History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

TOXEIIAM cannot, like many
otht-r towns and cities, produce
STONEHAM. 339
STONEHAM.
any records or copies of records
to show tliat the Tiame was
given in honor and memory
of some place in the mother
country. Although such a
^tatlment has been made in
b_\gone da_\s, the source whence
it came cannot be relied upon
a^ authentic. The best infor-
mation obtained fixes the time
of settlement about 1645, and though no names
can be given, it may be that a few families became
residents at an earlier period. Colonial
records show that, on February 7, 1632, Gov-
ernor Winthrop and a party visited the southerly
])art of the town. Of this visit the following account
is given : " The governor, Mr. Nowell, Mr.
Elliott, and others went over Mystic Eiver at
Medford, and going north and by east among the
rocks about two or three miles, they came to
a very great pond, having in the midst an island
of about one acre, and very thick with trees of
pine and birch, and the pond had divers small
rocks standing up here and there in it, which
they therefore called Sjrot Pond. They went all
about it on the ice. From thence towards the
northwest about one half mile they came to the
top of a very high rock, beneath which, towards
the north, a goodly plain, partly open lands and
])artly woods, from whence there is a fair pros-
pect, but it being then close .and rainy, they could
see but a small distance. The place they called
Cheese Eock, because ^\hen they went to eat some-
what, they had only cheese, because of the gov-
ernor's man forgetting, for haste, to put up some
bread."
In the year 1640 four brothers by the name of
Holden came to this country, being natives of the
county of Suflolk, England ; the fifth and youngest
brother remaining in his native land. The names
LAS DEAN.
tinian. Oliver took up a permanent residence in
the vicinity of what is now Cliarlestown Square.
Justinian, not being able to procure land to his
liking, finally removed to the present town of
Westminster, in the northerly part of Worcester
County. He is said to have taken possession of
the township and remained there to the close of his
life. The fourth brother, whose name is not given,
removed to the state of Connecticut, and nothing
further is known in regard to him. Eichard, it
appears, decided to locate in the northerly part of
Cliarlestown, it being presumed that he remained
with his brother Oliver until he had selected the
ground for his new home. The land which he
purchased, and where he built his house and lived
for years, is but a short distance southwesterly
from the house of Nathan Bucknam, deceased, in
later years the property of J. Alvin Wilson. His
house was near the brow of what is now known
as Bear Hill, upon the summit of Avhicli stands
the notable Cheese Eock. It appears that from
Eichard Holden descended all of his name in this
immediate vicinity. His first child, Samuel, was
born in 1649. Asa Holden, a former resident of
this town, who died at Concord, New Hampshire,
was a descendant of Eichard in the fifth generation.
There is an ancient stone in the burial-ground with
this inscription —
:
"Here lies y^ body of Mrs. Anna Holden, wife of Samuel
Holden, wlio departed tliis life June IS", 1731, aged
72 years."
She was evidently the wife of Eichard's first son,
and, according to the date of her death, was born
in the year 1659. As previously stated, when the
four brothers Holden came to this country — the
reason for their removal being that they might
live in the enjoyment of religious ordinances —
the youngest brother remained in England. The
family was reported as having been heir to the
estate of a rich lord, who was a baclielor. After
his decease the remaining brother took all the in-
heritance, and in 1646 came to this country with
of three of them were Eichard, Oliver, and Jus- his family. He purchased a large tract of land in