History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

They next built a foot-bridge eighty feet long,
rising from either end to the centre. It gave easier
access, especially in the spring floods, to their gar-
dens and orchards ; for on the left bank of Charles
Eiver lay a meadow previously reached by a ford.
This bridge was so firmly set that it did good ser-
vice for years. The Indians gave their labor,
though Eliot offered payment, and the bridge was
dedicated with religious exercises.
The Speen family (Indians) owned the land which
by a quitclaim deed, yet treasured in the town
archives, signed by Eliot and witnessed by seventeen
Lidians, they generously gave to the common
weal, taking only a single right in land, but retain-
ing the weirs they had put in the stream.
But as the new plantation was within the limits
of Dedham, that town through the General Court
granted Natick two thousand acres.
Natick has been commonly thought to mean
" the place of hills," which it certainly is. Anoth-
er suggested signification links the word with the
sound of water dashing over rocks. A third ex-
planation gives " my land."
History is silent as to the exact time of removal
from Nonantum; but on coming to Natick they
laid out three parallel streets, two on the north,
and one on the south side of the water, and divided
the land into fifty lots more or less. That would
show a population of two hundred probably. A
few houses were built, but Gookin says they liked
wigwams better as being warmer and more port-
able. Then for the general good a fort was con-
structed, ditched, banked, and stockaded; round
and capacious.
In the summer of 1651 they were building a
framed edifice, fifty feet by twenty-five, with two
stories— the lower a schoolroom week-days, a sanc-
tuary on the Sabbath. The upper story became a
warehouse for furs — one of their chief men,
Waban, being a trader — and other valuables,
with a corner walled off for a small chamber. Here
Eliot lodged when at Natick. The natives sawed
the timber, and only had the help of an English
carpenter at the raising. An Indian despises man-
ual labor ; but these friends of the white teacher
proved their civilization and Christianity by their
industry and skill. And now, below the wooded
hills, we see the riverside plantation in the dense
forest.
The next step established the village into a body
politic. It was already under the general jurisdiction
of the colony, and so Eliot's converts became
NA TICK 185
loyal subjects of tlie English crown. But in local
affairs, for his convenience and theirs alike, Eliot
would teach them self-government. Read his account
—
:
" Therefore upon the sixt day of the sixt Month
of this present year, (their Pallizadoe Fort being
finished) they had a great meeting, and many came
together from diverse parts, though sundry were
hindered and came not at that time : where with
Prayer to God I read and expounded tlie eighteenth
of Exodus, and finally they did solemnly choose two
rulers among themselves, they first chose a Ruler
of an hundred, then they chose two rulers of fifties,
then they chose Ten or Tithing ilen." When ten
captains of ten men each were elected, every private
selected his captain. Totherswamp, we suppose,
was generalissimo; our oldest acquaintance, Wa-
ban, stood next in rank. So early were they in-
structed in the science of government, and each
man allowed the freeman's right to vote for his
rulers. Does Eliot's policy in making his settlers
landowners and voters suggest light on the Indian
problem of to-day ?
October 8, 1651, was a notable day at Natick.
Their revered teacher visited the place. Other
dignitaries also came. The minister and the mag-
istrate in those times received marked respect.
Church and state were well represented on this
occasion. Governor Endicott, Rev. Mr. Wilson
of Boston, witli others, wished to be eye-witnesses
of tlie good work, and bid the workers Godspeed.
The governor came as far as Dediiam, resting
there overnight, and next morning, escorted in
official dignity by a troop of twenty horsemen,
rode hither. We fancy tlie nine miles after leaving
Dedham town found clearings scarce, and the bri-
dle-path may have been on an Indian trail through
the woods. Rev. Mr. Wilson, with cousin Rawson,
the secretary of the colony, spent the night at
Watertown Mill, and rode over in the morning.
After the guests had looked around meeting-
time came. The drum-beat may have served for
a tolling-bell, the falling sands of an hourglass
as their clock to measure time. We suppose the
service that day was held in the open air inside
the fort. The meeting-house probably stood with-
in the palisade. The visitors were seated under a
canopy ; beneath a smaller awning were the village
magistracy, twelve men ; the Indian women were
in one part, the men in another. What a scene —
!
the governor in state ; the reverend clergy, eager
listeners ; the train-band with a trumpeter at least