Bruce Henderson just forwarded me this wonderfully obscure historic artifact.Ā It’s a copy of a 570 page book published in 1854 by Francis Jackson about the early settlement of what is now Newton (then part of Cambridge).Ā It covers the period 1639 – 1800.Ā
It’s part of the Internet Archive – thank you Internet Archive and thank you Bruce for sending it.
I’ll wade through it in the coming days but the first detail that jumped out at me was that in the first 40 years, from the time the first settler arrived, only 42 settlers moved in. (there’s no mention of whether at that point they were squabbling about whether or not the town was too crowded ;-) )
If you’re a local history buff, take a look and report back your favorite details in the comments below
Here’s a great learning-from-our-mistakes detail – don’t build your damn chimneys with wood
Legal perseverance and child murderers – starting in 1654, Newton began petitioning the general court that they be allowed to be a town independent from Cambridge. Mostly they seemed to resent paying their taxes to far away Cambridge.
Over the next 24 years, in 10 separate petitions to the court they kept asking for their own town. Each time they went to court they got more concessions but not independence. Here’s a great quote about Newton’s legal strategy.
24 years later, back in court yet again, Cambridge was totally exasperated. In making their case that the court should reject Newton’s petition, Cambridge pull out some bible quotes to insult the Newton residents. They accuse Newton’ers as being no better than child murderers who steal their parents property.
Settlers or invaders? History depends on whose eyes you’re looking through. In my opinion, histories greatest American hero was Metacomet, who came very close to sending all these white “settlers” back to Europe in the 1670’s.
Here’s a snippet that explains why a certain body of water near Newton Centre ought to be forever known by the name “Wiswall’s Pond,” in honor of Thomas Wiswall, an early settler/invader and “first ruling Elder of the Church.” It is, nevertheless, now known as Crystal Lake, having been renamed for marketing purposes by a company that harvested ice from it.
Don’t forget its late-nineteenth-century incarnation as Baptist Pond, when it served as a handy resource for the nearby Baptist church. No reason to suspect any prior use for testing witches.
Thomas Wiswall was my past grandfather 8 or so generations ago
Thanks for this info
In going through Newton’s early history its startling how many people you encounter with now-familiar Newton place names – Hyde, Jackson, Ward, Parker, Bulloughs, Hammond….
Some day, there will be a Jerry Reilly path in Upper Falls
Funny how that works :)
I’ve been reading a report from the Setti Warren administration entitled “Newton’s Heritage Landscapes” (April 2009, as revised in March 2010). In the recommendations section is the following:
“Conduct a community-wide archaeological reconnaissance survey to identify patterns of ancient Native American and historic occupation and to identify known and probable locations of archaeological resources associated with these patterns. Known and potential ancient Native American and historic archaeological sites should be documented in the field for evidence of their cultural association and/or integrity. All survey work should be completed by a professional archaeologist who meets the professional qualifications (950 CMR 70.01) outlined in the State Archaeologist Permit Regulations (950 CMR 70.00). The Inventory of Archaeological Assets of the Commonwealth contains sensitive information about archaeological sites. The inventory is confidential; it is not a public record (G.L. c. 9, ss. 26A (1)). Care should be taken to keep archaeological site information in a secure location with restricted access.”
I reached out to Virginia Birmingham and Barbara Kurze and asked if the survey was ever completed. While the City of Newton had applied for a number of architectural survey grants, to the best of their knowledge, no archaeological survey was undertaken.
In light of that, I’ve suggested to Mayor Fuller that ARPA dollars be spent on completing the archaeological survey, with of course, input from tribal preservation officers. Not only is it important to know where these areas are so that they can be avoided and/or the loss mitigated with ongoing development, but by learning more about these sites and the first, indigenous Newtonians, we will be a more vibrant and inclusive community.
Archaeological Survey of Newton Completed 2011
(a note from Newton’s former CPA staff person Alice Ingerson)
In 2011, using CPA funds, the Newton Historical Commission commissioned and received a full Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey of Newton, completed by the Archaeological Services unit of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
The CPC webpage with the digital version of the full public report from the archaeological survey is https://www.newtonma.gov/government/planning/community-preservation-program/proposals-projects/historic.
The archaeological survey project appears fairly far down on that page, but the links for it include all chapters of the public report, including one on Native Americans in Newton. The confidential portions of this report were delivered to the Planning Dept., for reviewing projects in areas with a high probability of “archaeological resources” (significant staff turnover and the dept.’s recent physical relocation within City Hall explain why the current staff were not immediately aware of this report, but they’re now looking for it.)
On re-reading the report, I see that the map of “archaeological probabilities” covering the entire City can actually be made public. As far as I know that has never happened, but I sincerely hope it can!
Thank you, Alice for replying to my post. I will read the entire report but for now just jumped to the conclusions and final recommendations. I’d be curious to know how many of them have been implemented. I’m especially interested in this having worked on the federal gov’ts obligations under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act before I retired from 33 years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. I’m going to keep pulling this thread to see where it goes!
Iām curious if you received a response to your suggestion yet. It was an excellent idea. Best, phillip freeman.
Hi Phillip. No official reply to the suggestion; only from Alice (thanks again!). Next step is to reach out to the Planning Dept and ask to see the public-facing version of the archaeological probabilities map that she referenced. Will report any updates here!
As a descendant of Jonathan Hyde, one of the founders of Newton, the details on the family are fascinating. I knew from childhood that I had Hyde ancestors, but they lived in upstate New York and I didn’t know they had come from Newton until many years after I moved here.
Have downloaded it and will read it over time. I do prefer reading from a book to reading from a screen- oh, well.
This thread is wonderful: I love history. I am wondering what is known about Black History in Newton, besides the Jackson Homestead Underground stop and the Myrtle Church area. Where slaves living anywhere? Any famous Blacks?
Isabelle, there’s a section in that book on slavery, starting on page 87 (as printed on the book’s pages). It includes this:
and then goes on to list 24 owners of 36 slaves in Newton over those 50 years, noting that “there were probably other slaveholders in Newton, whose names do not appear in any record.” Among the names of those listed are such Newton-historical ones as Jackson, Kenrick, Trowbridge, Fuller, Durant, Allen, Brown, and Mason.
There’s then a discussion, through page 98, of the history of slavery in Massachusetts and the range of views about it, with sections like these:
Thank you, Bruce! I will get the book.