History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

3S2 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
less, lying in the wilderness on the nortii of Groaton
river at a jjlace called by the Indians Wistequas-
suck, on the AVest side of sayd hill.
" It begins at a great lieiiilock tree standing on
the West side of the sayd hill marked with II. and
rnnns north and by east tiiree hundred and twenty
pole to a maple tree marked m"" H ; from thence
it runns West and by north three hundred and
twenty pole to a stake and stones ; from thence it
ruinis south & by west three hundred and twenty
pole to a great pine in a little swamp marked w"*
H; from thence it runns east & by.south to tlie
first hemlock. All the lyues are rvnne & the
trees are well marked. It contaynes a mill squar
and is lajd exactly square, as may be easily demon-
strated by y° platform inserted vnderneath & is
on file. Jonathan Danforth, S/irvfJr/.
" The court allows & approves of this returne so
it interferes not w"" former grants."
William Ilathorn was a magistrate in Salem
when the Quakers commenced their eccentric and
indecent proceedings " against the peace and dig-
nity " of the colony ; and a captain of Salem mili-
tia during tlie Indian war, afterward promoted to
the rank of major. He was a deputy to the Gen-
eral Court two or three times, speaker in 1661,
and a man of ])rominence.
" Hathorn's farm," so called, is situated on the
southwestern slope of what was formerly known as
Wallace Hill, including the meadows at its base,
and was undoubtedly selected from tlie unbroken
wilderness on account of the spontaneous growth
of grass which it produced. Tlie Indian name in
this grant has been found spelled quite differently.
In both the town and the proprietors' records the
word is almost invariably Nissecjuassick. This
word, in English, signifies " the two-pine place"
(///.v.v/, two, roo.s, pines, and ir/c, a locative parti-
cle) .
This name has never been ajiplied to any otiier
locality. There is notliing which goes to siiow
that the Tiidians ev('r made Towiiscnd a permanent
pl.irr „f ah.uh', ahlioudi a t„m:,haN>k iin.l a few of
ihiir Nlduc instruments have i)(cn Inuud iniliedded
HI thr best sods along the river, where, pi^rhaps,
they (ici-asionally planted corn. The settlers of the
towu made several garrison-houses in dill'ereut
situations, but there is no reeord or tniditiou that
they were ever molested, or iMJiind in (he Knst
degree by the red men.
From'lfi76 to 1 7 ID, for ncarlv half a ccnturv,
its surrounding wilderness. Meanwhile the seasons
came and departed ; the gentle breath of spring
awakened the untrod forest verdure ; autumn
painted its crimson on the maple leaves ; winter
summoned its winds to chant the requiem of the
years as they made their " exits and entrances,"
but the axe of the Puritan was not heard on Nisse-
quassick Hill.
Ill 170;J the colony of Massachusetts Bay commenced
issuing paper money to pay debts which
accumulated from the expense of the Indian wars,
and other causes. The inflation of tiie currency,
together with a strong passion and greed for landed
estates, brought to the surface a class of speculators
who were anxious to have new towns granted and
surveyed.
In 1719 a certain number of men, the most
prominent of whom belonged to Concord, petitioned
the General Court for a grant of two towns at the
"Westerly side of Groton." This was soon after
Groton had been resurveyed by Samuel Danforth
{i-l(/e Ms. Eecords of General Court, 1713, p. 216),
who established the northwest corner of Groton on
the easterly side of " Wistequaset Hill," at tiie
southwest corner of the old township of Dunstable,
thereby giving to Groton the gore of land between
the nortli line of that town and the south line of
Old Dunstable, having the east lines of Lunenburg
and Towusend as they now are for its western
boundary. By this survey Groton obtained large
portions of laud which are now included within the
limits of the townships of Pepperell and Shirley.
On the 7tli of December, 1719, the General
Court made the following grant, which is of great
importance ; for it is not only the foundation of
the municipal rights of tiie town, but it is the base
upon which rest the titles to all tiie real estate in
Towusend except Hathorn's mile square. It is
here given entire, from an exact copy of the colonial
records —
:
"A/ii/o R,'!]>n Il,'iih Gr„r,,;i M.n/inw /J/vV-
taiinae Se.iio.. At a great and General Court or
Assembly for his Majesty's Province of the Massa-
chusetts Bay in New England, begun and held at
Boston, upon Wednesday, the twenty-seventh of
May, 1719, and continued by Prorogation to
Wednesday, the fourth of November, 1719, and
then met ;
being their second session.
•• .\Ioiul,-,y. D.'ccinbcr 7, 1719.
"In the house of lle])resentatives, the vote for
granting two new towns was brought down from
notliing is known (•(niecrning llallmrn's farm or the board with Amendments, which were read and