History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

large. It stood about five hundred feet north of
Ship Street, and about five hundred feet west of
Park Street, opposite Mr. Magoun^s ship-yard,
and was taken down many years ago by that gentleman.
" The third house was built by Major Jonathan
Wade, who died in 1689. It was sometimes called,
like the otlier two, a fort, and is yet standing in
good repair, and used as a comfortable residence.
It is seen from the main street as we look up the
Governor's Lane. Its walls are very thick, and it
is ornamented with what have been called port-
holes. When first built it was only half its pres-
ent size; the addition was made by Benjamin Hall,
Esq., about seventy-five years ago."
The lloyall House, so called from having once
been occupied by Colonel Eoyall, is of course of
less antiquity, but it is of interest as a specimen
of the style in which the rich men lived in the
colonial period. The present aspect of the place
is thus described by Mr. Drake —
:
"The Brick quarters which the slaves occupied
are situated on the south side of the mansion and
front upon the courtyard, one side of which they
enclose. These have remained unchanged,, and are,
we believe, the last visible relics of slavery in New
England. The deep fireplace where the blacks
prepared their food is still there, and the roll of
slaves has certainly been called in sight of Bunker
Hill, though never on its summit.
" At either end of the building the brick wall,
furnished with a pair of stout chimneys, rises above
the pitched roof. The cornice and corners are
relieved by ornamental wood-work, while the west
face is panelled, and further decorated with fluted
pilasters. On this side, too, the original windows
are seen.
" The Eoyall House stood in the midst of grounds
laid out in elegant taste, and embellished with fruit-
trees and shrubbery. These grounds were separated
from the higjiway by a low brick wall now
demolished. The gateway opening upon the grand
avenue was flanked by wooden posts. Farther to
the right was the carriage-drive, on either side of
which stood massive stone gate-posts, as antique
in appearance as anything about the old mansion.
Seventy paces back from the road, along the broad
gravelled walk, bordered with box, brings you to
the door.
" Behind the house, as we view it, was an en-
closed garden of half an acre or more, with walks,
fruit, and a summer-house at the farther extremity.
MEDFORl). 165
No doubt this was the favorite resort of the family
and their guests.
" This summer-house, a veritable curiosity in its
way, is placed upon an artificial mound, with two
terraces, and is reached by broad flights of red
sandstone steps. It is octagonal in form, ^itli a
bell-shaped roof, surmounted by a cupola, on which
is placed a figure of Mercury.
" Without lingering in the hall of entrance far-
ther than to mark the elaborately carved balusters
and the panelled wainscot, we passed into the suit
of apartments at the right hand, the receptionrooms
proper of the house. These were divided
in two by an arch, in which folding-doors were
concealed ; and from floor to ceiling the walls were
panelled in wood, the panels being of single pieces,
some of them a yard in breadth. In the rear
apartment, and opening to the north, were two
alcoves, each flanked by fluted pilasters on which
rested an arch enriclied with mouldings and carved
ornaments. Each recess had a window furnished
with seats, so inviting for a tete-a-tete, where the
ladies of the household sat with their needlework
these windows were sealed up in winter. The
heavy cornice formed an elaborate finish to this
truly elegant saloon.
" The second floor was furnished with four chambers,
all opening on a spacious and airy hall. Of
these the northwest room only demands special de-
scription. It had alcoves similar to those already
mentioned in the apartment underneath, but in-
stead of panels the walls were finished above the
wainscot with a covering of leather on which were
embossed, in gorgeous colors, flowers, birds, pago-
das, and the concomitants of a Chinese paradise.
On this side the original windows, with the small
glass and heavy frames, still remain."
DistingiiisJied Citizens. — The most noted citi-
zen of Medford in the early part of the eighteenth
century was undoubtedly John Usher. He in-
herited considerable money from his father, and
increased it by successful business, first as a book-
seller and afterwards in foreign trade. He was
a counsellor imder Dudley, and counsellor and
treasurer vmder Andros. He was a son-in-law of
that Samuel Allen, a Loiulon merchant, who bought
out the claims of the Mason heirs to the proprietorship
of New Hampshire. Usher was made
lieutenant-governor there in 1692, and was thence-
forward engaged in endless controversies with the
settlers.
Much of his correspondence witli the Home
;