ually beset by his creditors. His misfortunes culminated, as we have seen, in the loss of his paternal estate. Felt says that he resided on Turkey Shore. It is known that he married the widow Peirce for a second wife, and her house was probably on the site of the present residence of Mrs. Henry Lakeman, as an old cellar, which was probably the Peirce cellar, was discovered when this was built. So the old minister may have left his sightly location, with its waving cornfield before the house, and the orchard behind, and spent his last years in the humbler abode by the river side. Singularly enough the Hubbard homestead was known many years ago as the "Pinchon close," and his pasture in Old England is alluded to as the "Pinchon Pasture." The origin of this title is unknown, but it may have come from John Pynchon of Springfield, who married Margaret, daughter of Mr. Hubbard, and granddaughter of Rev. Nathaniel Rogers. One grotesque remembrance of Mr. Hubbard, in his better days, is revealed by the Records of the old Ipswich Court. The good man seems to have been the prey of his servants and their friends, but their peculations came at last to naught. On the 25th March, 1673, they were brought to the bar of the Court. Peter Leycross, Jonas Gregory and Symon Wood, "for stealing and useing five gallons of wine from Mr. Hubbard's," were judged to pay him £5. Peter Leycross and Symon Wood were also arraigned for stealing one gallon of wine from Mr. Hubbard, and Peter Leycross, again, for stealing three quarts. Peter and Jonas were also convicted of stealing a sheep and selling it, and Jonas alone was called to account for a fatt weather" stolen from the minister's flock. These were all sentenced to be whipped unless they paid their fines. Nathaniel Emerson and Richard Pasmere were convicted of being at Jonas Gregory's, and having part in the revels over the stolen wine. Poor Mr. Hubbard was little profited by these sentences, for Peter was his own servant, and on the 5th of May, in the following year, the Court ordered, "Whereas, Mr. William Hubbard hath disbursed £8 for his servant Peter Laycross, in satisfaction of the sentence of Court for his thefts," it is ordered that said Peter shall serve him two years for it after his time is out. The corner The other side of our old road is of less interest. was occupied in 1828 by a hipped-roof store kept by one Wade 1 Cogswell, who sold to Mr. David Giddings, who in his turn enlarged the store and made it serve as store and dwelling. The land was part of the estate of Dr. Nathaniel Cogswell of Rowley, who was grandson of Jonathan Wade, and inherited much land in this vicinity from him. Samuel Wade was the owner of all the land from the Wade Cogswell corner to the Burnham estate, as I am informed by an old resident, and he received it by inheritance I presume. The brothers, Jonathan and Thomas Wade, two centuries ago, seem to have owned nearly the whole tract from the Argilla road to the other road to Chebacco, known now as Essex road. ROCKY HILL. The sightly residence of Mr. Moritz B. Phillipp crowns the bluff eminence known in Mr. Hubbard's day and from the earliest times as Rocky Hill. The earliest name perhaps, that is associated with this hill, is that of Humphrey Griffin. He was a man of humble birth seemingly, and with small store of worldly goods, when he knocked at the door of the little settlement. He found little favor, as the matter of his coming was debated in the town meeting in 1639, and the result was, "the Town doth refuse to receive Humphrey Griffin as an Inhabitant, to provide for him as inhabitants formerly received, the Town being full." Nevertheless Griffin made his home here, and built his first dwelling on the summit of the hill, I surmise, near the house occupied by Mr. Albert Jodrey, where sundry remains of an old dwelling have been turned up by the plough. He prospered at his trade as a butcher, and bought Mr. Denison's house near the House of the Historical Society, but he was often the victim of contrary circumstances. In 1647, the Grand Jury list reveals the infelicity of his married life. "We present Widdow Andrews . . for cursing and reviling her son-in-law Humphrey Griffin." "We present Humphrey Griffin for reviling his wive's mother." He was so indiscreet as to work on the Sabbath and he was sentenced to pay a fine of ten shillings for unloading barley on the Sabbath day, before sunset, in the year 1657; and so unfortunate as to be fined another ten shillings, the next year, for his daughter's violation of the law in wearing a silk scarf. Our sympathies are roused for the self-made man, and we are glad to learn that 1 Essex Co. Deeds, 259: 229. he eventually owned some fifty acres on Heart-break as well as his modest homestead on Rocky Hill. One Simon Tompson, a ropemaker, bought Griffin's house and land, three acres more or less, and sold it to his son-in-law, Abraham Fitt,' whom he had persuaded to leave his home in Salisbury and settle here, in August 1658. It was inherited by Abraham Fitts's son, Abraham, and later by William Baker, son-in-law of Abraham, second of the name, who sold it to Francis Crompton, the inn keeper,2 Mar. 20, 1711. Crompton's heirs sold to John Fitts, leather dresser, and Jabez Treadwell, cooper, in 1741,3 and it continued in the Treadwell family for several generations. The remainder of the rugged hill belonged, for the most part, to generations of Fullers, who owned it for many years. The slopes which are filled with rocky ledges remained a part of the Common-lands until 1755, when it was sold to Jabez Treadwell, Ebenezer Fuller and Samuel Lakeman, one of the heirs of James Fuller, who received an acre apiece.4 The gently sloping field below the ledges, bordering on Wood's Lane, as the way to Old England was called, and the road now Rocky Hill Road, was sold by the administrators of Samuel Lakeman to Ephraim Fellows, in 1811,5 and it included the acre bought from the Committee of Proprietors of Common-lands and 6/7 part of the house lot formerly James Fuller's adjoining. Mention is made in the deed of this committee to Samuel Lakeman of the clay pits,"reserving liberty to the Inhabitants of the Town of Ipswich always to dig clay at the end of the Hill." Nathaniel Fuller sold James Fuller Junior, his title in a dwelling house and land, which came to Nathaniel by the death of his brother Thomas, on the hill called Rocky Hill, in 1699.6 An old cellar was remembered by the late Ephraim Fellows near the well in the corner, which probably belonged to the James Fuller house. John Fuller seems to have been living in the vicinity of Mr. J. Howard Burnham's residence in 16587. His son James sold his interest in his father's house and land to his brothers Thomas and Joseph, 1679.8 Ebenezer Fuller sold five acres with the buildings to Isaac Burnham in 1768.9 Later it was owned by Aaron Burnham and Theodore Andrews. 1 Ipswich Deeds, 1. 2 Essex Co. Deeds, 25: 82. 3 Essex Co. Deeds, 83: 11. Essex Co. Deeds, 119: 136. Essex Co. Deeds, 206: 96. Essex Co. Deeds, 151: 253. HEART-BREAK HILL. A little beyond Rocky Hill the majestic slope of Heart Break confronts us, smooth and symmetrical, in striking contrast with the rugged sides of its lesser neighbor, and capable of being used as tillage ground to its very summit. This broad domain was carefully apportioned by the town into tillage lots of moderate size. and granted to the settlers. This was in accordance with the policy of the times, which refused any large grants near the village to individuals, and divided the large areas on Town Hill, Sagamore and Heart Break among a large number of citizens. The reason of this preference of hillside lands to level and more easily cultivated fields, may be found in part in Captain John Smith's remark, incidental to his visit to Agawam in 1614. "Here are many rising hills, and on their tops and descents are many corne fields and delightfull groves."1 The settlers may have naturally availed themselves of the hill clearings made by the Indians. But old-time farmers, within this century, had a strong conviction that the best land lay on the hills, and refusing the lower levels, they cultivated the high lands at great outlay of heavy labor. The original tillers of the soil may have had this belief. The record of land grants enables us to trace with reasonable accuracy the various lots on the sunny southern side of the great hill. East of William Fuller, Denison had four acres, and then proceeding down the road, were Allen Perlie's four acre-lot, Robert Kinsman's six acres, Richard Haffield's four acres, Humphrey Wyeth's six acres and Alexander Knight's four-acre lot, each fronting on the road and running back up and over the crest. Other parts of the hill were owned by John Proctor, Thomas Wells, who exchanged his six-acre lot with John Seaborne, Mr. Dudley, who sold to William White and he to Thomas Treadwell as early as 1638, Mr. John Tuttle, who sold to Reginald Foster in 1638, and whose eight acres are described as bounded by a little swamp north and south. The original grantees seem to have disposed of their holdings at an early date. William Fuller removed to Hampton, and sold his grant to his brother John. His lot was bounded by the Simon Tompson lot on the north and may be identified with the location 1 History of Virginia. The bulk of the hill now occupied by Mr. J. Howard Burnham. came eventually into the hands of Simon Tompson, who at his death bequeathed some fifty acres to his grandchildren, Abraham Fitts and Sarah Fitts, wife of William Baker, children of his son Abraham. Generations of Fittses continued to own this land. Aaron Fitts sold sixteen acres to Nathaniel Heard in 1794.2 A portion of this land fronting on the Argilla Road was sold by Heard to Jabez Treadwell in 1796,3 and the remainder to Josiah Burnham in 1821.4 Treadwell had previously purchased a four-acre lot of Daniel Fitts in 1755, on the west of this lot.5 The heirs of Jabez Treadwell sold to Wm. Jenyss, in 1807,6 and Jenyss sold Robert Baker 4 acres called "the old field," and 8 acres called "Fitts Pasture" in 1809.7 "The old field" was sold by Baker to Joseph Kinsman in 1818,8 and still remains in the Kinsman family. It is directly opposite the residence of Mr. J. Farley Kinsman. John Baker, the son of Robert, sold twelve acres to George Haskell, in 1850, March 9.9 Mr. Haskell enlarged his domain by five acres, bought of Nathan Brown in May, 10 and in 1852 he purchased twelve acres of Aaron F. Brown,11 who had just bought of John Baker. 12 By this purchase he came to own on all three sides of a six-acre lot which Ebenezer Fuller had sold to John Appleton in 1770,13 the same presumably Daniel Hovey had sold to Joseph Fuller in 1689.14 John Appleton bequeathed it to his son John in 1793,15 and in the division of the latter's estate in 1798, this field fell to his daughter Elizabeth Treadwell.16 She married a Sutton, and Wm. and Ebenezer Sutton sold it to Mr. Haskell in 1855.17 On this lot Mr. Haskell built his mansion; but, for many years before he made his home here, he had devoted himself enthusiastically to fruit culture, especially experimenting with the grape to produce if possible a hardy variety that would be valuable for wine. He never attained this, but originated several valuable table varieties. All his land on this side of the road as we have seen was included in the early Simon Tompson estate. 1 Probate Records, 25 June, 1675. 2 Essex Co. Deeds, 158: 270. 3 Essex Co. Deeds, 172: 119. Essex Co. Deeds, 307: 168. Essex Co. Deeds, 119: 119. Essex Co. Deeds, 180: 266. 7 Essex Co. Deeds, 187: 80. Essex Co. Deeds, 216: 303. Essex Co. Decds, 425: 193. 17 Essex Co. Deeds, 528:87. |