Early Roxbury

GLIMPSES OF EARLY ROXBURY COMPILED BY THE "MARY WARREN,, CHAPTER DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS MDCCCCV PRINTED AT THE MERRYMOUNT PRESS BOSTON FOREWORD HIS little book is designed to call at T tention to some of the historic places in Roxbury. '.(he compilers acknowledge their ob ligations to Drake's ":fown of Roxbury," Shurtleff's"'1opographical and Historical De scription of Boston," Ellis' s "History of Rox bury '1own '' and other records, as well as to many Roxbury citizens who have kindly given information on various minor points. ROXBURY N the year 1630 one of the small bands I of English emigrants who came over with Winthrop settled "midway between Dorchester and Boston" at a place after wards called Ro€ksbury or Rocksborough (now Roxbury). The name was no doubt taken from the high ledges of rock which ran for some distance through the town. William Pynchon was a leader in this first settlement. He was "a gentleman of learning and religion," but his views were considered somewhat heretical by the people of Boston. He was also a magistrate. Mr. Pynchon left Roxbury for Springfield in 1636. In 1631-2. there came to Roxbury more settlers from London and from the little town of N azing twenty miles west of Lon don. Foremost among them was John Eliot, and with him William Curtis, William Heath and others, all of whom were to become the fathers of the town. Isaac Heath, who was later ruling elder, came over in 163 5. Roxbury in its early days was "a place of farms and gardens," and there was" good ground for corn and meadows for cattle." [ 5 ] GLIMPSES OF The inhabitants prided themselves on the raising of fine apples, pears and other small fruits. The Williams apple and the "Rox bury Russeting" originated here. There were several grist-mills in the town, also a fulling-mill, and the tanning and dressing of leather was a va1uable industry. The early settlers were men of substance and intelligence. The town possessed great natural advantages and was chosen as a place of residence by some of the promi nent people of Boston. Nine of the early governors resided here. The Revolution ary records of Roxbury and its historic as sociations are also of much interest. Old Roxbury extended eight miles from east to west, and two miles from north to south. It included West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain and a part of Brookline. Stony River took its rise in Muddy Pond and flowed across the town into Shallow Bay (Back Bay). Smelt Brook, which was much prized for its pure water, ran at the west of the ridge at Tommy's Rock, then across Wash ington Street and Guild Row, and "lost it self in the marshes" to the north of the towri. Farther to the west Muddy River ran from Jamaica Pond in a tortuous course [ 6 ] EARLY ROXBURY and emptied into Shallow Bay. The whole length of the river may now be seen as a part of the beautiful park system of Bos ton (River Way). The founding of a church was the first and strongest bond of union among the early settlers; so we find that in I 6 3 2. the church in Roxbury, having grown suffi ciently large to separate from that in Dor chester, started for itself, with Mr. Thomas Welde as senior pastor, and John Eliot as "teacher," or assistant pastor. Eliot came into full charge in I 641, having for his colleagues first, Samuel Danforth, and second, Nathaniel Walter. "The Roxbury ministry was noted for its great ability, eloquence, learning and piety." As the Church was the centre of reli gious and social life, so the meeting house was the centre around which the little town was built. For mutual protetl:ion all houses were by law to be within half a mile of the meeting house. We find therefore the places of early historic interest near "_Meet ing House Hill," sometimes Tory Hill, and now Eliot Square. Here on the present site of the "First Church in Roxbury" was built in 1632. the little meeting house r 1 J GLIMPSES OF where John Eliot, the Apostle to the In dians, preached for nearly sixty years. It had a thatched roof, was unplastered, and had neither gallery, pew nor spire. The present building is the fifth erected here. The one standing during the Revolution was a con stant target for the British cannon and was pierced through in many places. Dur ing the siege of Boston it was used as a signal station. The vacant land in front of the meeting house, then called Roxbury Common, was the grand parade ground for the troops quartered near by, and was the place where the people came together on important occasions. Here the forces gath ered on the alarm from Lexington in 177 5. A number of memorial tablets have been placed in the present church.* * List of Memorial 'Tablets in First Church in Roxbury. John Eliot, Preacher of Church in Roxbury, 1632-1690. Samuel Danforth, Minister of First Church, 16 50-1674. Nehemiah Walter, Minister of First Church, 1711-1776. Thomas Walter, Minister of First Church, 1718-1725. Oli ver Peabody, Minister of First Church, 1750-1752. Na thaniel Walter, Minister of Second Church, 171 1-1 7 7 6. Amos Adams,Minister of First Church, 1753-177 5. George Putnam, Minister of First Church, 1830-1878. Thomas Dudley, b. 1580; d. 16 5 3. Joseph Dudley, b. 1647; d. 1720. Paul Dudley, b. 1675; d. 1751. William Dudley, b. 1686; d. 1743. Charles K. Dillaway, b. 1804; d. 1889. John Joseph May (b. 1813; d. 1903) and his wife. [ 8 ] EARLY ROXBURY The country around was thinly settled and well wooded. In 1740 Paul Dudley writes: "A good fat bear was killed near our Meeting House Hill." On the northerly side of the Square, and still standing, is the parsonage built by the Reverend Oliver Peabody in I 7 50, and oc cupied by his successors for about eighty years. A bronze tablet placed here by the Sons of the Revolution, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, June, 1905, reads: "This tablet marks the site of the house built by "the Rev. Oliver Peabody for the parsonage of "the First Church. Occupied by the Rev. Amos "Adams, patriot minister of the Church, Chap ,, lain in the Continental Army,-Scribe of the " convention of ministers at Watertown, whose " appeal to the people was for war. The head " quarters of Major General Thomas who re " viewed the army in front of the house, and from "its dormer windows watched with his spyglass "the movements of the British at Charlestown. " For more than a century and a half the abode of " high ideals in learning, patriotism and right " eousness." The house was later known as the Dillaway House,having been occupied by Mr. Charles John Felt Osgood, b. 1825; d. 1894. David Miller Hodgdon, b. 1829; d. 18 94. George William Wheelwright and his wife. [ 9 ] GLIMPSES OF K. Dillaway, for many years a much loved teacher in Roxbury. On this side of the Square, in front of the parsonage, ran the old '!'own Street, which extended in one direction to Brookline and in the other to the Boston line. This is now Roxbury Street. St. Luke's Ffome, near by, occupies a house more than one hundred years old, and one of the earliest of the brick mansions of Roxbury. The Norfolk House, on the opposite side of the Square, stands on the site of the residence built by Joseph Ruggles. It was opened as a public house in 182.6 by the Norfolk House Company, which at this time established also a line of coaches running hourly to and from Boston. The 'faber House, not far from the Square ( corner of Bartlett and Blanchard streets), was built in 177 4 by Major John S. Spooner, who commanded the Roxbury Artillery Company. Afterwards it was owned by Captain William Lambert and then came into the possession of the Taber family who resided there. It is now" The Ladies' Unity Club Home for Aged People." The first meeting of the Roxbury Charitable Society was held in this house in 1794. In those early days the usual pleasure [ IO ] EARLY ROXBURY drive from Boston was "round the Square," that is, through Roxbury Street, round the Meeting House, through the lane now Bartlett Street, and back through Dudley and Eustis streets. South ofthe Norfolk House,andon a hill west of Highland Street, stood in Revolu tionary days Roxbury High Fort. It was a stronghold of importance, enclosing a space twelve rods square, having heavy bastions at each corner. A stand-pipe for the water works was erected here in 1869, and though now disused is a picturesque feature in the landscape. A tablet marks the spot where the old fort stood. On the westerly side of the Square, near the corner of Centre Street,stands the Part ing Stone, erected by Paul Dudley in 1744, marked on one side "To Cambridge and Watertown," on the other, "To Dedham and Rhode Island." Here the troops passed on their way to Lexington. Starting from the Parting Stone, going west from the Meeting House, we come to the site of the Grist-Mill, on Stony River, built in 1639 on the site now occupied by the station of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. The locality was [ I I ] GLIMPSES OF called Pierpont Village, from the name of the family who owned the mill for more than a century.

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