History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

530 HISTiiHY OF MIDDLESEX CuUXTY.
between the years 1703 and 17;J0, ami make it
probable the former date is nearer tlie true one.
In 1703-4 ten acres, so described as to make it
clear that the land on whicii the ruin now stands
was indicated, were deeded by Jonathan Fosket to
Jolm Mallet, a French Huguenot. From the fact
of there being no mention of buildings upon the
property, and from its being designated merely as
a part of the stinted pasture " near the quarries,"
the deduction is made that the tower was not in
existence at that time.
John Mallet died in lli'l, and by his will,
dated August 30, 1720, wherein he bequeaths
half of his grist-mill to each of his sons, Andrew
and Lewis, it is shown to have been then in active
operation. Andrew bought his brother's part in
1733, and continued in possession of the property
till his death in 1744..
Three years later the structure, w\i\\ a quarter
of an acre of land around it, and the right of way
to and from the county road, was sold by Isaac,
son of Andrew, to the province of Massachusetts,
for " £250 in bills of public credit on the prov-
ince of the old tenor." It had then ceased to be
used for its original purpose, as it is spoken of
in the deed as the stone edifice formerly a wind-
mill. It was then remodelled into a magazine for
holding the powder of the province and of the
towns.
It was used for this purpose by the American
forces during the siege of Boston, and by the State
of Massachusetts till 1822, a few years after the
magazine at Cambridgeport was completed.
The Powder-House is coiincctrd uiili ..}ic (if the
opening scenes of tlir licwilniKin, wlm-li led to the
first armed gathering (jf tlu^ ycDinmiiy (if Middlesex.
In the summer of 1774 the colonists, appre-
hensive of the coming conflict, gradually withdrew
the powder belonging to the towns. Governor
Gage, being informed of this action, resolved to
save the remainder. Accordingly, at sunrise, Sep-
tember 1, Lieutenant-Colonel ^laddison, with two
hundred and sixty men, embarked in thirteen boats
from Long Wharf, and was rowed to Ten Hills
Farm, where he landed. ( )iie delnelnneiit marched
to Cambridge, wliere it sei/ed two e;iii ; muilher
proceeded to tiie P(}wd( r-House, mu\ removed to
their boats the two liinidred and lil'ly half-barrels
of powder tliere remaining, whcnee it was carried
to Castle "William in Boston Harbor.
The old Powder-House passed into the liands of
the heirs of the late :\[r. Nathan Tufts, (,f ( 'harles-
town, in 1S36, and has since remained in posses-
sion of the family.
T/ie McLraii Jsi/lniii. — T\K McLean Asylum
for the Insane is located in Somerville, on an emi-
nence known during the Revolution and earlier as
Cobble Hill, mentioned in this sketch. It is a
branch of the Massachusetts General Hospital, and,
like its sister charity, was erected by the united
liberality of the commonwealth and of private in-
dividuals. The newly formed corporation pur-
chased the residence and grounds of Joseph Barrell
for the establishment of their asylum. The lot
procured was five hundred feet wide by sixteen
hundred feet deep, and extended to the water. The
mansion-house was occupied by the oificers of the
institution, and two buildings were erected on
eitlier side of it, each adapted for thirty patients.
Dr. Eufus "Wyman was chosen the first physi-
cian and superintendent, March 23, 1818, and in
the following autumn, after visiting Pliiladelphia
and New York to examine the only lunatic hosjji-
tals then existing iu the couiitr}', entered upon his
duties. Difficulties incident to the opeinng of a
new charity beset him on every side. The build-
ings had been constructed with an imperfect knowl-
edge of the requirements of such an institution, and
many alterations were necessary to adapt them to
the style of treatment proposed by Dr. Wyman, —
a treatment requiring more minute classification,
allowing greater freedom to the patients, and demanding
more moral agencies than had been here-
tofore customary in similar institutions.
Tlie first patient was admitted October 6, 1S18.
His father l)elieved lie «as possessed of a devil,
and said that uliijipiiig had been one of the reme-
dial agents enipldved upon him. Thirteen patients
entered before the close of the year.
In 1819 Samuel Eliot donated $10,000 to the
Asylum. Faeli year brought an increasing mimber
of patients, es|ieei;illy of males, and it became neces-
sary to enlarge the aeeoinmodations in this depart-
ment. Coiise(|iieiitly ill 1826 an extensive wing
surmounted In a dome was joined to the male
wards. During this year the institution took the
name of McLean Asylum, in honor of John McLean,
who a few years previous had made to the institu-
tion a donation of $25,000, and the residue of his
])roj)erty after the payment of certain bequests,
a sum estimated at the time at §90,000. In 1830
Joseph Lee, recognizing the usefulness of this
branch of tlu- hospital, and grateful for the 02ipor-
tunities it had .dVeivd for the eare