History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

than one third was given by Elder Wisxvall or his
sons. In 1703 Mr. Hyde also gave to the selectmen
of Newton in trust iialf an acre of land near
Oak Hill, for the benefit of the school in the south
part of the town. This half-acre of land was sold
after many years, and a small fund accumulated
from the proceeds, which was divided among the
inhabitants of the south school-district by vote of
the town, pro rata, according to the taxes which
each one paid. This Jonathan Hyde had twenty-
three children, to whom he distributed his property
by deeds of gift a few years previous to his de-
cease. Various records show by incidental testimony
that the Common was regarded and used for
many years as tlie property of the town ; besides
which, the existence of bound-marks and fencing
KEWTON. 235
and undisputed possession for a hundred and sev- quarter of the saw-mill, stream, dam, and eel-weir,
enty years
' seem to indicate a sufficiently secure and half an' acre of land for £12, with an open
title.
A similar tract of land, to be used also for
highway from the county road to the mill and eelweir.
Soon afterwards AVilliam Clark conveyed to
a training-field, was given in 1753, by Captain Jo- Nathaniel Longley one quarter of the same, and
seph Fuller, to the military company of Captain
Ephraim AVilliams and their successors forever. I
This Common was located at Newtonville, near!
Washington Street; but in 1787 the land re-
verted to the heirs of the original proprietor, they
paying the town for it the sum of two pounds.
This insignificant price shows how little value was
at that time put upon real estate.
The first grist-mill in the town of Newton was I
erected by Lieutenant John Spring, on a stream
called Smelt Brook, at the outlet of Bullough^s i
Pond. Mr. Spring resided opposite the cemetery
on Centre Street, and opened Mill Lane, now Mill
Street, to accommodate the patrons of his mill.
Previous to the erection of dams on Charles Eiver,
alewives, smelts, herring, and other fish used to
jMss up the river as far as Newton Upper Falls ; i
and fish-reeves, ainiually elected, were charged with
the duty of protecting the fishing interest on the
river. Smelt Brook, on which Lieutenant Spring
erected his grist-mill, undoubtedly received its
name from the graceful shiners which found their
way into its waters.
Charles River, called by the Indians Quinobe-
quin, encircled a large part of Newton, its channel
forming the boundary line on the north, west, and
south sides of the town, being a continuous curving
line more than fifteen miles in length. The
falls on the river invited the spirit of enterprise
at a very early period. The first mills were erected
at the Upper Falls. At this part of its course the
j
waters of the river fall perpendicularly twenty feet,
and then descend thirty-five feet in the course of
half a mile. Here a saw-mill was built in 1688
by John Clark, whose father, Hugh Clark of Rox-
bury, conveyed to him by deed of gift sixty-seven
acres of land in New Cambridge in April, 1681,
This land was on the easterly side of Centre Street,
at the training-field, and his house was on the spot
now occupied by the old house formerly Deacon
Ebenezer AVhite's, on the west side, a few rods
north of the First Baptist Church at Newton Cen-
tre. In 1675 John Clark died, bequeathing to his
sons William and John the saw-mill on the river,
and the land adjoining. The mill and eight acres
of land were appraised at £180. In May, 1708,
John Clark conveyed to Nathaniel Parker one
these four proprietors and et[ual owners built in
addition a grist-mill and fulling-mill. In 1720
Noah Parker became the sole owner of the mills
and appurtenances. At his death in 1768 this
whole property passed into the hands of his son,
Thomas Parker, his administrator, who sold the
same to Simon Elliot of Boston, with about thirty-
five acres of land, house, barn, etc., for £1,700 in
1778 and 1782. Mr. Elliot, who was a tobacco-
nist, erected snuff-mills, and that business, with
the grist-mill, was carried on by him and his son.
General Simon Elliot, till 1814, with additions of
other works. In that year the screw-factory, wire-
mill, four snuff-mills, annealing shop, and dwell-
ing-house were sold to the Elliot Manufacturing
Company, Frederick Cabot, agent. This company
removed the grist-mill, and erected on its site a
cotton-factory, which was under the superintend-
ence of Mr. Otis Pettee, Sr., for five years, ilr.
Pettee then erected extensive shops for building
machinery for cotton-mills. Many manufactories
in the south and west and in Mexico have been
supplied with their entire machinery from these
works.
In 184-1 Mr. Pettee purchased all the property
of the Elliot Manufacturing company, and carried
on the business till his death in February, 1853.
Mr. Pettee was one of the prime movers and most
energetic and liberal patrons of the Charles River
Railroad, now the New York and New England,
Woonsocket Branch.