-
ter, Mr. John Swift, Mr. Samuel Hunt,
Mr. Joseph Sewall, Mr. Thomas
Prince. I was inclined before and
having a pair of Gloves sent me, I
determined to go to the Funeral, if
the Weather prov'd favorable, which
it did, and I hired Blake's coach with
four Horses. My son. "Sir. Cooper and
Mr. Prince went with me. Refreshed
there with Meat and Drink, got thith-
er about half an hour past one. It
was sad to see triumphed over my
dear Friend! I rode in my Coach to
the Burying place; not being able to
get nearer by reason of the many
Horses. From thence went directly up
the Hill, where the Smith's shop, and
so home very comfortably and easily,
the ground being mollified. But when
I came to my own Gate, going in, I
fell down, a board slipping under my
Left fool, my right Legg raised off the
skin, and put me to a great deal of
pain, especially when 'twas washed
with rum. It was good for me that I
was thus afflicted that my spirit
might be brought into a frame more
suitable to the Solemnity, which is apt
to be too light; and by the loss of
some of my skin, and blood I might

be awakened to prepare for my own.
Dissolution. Mr. Walter prayed before
the corps was carried out. 1 had a
pair of Gloves sent me before I went,
and a Ring given me there. Mr. Mil-
lar, the church of England minister,
was there. At this Funeral I heard of
the death of my good old Tenant Capt.
-Nathaniel Miles, that very l-'riday
morn. I have now been at the Inter-
ment of four of my Classmates. .
Now I can go to no more Funerals of
my classmates nor none be at mine;
for the survivors, the Kev. Mr. Sam-
uel Mather, at Windsor and the Rev.
Mr. Taylor at Westfield are one hun-
dred miles off, and are entirely '^n-
teelDled. 1 humbly pray that Christ
may be graciously present with us all
Three both in Life and in Death, and
then we shall safely and comfort U)ly
walk through the shady valley that
leads to Glory." Judge Sewall was the
last survivor eventually.

In the time of Robert Vose, Puri-
tan ministers were not permitted to
perform the marriage service, for it
was a purely civil contract, nor to of-
ttciate at funerals. The following is
from the "Annals of King's Chapel":
On May 15, lt)86, the frigate 'Rose'
from England brought the Rev. Robert
Ratcliffe the first minister of the Eng-
lish church who had ever come com-
missioned to officiate on New England
soil. It was proposed that he should
have one of the three Congregational
meeting-houses for services. This,
however, was denied him, but he-
was allowed the use of the library
room in the east end of the Town
House which stood where the Old
State House now stands. Three
days later on Tuesday, May 18, Judge
Sewall thus records the first marriage-
ceremony by a clergyman in Ne\r
England.

" Tuesday. May 18. A great wed-
ding from Milton, and are married by
Mr. Randolph's chaplain at Mr^

ROBERT YOSE AND HIS TIMES

Shrimpton's accordin to ye Service-
Book, a little after Noon, when Pray-
er was had at ye Town House; Was
another married at ye same time;
The former was Vosse's son. Bor-
rowed a ring. 'Tis sd they having
asked Mr. Cook and Addington, and
yy declining it, went after to ye Presi-
dent, and he sent ym to ye Parson.' "

The contracting parties were Hen-
ry, grandson of Robert Vose, and Eliz-
abeth, daughter of Robert Badcock,
all of Milton.

"Hutchinson says: 'I suppose there
had been no instance of a marriage
lawfully celebrated by a layman in
England when they (Puritans) left it.
I believe there was no instance of
marriage by a clergyman after they ar-
rived,, during their charter, but it
was always done by a magistrate, or
by persons specially appointed for
this purpose.' May 29, 1686, after the
wedding above described, Dudley
issued a proclamation authorising the
clerical function."

Early New England funerals are
thus described by Lechford:

"At Burials nothing is read nor any
Funeral Sermon made, but all the
neighborhood or a good company of
them come together by tolling of the
bell, and carry the dead solemnly to
his grave and there stand by him
while he is buried. The ministers were
commonly present," but took no part.
One of the old Puritan writers said,
"All prayers over or for the dead are
not only superstitions and vain, but
are also idolatry and against the plain
scriptures of God."

"After 60 or 70 years a few min-
isters began to pray at funerals in
Massachusetts, and Mather says,
about 1719, in many towns the minis-
ter made a prayer at the house and a
short speech at the grave; in other
places these were wholly omitted."

The first instance, so far as known
of a prayer at a funeral in Massachu
setts, was at the burial of Rev. Wil
Ham Adams from Roxbury in 1685
Judge Sewall has noted it in his Diary
"I took one Spell at carrying him
Mir. Wilson (of Medfield) prayed with
the company before they went to the
grave."

"There were, as a rule, two sets of
bearers appointed; under-bearers, usu-
ally young men, who carried the coffia
on a bier; and pall-ibearers, men of
age, dignity or consanguinity, who
held the corners of the pall which
was spread over the coffin and hung
down over the heads of the under-
bearers."

"The order of procession to the
grave was a matter of much etiquette.
High respect and equally deep slights
might be rendered to mourners in the
place assigned. Judge Sewall often
speaks of 'leading the widow in a
mourning cloak.' "

"Throughout New England, bills for
funeral baked meats were large in
items of rum, cider, whiskey, lemons,
sugar, spice. A careful and above all
an experienced committee was ap-
pointed to superintend the mixing of
the funeral grog or punch and to at-
tend to the liberal and frequent dis-
pensing thereof."

"One great expense of a funeral
was the gloves, sent as an approved
and elegant form of invitation. At
the funeral of the wife of Gov. Belcher
in 1736. over one thousand pairs of
gloves were given away. Rings were
given at funerals, especially in weal-
thy families, to near relatives and per-
sons of note in the community. Judge
Sewall records in his Diary in the
years 1687-1725, the receiving of no
less than fifty-seven mourning rings."

In 1741 the Massachusetts Provin-
cial Government finding "the giving
of scarves, gloves, wine, rum and
rings at funerals is a great and un-
necessary expence, and while practic-
ed will be detrimental to the Province
and tend to the impoverishing of many
families," — ordered "that no scarves,
gloves (except six i>air to the bearers,,
and one pair to each minister of the
church or congregation where any
deceased person belongs) wine, rum or
or rings shall be allowed and given
at any funeral, upon the penalty of
fifty pounds to be forfeited by the ex-
ecutor or administrator to the will or
estate of the person interred, or other
person that regulates or is at the ex-
pence of the funeral (to be paid by
him out of his own estate.)" One half

ANCESTRAI^ LANDS NEAR BLUE HILL— CliOSE OF LIFE

of this fine was given the informer
and the other half "for the use of the
poor where the person interred did
last belong."

The funeral of old Parson Thacher
must have been an impressive scene.
All the inhabitants of the town and
many from outside the limits were
probably in attendance at the parson-
age on the Plain. It was December,
the time of year when nature wears
her grimmest, sternest aspect; leaf-
less trees; brown, withered grasses;
even the pleasant babble of the near-
by brook frozen to silence; and in
the midst, all face to face with the
mystery of death.

Into this grey setting the ruddy Sax-
on face of old Judge Sewall in his
coach and four, comes as a welcome
relief, a touch of warm effective col-
oring in a sombre picture.

The Thacher family held the estate
many years after Peter Thacher's
death. In 1796 it was sold to Enoch
Fenno, a potter. He carried on his
business in a building that stood
where the Robson house now stands.
Long afterwards in 1834, the build-
ing which had been converted into a
dwelling house was burned. The
fate of the old parsonage is unknown;
it disappeared more than a century
ago. The time came between 1834
and 1846 when the entire Vose es-
tate on "Providence Plaine" was with-
out a human habitation.

Dr. Teele said in 1895: "It is pro-
posed, if possible to secure the land
embracing the old cellar and with
proper boundaries and inscriptions,
pass it down to posterity as a sacred
spot ever to be remembered."

This has now been done. Moved
by true sentiment for the past, Mr.
John A. Tucker has bought the lots
covering the site of Peter Thacher's
home and thus rescued the spot from
the obliteration that threatened. The
elm growing from the cellar bears
this inscription cemented into a cav-
ity in the trunk of the tree. "Peter
Thacher, His Journal, 1684. Dec. 5,
Bbed began to dig clay to make
bricks;" and below this: "Peter
Thacher, His Home 1689-1727." Ebed
was Parson Thacher's slave. Some

of the original bricks are preserved
in the tree trunk.

Of Thomas Vose's land at Brush
Hill, the forty acres of upland and
one half of the two separate lots of
common land, probably extended on
Brush Hill Road to Paul's bridge, and
included the lot on which Henry Vose
settled when he went from Providence
Plain to Brush Hill. The forty acres
of Blue Hill meadow were a part of
the "Fowl Meadows."

The 50th lot was a tract of fifty-
acres and embraced what is now the
Eustis estate, including both sides of
the present Canton Avenue.

Thomas, son of Robert Vose was a
man of note in his day. "For many
years he was town recorder, and un-
der his management the town records
assumed a systematic and business-
like form."

Among the earliest records relating
to schools we find: "March 4th, 1669,
Thomas Vose was chosen scoole mas-
ter for the East end of the town to
teach children and youth to write
he eccepting the same." "The school
was at the head of Vose's now Church-
ill's Lane. There is good evidence
that it was kept in the old meeting-
house, doubtless used for both pur-
poses." The old town Records bear
testimony to the beauty of his pen-
manship. For seventeen years he serv-
ed as town clerk; eighteen years as
selectman; ten years as Representa-
tive to the General Court and was ap-
pointed on the church and town com-
mittees of his day. He was lieuten-
ant under Capt. Wadsworth in King
Phillip's war; he was commissioned
Captain in the war against the In-
dians; and was appointed one of the
Captains in the expedition to Can-
ada.

Thomas Vose died in 1708. His de-
scendants settled on the ancestral
lands at Brush Hill, and on Canton
Avenue near Atherton Street. "The
old Vose house," so called, on Brush
Hill, stood on the south side of Brush
Hill Road nearly opposite the Elijah
Tucker house. Capt. Thomas Vose,
great grandson of Robert, lived in a
house that stood on Canton Avenue
near the corner of Atherton Street.

ROBERT VOSE AND HIS TIMES

In this house was born Daniel Vose,
who built the Suffolk Resolves house
near the landing at Milton Lower
Mills; it was afterwards removed to
its present location and enlarged.
The landing was included in the deed
cf conveyance of Ann Glover to
Robert Vose.

Robert's youngest daughter, Mar-
tha, married first, John Sharp of
?*Inddy River (later Brookline). He
was a lieutenant under Capt. Samuel
Wadsworth. of Milton and with him
lost his life in the Indian ambuscade
in Sudbury, whither they had gone to
succor the imperilled inhabitants.
She was left with children and later
married Jabez Buckminster, whom
she also outlived.

After disposing of his real estate
there remained to Robert Vose only
his personal property to^ be distrib-
uted. His will, written on the 10th of
September, 1683, is as follows:

"In the name of God Amen, the last
Will and Testament of Robert Vose
oi Milton in the County of Suffolke
in the Massachusetts Colony in New
England, Yeoman, having my ordi-
nary reason and understanding and
memory blessed bee the Lord for the
same: And whereas I have already
setled and disposed my Housing and
Lands and stock of cattle unto my
two Sons Edward Vose and Thomas
Vose as by deeds under my hand and
scale may appeare. And also have
made provision for the paying of my
debts and for my own maintenance
and funeral charges after my decease
by my son Edward Vose under his
hand and seale bearing date the twen-
tieth day of February, 1682, do now
make this my last Will and Testa-
ment. And first of all I renounce, re-
ject and make void all former wills
and Testaments by me made. Item, I
give unto my loveing daughter Mar-
tha Buckminster my Bed and Bed-
steed with all the Clothing and Furni-
ture belonging to it, after my decease,
with my trunke and small chest in my
bed chamber: Item, My will is that
all my Books bee equally divided
amongst my three children Edward
Vose, Thomas and Martha. Item, My
will is that all my househoild goods

shal bee my son Edward's after my
decease. Item, My will is that what
I do hereby give my daughter Martha
shal bee bestowed on her children if
shee do not spend them herselfe for
her own maintenance; Item, I do ap-
point my two sons Edward Vose and
Thomas Vose to bee my Execut'rs of
this my last Will and Testam't. In
Witness whereof I have hereunto Set
My hand and Seale this 10th day of
September, 1683.

ROBERT VOSE.

Signed and sealed in presence of
Rob't Badcock, Walter Morey."

On the 11th day of the following
month he died, aged 84 years. His
wife, Jane, died jn Milton, 1675.

"Robert Vose lived here through a
long life, respected and honored by
his fellow-citizens, and came to his
grave 'in a full age like as a shock
of corn Cometh in in his season." "'
It is to be regretted that no stone
marks his resting place In
the old Vose lot in Milton cemetery.

With commendable civic pride Mil-
ton has perpetuated the names of
several of her early settlers in her
public school buildings. The Vose
school house with its broad outlook
over the wide territory of Robert
Vose's homestead, furnishes a fitting
memorial to one of the founders of
the town and his numerous worthy
descendants. ■

Books Consulted:

Shaw, W. A., Editor, Plundered Min-
ister:s Accounts: Halley, Robt., Lan-
cashire, its Puritanism and Noncon-
formity: Publications of Historic Soc.
of Lancashire and Cheshire; Tucker,
J. A.. First Four Meeting Houses of
Milton, Mass.; Dorchester Town Rec-
ords; Milton Town Records: Teele, A.
K., History of Milton: Lechford. Plain
Dealing; Sewa<ll, S., Diary; Judd, His-
tory of Hadley; Ellis, G. E., Puritan
Age in Mass.; Earle, Alice Morse.
The Sabbath in Puritan New Eng-
land; Customs and Fashions in old
New England; Colonial Laws; Suffolk
County Deeds; Probate Records Suf-
folk County; Probate Records Norfolk
County.

THE VOSE SCHOOLHOUSE.

PO

18