{"1": {"fulltext": "F 74\\n.G9 B7\\nCopy 1\\ne\\nOLD\\nHIGHWAYS AND LA5FM\\nGroton Mas aCHUSetts,\\nFRANi MARION BOUTWELL\\n(J EOT ON:\\nM S 4", "height": "3505", "width": "2094", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3331", "width": "2100", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "OLD\\nHIGHWAYS AND LANDMARKS\\nGroton, Massachusetts\\nFRANCIS MARION BDUTWELL,\\nGROTON:\\n1884.", "height": "3505", "width": "2094", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "f^\\nA-\\nG^", "height": "3406", "width": "2170", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "To THE Memory of\\nTo -whose clear recollection of persons long since passed away, and of\\nevents -ivJiich occurred even before the birth of most pei--\\nsons nozv livinff, I am indebted for much\\nvaluable information relating to the\\nearly history of the town,\\nTHESE CHAPTERS ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.\\nNote. Miss Farn.sworth was born October 19, 1792, and died February 2, iS", "height": "3505", "width": "2094", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3331", "width": "2100", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "CHAPTEK I\\nOLD HIGHWAYS.\\nFrom an examination of the records I find that there are\\nmany miles of road now in use in Groton, that were laid out\\ntwo hundred years ago or more.\\nHollis street from the first meeting-house, or near the\\npresent site of my father s barns, south and to its intersection\\nwith Main street, the latter south of the corner of Hollis, and\\nthe Boston road certainly as far as the present site of Ridge\\nHill Tavern, seem to have constituted the main, and no doubt\\nthe original highway of the town. This piece of road appears\\nto have been in existence before the twenty-third of June,\\n1662, the date of the first record of which we have knowl-\\nedge, for I find no account of its being laid out. I am also\\nfirmly of the opinion that fully twelve families, or nearly one-\\nquarter of the inhabitants, were living upon this section of\\nroad within the first twenty-five years after the settlement of\\nthe town. This latter fact, which an examination of my\\npamphlet upon the Old Homesteads of Groton will show,\\nseems to be very good proof that this road has existed in the\\nmain as it now exists, from the very beginning. The present\\nBoston road was originally known as the Bay highway,\\nbecause it led to Massachusetts Bay.\\nOur first settlers laid out many of the highways six rods in\\nwidth, and hardly any were less than four rods. Hollis street\\nin many places, especially near the Cliampney place, and\\nMain street and the Boston road, still bear the marks of this\\nelaborate l)eginning.", "height": "3408", "width": "2056", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "The road now known as Chicopee Row has been in use\\nfully two centuries also the highway running from the\\ncemetery as far as the Nashua River, at the present village of\\nEast Pepperell (Bahbitassett). All this latter territory has\\nbeen included within the limits of Groton, since the memory\\nof the present generation. This road appears to have been\\nbuilt in three sections, and at three diffei-ent times. It was\\nfirst laid out from the present Hollis street to the house of\\nWilliam Longley, the father of William Longley in memory of\\nwhose family the monument upon the farm of Zachariah Fitch\\nwas erected. But father and son both occupied the same\\nfarm. The road was next extended as far as the four corners\\nat the foot of the hill north of the house of Zachariah Fitch,\\nand these four corners were then formed, for the road from\\nthe four corners at Nod to Reedy Meadow seems to have\\nbeen built before the time that the road was extended beyond\\nWilliam Longley s house, and the section between the four\\ncorners first mentioned and the river at East Pepperell was\\nbuilt subse(piently, but at an early period.\\nThe present Martin s Pond road from the corner of Hollis\\nstreet to the north side of Baddacook Pond, is probably one\\nof the very oldest highways in town. It led from the old\\nmeeting-house to the region called in the records Baddacook\\nWoods. When this road was first l)uilt the end near the\\nraeeting-liouse was fenced, and bars had to be taken down\\nwhenever a team passed.\\nThe road leading from Hollis street, near the house of\\nCharles A, Murphy, was laid out first as far as the house then\\noccupied by Richard Blood, which was, no doubt, near the\\nsite of the house known as the Captain William Shattuck\\nplace, now unoccupied. This road cut through the farm of", "height": "3331", "width": "2121", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "Joseph Gilson, who lived near the site of the present house\\nof Charles A. Murphy. Mr. Murphy s recent purchase of the\\nChampney place probably reunites, in a measure at least, the\\noriginal estate of Joseph Gilson. The lower portion of this\\nroad, from the house of Richard Blood to the four corners\\nat Nod, and also the road from Nod to Reedy Meadow,\\nwere not laid out until a few years later at least than the road\\nbetween Mr. Murphy s and the Captain Shattuck place.\\nThere seem to have been patlis only at first from the house\\nof Richard Blood to that of John Lakin, aad thence to\\nJames Blood s, which latter two men lived near the four\\ncorners and upon the road from JNod to Reedy Meadow respect-\\nively. I am satisfied that my statement in regard to these\\ntwo latter roads is substantially correct, and thus the theory\\nis dispelled that the first meeting-house was originally at\\nNod for it seems probable that, as our early settlers had\\nroads elsewhere, they would certainly have had one leading\\nto their meeting-house.\\nWhat was known in my boyhood as the Bi-eak-neck road,\\nleading from the East Pepperell road, near the house of\\nAmos P. Carlton, to the Captain William Shattuck place\\nbefore mentioned, is an old highway.\\nAmong the very early roads was one which seems to have\\nbeen a semi-private way. This left Hollis street, near the\\npresent site of my father s farm-houses, and passed along the\\neastern l)ase of the hill upon which his barns are situated.\\nThis road seems to have been built originally for the accom-\\nmodation of Timothy Cooper, who appears to have owned a\\npiece of land bordering on the west side of Martin s Pond\\nroad, and running back toward Half-moon Meadow. At a\\nlater period Timothy Allen, the first sexton of the town, seems", "height": "3408", "width": "2056", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "8\\nto have had his house upon this lot. What I believe to be a\\nportion of this old cross-road is still in existence and used by\\nmy father as a farm road. It was fenced at its junction with\\nthe present Hollis street, as in the case of Martin s Pond road.\\nThe roads at present known as School, Elm, and Pleasant\\nstreets from the corner of Elm to Farmers Row, the last\\nnamed road in its entire length, and the road passing through\\nthe Community, as far as the house on the Pollard place, all\\nseem to have formed a part of the Lancaster highway, and\\nare probably more than two hundred years old. Instead of\\nraaii;ing the two turns, one at the Pollard place and the other\\nat the Major Amos Farnsworth place, (now owned by Solo-\\nmon Achorn,) as it does now, the road ran directly down to\\nthe Nashua River from near the site of the Pollard house.\\nIt then ran up the right bank of the stream, crossed l)y a\\nford about a mile above the present site of Page s Bridge,\\nand so on to Lancaster.\\nThe late Elizabeth Farnsworth is my authority upon the\\nlocation of the Lancaster highway. Her grandfather Farns-\\nworth, as well as her father, lived upon the farm now owned\\nby Solomon Achorn. The old house occupied by her grand-\\nparents, however, stood just below the present site of Mr.\\nAchorn s barn. Miss Farnsworth s grandmother she well\\nremembered, and the former lad} recollected well the old\\nhighway. From the foregoing statement as to tlie situation\\nof the old Farnsworth liouse, it is obvious that it stood back\\nfrom the old road just aljout the distance from the present\\nbarn of Mr. Achorn to the Pollard house. Miss Farnsworth s\\ngrandmother gave hei* an interesting account of the difficulty\\nexperienced l)y her husband, in sev^eral successive town-meet-\\nings, of convincing the citizens that it was their duty to", "height": "3331", "width": "2100", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "change the course of the Lancaster highway so that it should\\npass his door. The peculiar elbow in the road at present, is\\nproof of the success of his efforts. A most casual observa-\\ntion shows that the town finally built about one-half mile of\\nnew and indirect road in place of a direct one, for the single\\npurpose of passing one man s house. Those of us who are\\nfamiliar with the exciting town-meeting debates of the present\\nday, can easilj^ imagine the warm discussions upon this propo-\\nsition, the success of which speaks well for Mr. Farnsworth s\\nwill and determination.\\nA perusal of the foregoing pages shows the great impor-\\ntance which the early settlers in our New England towns\\nplaced upon their house of worship. It was to them the\\ncentre of all things.\\nThe first meeting-house probably stood upon the high land\\nnow belonging to my father, l)etween his barns and Hollis\\nstreet, and it is evident that most of the roads thus far\\ndescribed, radiated, as it were, from this central point. h\\\\\\nfact most of the votes for laying out these roads, as they\\nare found recorded, begin thus Beginning at the meeting-\\nhouse, tfec.\\nUntil comparatively recent years the meeting-house in a\\nsmall New England town was the only public building, except\\nthe district school-house, which was not large, and thus unfit\\nfor any but small gatherings. And the meeting-house was\\nthe place for holding town, and other meetings. Our present\\ntown-house was the first building ever erected or owned by\\nthe town for the ordinary purposes of a town hall, and this\\nbuilding dates back only to November, 1859. Before that\\ntime a large room under the old (Unitarian) meeting-house\\nwas used for town-meetings, and known as the town hall.", "height": "3408", "width": "2056", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "10\\nLiberty Hall, which was situated upon the site at present\\noccupied by the store of Thomas K. Stevens, though private\\nproperty, could be hired for public purposes.\\nThe New England Puritans adhered to the policy of sup-\\nporting the church with the public funds, and the meeting-\\nhouses were originally built and the churches supported wuth\\nthe town money. This being the case the meeting-houses\\nwere public property, and could be used for such purposes as\\nthe town might clioose.\\nThere was, no doubt, always a road from the main street\\nas far as rhe house now owned by Joseph F. Hall, for in the\\nvery early days of the town that farm was occupied by\\nNatlianiel Lawrence, an ancestor of Amos and Abbott Law-\\nrence, vvlio subsequently bought the farm now owned by\\nWilliam Peabody, upon wliich latter place Abbott Lawrence s\\nfather and grandfather were both born. The road to\\nNathaniel Lawrence s first house may have been the same\\nwhich now passes the south side of the Unitarian meeting-\\nhouse, but this is not certain it may have left the main\\nstreet farther north, near where the hotel stands.\\nIn earl}^ times tliere was a road, long since discontiimed,\\nwhicli left the present Lowell road near the house of\\nNathaniel Lawrence, (the Joseph F. Hall place,) and followed\\nalong the western base of Gibbet Hill until it connected\\nwith the Martin s Pond road near where tlie latter crosses\\nJames s Brook. There seems to have been but one house\\nupon this highway, and that was the home of Nathaniel\\nBh od.\\nThe road now known as Love Lane, and its extension east\\nas far as Brown Loaf, is a very old highway. Though the\\nLowell road east of Joseph F. llalFs house is very old.", "height": "3331", "width": "2100", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "11\\nat least for several miles, it does not appear to liav^e been\\nbuilt for some time after the settlement of the town.\\nThe Broad Meadow road, which leaves Main street be-\\ntween the houses of Charles Gerrish and of the late Ben-\\njamin P. Dix, is very old until it reaches the meadow, and\\nso is also the west end of the same highway from Farmers\\nRow to the meadow, but the early settlers did not incur the\\nexpense of building roads upon soft meadow land, if it could\\nbe avoided and in this case it was not necessary, for the\\nrecords make it evident that the east end at least, of this\\nroad, was built originally to enable the farmers to get hay\\nfrom Broad Meadow. It may have been for the same reason\\nthat the west end was laid out, but in the latter case the\\nobject, in part at least, might have been to provide Joseph\\nParker with means of going to Farmers Row, then the\\nLancaster highway, which was Iiis only way of getting from\\nhis home. His house seems to have stood upon the James\\nFarnsworth place, now owned by Prescott Lawernce.\\nThe i oad called in the records the Mill highway is no\\nother than the section of the present road from Groton\\nto Ayer, between the corner near the residence of the late\\nJohn G. Park and the corner of the Ayer and Harvard\\nroads, a short distance S(mth of the present house of Sumner\\nGraves, in Ayer. The old road beyond this latter point\\nis the present Harvard road. This highway was built to\\nenable the inhabitants of Groton to go to their grist-mill,\\nwliich was upon the stream near the present Harvard town\\nfarm. This was indeed a long distance to go to mill\\nthrough an Indian country, but as all the machinery, in-\\ncluding the mill-stones, had to be imported, a mill was a\\nvery expensive thing to build and maintain, in proportion", "height": "3408", "width": "2056", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "12\\nto the resources available for the purpose. Because of\\nthese facts, it was probably thought uecessary that the\\nbuilding should be so situated as to accorarnodate as many\\npersons as possil)le, and it is likely that by having it where\\nthe} did, some of the inhabitants of Lancaster could avail\\nthemselves of its beneiits. The town of Harvard was not\\nthen in existence, and the mill was within the limits of\\nGroton.\\nThe Mill highway, as originally laid out, was six rods witle,\\nexcept the section along by the hill upon wliich the houses of\\nAViliiam Peabody and Charles Jacobs stand, as far as the\\ncrossing of James s Brook, near the house of Henry M. Gaut.\\nThis part of the road was but four rods wide, because of the\\nfact that the hill came so near to the valley of James s Brook\\nas to render a wider way impracticable. Evidences of the\\ngreat width of this road are still plainly visible, noticeably\\nnear the house of the late Stuart J. Park, and also upon the\\nhigh land near the present residence of Sumner Graves. It\\nis ol)vious that the road for some distance south of the hill\\nbelow Mr. Graves s place must of necessity have been quite\\nnarrow, but the records show the fact that the road was but\\nfour rods in width upon tlie section first mentioned.\\nThe road leading from the old road to Ayer at a point\\nnear School-house No. 2, to the road formerly the Mill\\nhighway, and intersecting with the latter just at the foot\\nof the hill south of the house of Sumner Graves, is very old,\\nand was built to furnish a direct way to the mill for the men\\nliving upon the present Farmers Row, and in that vicinity.\\nThe Snake Hill road, so called, which leaves the road to\\nAyer at a point a short distance south of the house of Henry\\nM. Gaut, was l uilt very early, and partly at least for the pur-", "height": "3331", "width": "2100", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "13\\npose of enaliliiig farmers to get hay from the south and east\\nportions of Koek Meadow, which is described in the next\\nchapter. Miss FaviiSM^orth once told me, however, that Mat-\\nthias Farnsworth, the father of Matthias who lived upon the\\nfarm now occupied by Henry M. Gaut, lived near Sandy\\nPond, so it is possible that this road might have been built\\nfor his accommodation, at least in part. It is now mostly in\\nAyer, and but little used.\\nThe highway which we know as the old road to Ayer,\\nleading from the south end of Farmers Row, past the house\\nof Nathan F. Culver, is a very old highway. It is probable\\nthat this was the way for going to Nonacoicus, which was\\nnear the present village of Ayer, and the road may have\\nbeen in use before Groton was burned by the Indians.\\nMajor Simon Willard, the father of Rev. Samuel Willard,\\nand the commanding othcer of the troops in this region dur-\\ning the early part of King Philip s war, lived at Nonacoicus.\\nMajor Willard s house was burned at the time the town was\\ndestroyed, in March, 1676, when he removed to Charlestown,\\nand died in a short time. It is hardly necessary to say that\\nNonacoicus was a part of Groton.\\nThe road which intersects with the old road to Ayer at a\\npoint just south of where the above-named road crosses James s\\nBrook, and which extends across to the road from Groton to\\nShirley, is an old highway. Also, the road leading from Far-\\nmers Row along the south end of James Lawrence s farm,\\ncertainly as far as the river, is very old, and probably was in\\nuse on the west side of the river at an early day, for there\\nwas a ford just below the present Red Bridge, and a begin-\\nning was made to lay out the lands west of the river as early\\nas the year 1681.", "height": "3408", "width": "2056", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "14\\nThe Russell road, so called in old times, was discontinued\\nmany years ago. It left the road from Groton to Ayer at a\\npoint very near where the house on the Sumner Boynton\\nplace (now belonging to AV^illiam H. Drake) stands, and\\nwent across to the old road to Ayer, intersecting with the\\nlatter at a short distance above School-house No. 2. There\\nare marks of the road still to be seen at its west end, and\\nat the eastern end back of Mr. Drake s house, where the\\nroad is now quite a good one, and is used for his farm\\nteaming. This road is also plainly visible from the railroad.\\nThe highway which intersects with the Boston I oad just\\nsouth of Andrew Robljins s farm-house, and leads to Brown\\nLoaf, is very old as is the road leading from Ridge Hill\\nTavern certainly as far as the Pierce place, as well as the\\none which connects with the latter at a sliort distance east of\\nthe Pierce place, and joins the Boston road at a point nearly\\nopposite to the house formerly known as the Blodgett place.\\nThe road leading from the tavern above mentioned, through\\nthe present Forge Village, and so on to Chelmsford, is one of\\nthe oldest in town. It was originally known as the Chelms-\\nford highway.\\nTlie highway which leaves the road from Groton to Ayer,\\nnear the Eber Woods place, now ow^ned l y John McGilson,\\nand leads to Farmers Row, is very old as far as Broad\\nMeadow End, described in the next chapter, or to a point just\\nwest of the present highway bridge over the i-ailroad. This\\npiece of road was originally built, as were several others\\nbefore mentioned, to enable farmers to get their hay, but it\\nwas extended past tlie place now owned by Jackson N.\\nPotter, known as the Stephen Kendall place, to its intersec-\\ntion with Farmers Row, at a very eai-ly day, certainly as", "height": "3331", "width": "2100", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "15\\nsoon as the early part of the last century, when John Longley\\nwas living on the Stephen Kendall place, and Benjamin\\nFarnsworth resided on the opposite side of the same road,\\nl)ut nearer to Farmers Row.\\nThe end of Broad Meadow, above referred to, was spanned\\nby a bridge in those days, no doubt to save the expense of\\nfilling such soft land, which then had probably not been\\ndrained at all, and was of course much more wet even than\\nnow. The structure, after a while, received the name of Swill\\nBridge, and I once leai-ned from Miss Elizabeth Farnsworth\\nthe reason which she had heard alleged for this peculiar name.\\nThe following is the story, which I will preface by stating\\nthat John Longley, before mentioned, was Miss Farnsworth s\\ngreat-grandfather, and that she remembered well her grand-\\nmother Farnsworth, who was Mr. Longley s daughter Lydia\\nand so we get this account thus directly from Lydia Longley\\nFarnsworth, who was born on the Stephen Kendall place in\\n1716.\\nDuring tlie first quarter of the last century, or perhaps until\\na later day, there was a fortified house near the site of the\\npresent Eber Woods house, and at times of Indian alarm Mr.\\nLongley placed his live-stock, and, among other animals, hogs,\\nat the fort for safety. From Miss Farnsworth s account it\\nseems that it was in the winter, and during such an alarm,\\nthat Mr. Longley had placed some hogs at the fort for\\nsafety, and was obliged to carry swill to them. As he\\ncrossed the bridge he naturally spilled more or less of the\\nswine-food, and in the spring the spots were of course visible,\\nand thus from this trivial cause the bridge derived its name,\\nby which it has ever since been remembered.", "height": "3408", "width": "2056", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER II\\nOLD LANDMARKS.\\nGibbet Hill, Brown Loaf, Broad Meadow, Half-Moon\\nMeadow, Reedj Meadow, James s Brook and Hawtree Brook\\nhave borne these names ever since the settlement of the town,\\nbut there are names found in the records, whicli, to most of\\nthe inhabitants of the present day, are unintelligible. To\\nthese names I hav^e given some careful attention and study,\\nand venture to make known the result of my investigation.\\nThe Indian Hill or the Indian Hills (both terms being used\\nin the records) were probably one and the same, and the\\nnames seem to refer to the entire rano;e of hills extendins:\\nfrom and including the hill opposite to the house of Charles\\nJacobs, all the way to and including the hill upon which the\\nhouse of Captain Moses P. Palmer stands.\\nShepley Hill, mentioned in the records, is the range of hills\\nextending in a northerly direction from the soapstone quarr}\\nalong the western base of which the Worcester and Nashua\\nrailroad runs.\\nFerny Meadow is the large tract of low land on the high-\\nway which leads from the Boston road, nearly opposite to\\nthe house of Captain Moses P. Palmer, to Brown Loaf.\\nThis meadow extends along the south and southeast side of\\nthis road from near the Boston road, for quite a distance.\\nRock Meadow is no doubt the one, the northwest end of\\nwhich borders on the road leading from Groton to Hai-vard,\\nand just over the hill south of the corner where the Harvard", "height": "3331", "width": "2100", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "17\\nroad leaves the road from Groton to Ayer. This is a large\\ntract of land, and is now entirely in the town of Ayer.\\nFlaggy Meadow is situated east of the highway leading\\nfrom tlie old Captain Noah Shattnck place, now owned by the\\nheirs of the late Captain William Shattnck, to the north side\\nof Baddacook Pond. This meadow is near the house of\\nHenry P. Shattnck, which stands in the tield away from the\\nroad, and it forms a part of his farm. It is certain that this\\nis the meadow referred to in the records, for Mr. George D,\\nBrigham, the town-clerk, has told me that when calling at\\nMr. Shattuck s a few years since. Flaggy Meadow was men-\\ntioned hy some one of the family as being a part of their\\nfarm and when Mr. Brigliam asked where it was, he was\\ntold that it is the low land which partly surrounds their\\nhouse. It seems that the name had been handed down\\nthrough the different owners of that estate, but had long\\nbeen lost to public knowledge.\\nLittle Half -Moon Meadow is situated between the Martin s\\nPond road and the knoll in my father s meadow east of his\\nbarns, which knoll is called by the farmers in the neighbor-\\nhood the Island, and has been so called from the early\\ndays of tlie town. An examination of the locality will show\\nthe reason why this little meadow was given the name it\\nbears. One of the points of the half-moon is the strip of\\nmeadow between the high land upon which Andrew Spaul-\\nding s farm barn stands, and the Island, and the other point\\npasses between the west end of tlie Island and the high land\\nnpon which my father s barns are situated. Both of these\\npoints pass through and unite with Half-Moon Meadow west\\nof the Island. This knoll is entirely surrounded by Half-\\nMoon and Little Half-Moon Meadows, and hence its name.", "height": "3408", "width": "2056", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "18\\nThe Unquetenori^et Meadows are the low lands along the\\nbrook at the north part of the town, now known by the\\nname of Unquetj, which is a contraction of the full name\\nUnqnetenorset, by which it was originall} called.\\nI am of the opinion that Qnosoponagon Meadow is the\\nlarge tract of low^ land near the Captain John Rockwood\\nhouse in Squannacook. This meadow is on l^oth sides of\\nthe road, just east of the house, and forms a part of that\\nfarm. But in this opinion I may be in error.\\nBroad Meadow End seems to have been the name given\\nto the narrow portion of Broad Meadow at its southerly\\nend, near the present highway bridge ovei the Worcester\\nand Nashua railroad, south of the station.\\nIn this connection it may not be out of place to consider\\nthe reason why in New England we give a different meaning\\nto the word meadow from that affixed to it in England.\\nThere the word is applied to all mowing land whethei- low\\nor high, but here we call all low land meadow. The reason\\nno doubt is that the lii-st settlers in this country found\\nthe high land covered, for the most part, with heavy timber,\\nand for a few men, with few and poor teams and tools, to\\nreduce this land to a condition for cultivation, was very hard,\\nslow work. But hay with which to feed their cattle in winter,\\nwas an immediate necessity. The low lands being usually\\ncovered with brush and small trees only, could be easily\\nburned over, and with the ashes thus produced, serving as a\\nfertilizer, grass, though no doubt generally of a wild and poor\\ncharacter, was raised. The records of this and other towns\\nshow that meadow laud was a choice possession, granted to\\nthe inhabitants in small lots, and often in the outskirts of the\\ntown, no man having a large piece of this land in any one", "height": "3331", "width": "2100", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "19\\nplace, unless, perchance, he were possessed of so much money,\\nas was tlie case with Captain James Parker, as to enable him\\nto pay rates (taxes) upon a large tract of this valuable land.\\nCaptain Parker, being well off, owned a large portion of\\nHalf-Moon Meadow, and also a great part of Broad Meadow,\\nbut men of less means were obliged to content tliemselves\\nwith small lots of meadow in widely separated sections of the\\ntown. Some of those who lived in the village owned small\\npieces of Rock Meadow, the situation of which I have\\ndescribed, and wei-e obliged to go haying at that long distance\\nfrom home, and in an Indian country.\\nThe number of roads originally built to enable tlie inhabi-\\ntants to get liay from the meadows of the town, as described\\nin the former chapter, attests the value and importance which\\nwas then attached to this low land.\\nThus these Englislimen, our forefathers, referred only to\\nmowing land when they used the word meadow in tlieir\\nrecords but as their meadow was at lirst low land in fact, the\\ngenerations since have given this name to all low land.\\nThe low tract of land at the northwestern ])ase of Brown\\nLoaf, and extending from the present Lowell road to the road\\nwhich leads from Martin s Pond to the north side of\\nBaddacook Pond, was no doubt the place designated in the\\nrecords as Brown Loaf Plain. That portion of the record\\nwhich relates to the laying out of the road which we call\\nLove Lane, and its extension easterly, makes it seem certain\\nthat this tract of land is Brown Loaf Plain.\\nBy the General Fields was probably meant the large tract\\nof land bounded on the northwest by the road which passes\\nthrough the Community, and whicli then formed a part of\\nthe Lancaster highway, and was also bounded in the same", "height": "3408", "width": "2056", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "20\\ndirection between the present corner, near the Pollard place\\nand the river, by the Lancaster highway, the old location of\\nwhich I ha^\u00e2\u0096\u00a0e described in the previous chapter. These fields\\nwere l)ounded on the east, southeast, and south by what is\\nnow known as the old road to Ayer, and they were l)ounded\\non the southwest and west either by the road leading from\\nthe corner south of the Benjamin Moors place to the present\\nShirley road, or they may have extended all the way to the\\nriver. The roads which I have mentioned were all in exist-\\nence two hundred years ago, as shown in the previous chapter.\\nThis tract was common land, and was used for pasturing the\\nherd composed of the cattle which belonged to the men living\\nin the west and south parts of the town. As the cattle owned\\nby the first settlers were pastured, for the most part, upon the\\ncommon land, the town was divided into three sections for\\nthis purpose, each section having a herd, and every owner of\\nstock in a section was obliged to pay his proportion of the\\nexpense attending the herding of the cattle in that section,\\neven though one or more owners might pasture their cattle\\nwithin their own enclosure. But in the general absence of\\nfences except for enclosing cultivated land, and as prol)ably a\\ngood deal of this even was unfenced, the careful herding of\\nthe stock pastured upon the common land was considered of\\nsuch general importance as to warrant an assessment upon all\\nthose who could be in any way interested.", "height": "3331", "width": "2100", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3408", "width": "2056", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "014 078 554 4", "height": "3331", "width": "2100", "jp2-path": "oldhighwayslandm00bout_0024.jp2"}}