Person Notes:
[NI2125]
[Holbrook.ged]
COMMENTS: On 2 November 1637, "Sergeant Boston, being convented for
having his hand to the seditious libel called a remonstrance or
petition [in favor of John Wheelwright], is disfranchised, fined 20,
& discharged from bearing any public office" [MBCR 1:207], and on 15
November 1637 the fine was reduced to 15 [MBCR 1:208]. On 20
November 1637 "Willi: Baulston" was included in the list of Boston men
to be disarmed [MBCR 1:212], and 5 was remitted in the general
amnesty of 6 September 1638 [MBCR 1:245]. On 12 March 1637/8 "Goo:
William Baulston" was one of eleven who had license from the General
Court to depart [MBCR 1:223; WP 4:14-15].
This sequence of events, of course, led to Baulston's move to
Portsmouth, Rhode Island. It should be noted, however, that despite
the order of 2 November 1637, he continued to sit as Boston selectman
until 2 April 1638 [BTR 1:32]; perhaps the court order only extended
to colony offices.
William Baulston was present at the first town meeting at Portsmouth
on 7 March 1637/8 and at most of those of May, June and November of
that year [RICR 1:52, 53, 54, 56, 61, 62]. When the Newport settlers
split away early in 1639 and Portsmouth reorganized itself on 30 April
1639, William Baulston was not included in the list of those entering
into the new compact, but this omission must have been an accident,
since on the same day he was appointed to a committee to lay out land
[RICR 1:70-71]. On 12 March 1639/40 he was one of the Portsmouth men
who were "reunited to this body [Newport]" to form the joint
government of Newport and Portsmouth [RICR 1:100].
William Baulston held all the important offices in Portsmouth, being
reelected and reappointed year after year, until 1673. For the last
four years of his life he did not hold office, indicating perhaps that
he was no longer able to do so. On 3 June 1672 he was chosen overseer
of the poor, but "whereas Mr. William Baulston the eldest assistant in
this town is absent from this meeting," a messenger was sent to fetch
Baulston so that he could be properly engaged [PoTR 170]. This may
already hint at infirmity, and Baulston was offered only one more
post, that of moderator for the meeting of 2 March 1672/3 [PoTR 175].
On 6 and 7 May 1673 he attended the meeting of the General Court, but
was not reelected to the office of Assistant, and on 2 June 1673 the
town meeting noted that "Mr. William Baulston hath in his custody
several copies of General Court and Assembly's acts which the town do
conceive belong to them" and appointed a committee to retrieve them
from Baulston, indicating that his public career was over [PoTR 176].
On 4 June 1677, however, just a few months before writing his will,
William Baulston was honored when the Portsmouth town meeting was held
at his home [PoTR 192].
"Bolson" in Winthrop's list
OCCUPATION: Innkeeper (fined for "selling a quart of beer at 2d.",
and licensed to keep a house of entertainment and sell wine, 6 June
1637 [MBCR 1:199]; fined again for the same offense, 2 May 1638 [MBCR
1:228]; on 6 September 1638 Thomas Cornhill was licensed "to keep an
inn, in the room of Willi: Baulston" [MBCR 1:238]).
At Portsmouth on 26 August 1647 "Mr. Boston is chosen to keep an inn
to sell beer & wine to entertain strangers" [PoTR 36]. On 21 August
1654 it was ordered that "Mr. Bastone shall keep a house of
entertainment to entertain strangers" [PoTR 65; see also RICR 1:314].
EDUCATION: By the evidence of the many posts to which he was
appointed, involving the keeping of records and the drafting of
petitions and other documents, William Baulston was clearly a
well-educated man.
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: "Willyam Baulstone and Elizabeth his wife (dead
since)" were admitted to Boston church as members #38 and #39 [BChR
13]; this would be in the fall of 1630. On 10 August 1634 "Elizabeth
Chambers maid servant to our brother Willyam Baulston" was admitted to
Boston church [BChR 19].
FREEMAN: Requested 19 September 1630 and admitted 18 May 1631 [MBCR
1:80, 366]. In Portsmouth section of 1655 Rhode Island list of
freemen [RICR 1:299].
ESTATE: A land transaction of 6 June 1636 indicated that William
Balston had earlier owned two houses in Sudbury End [BTR 1:10]. On 6
March 1636/7 he was granted a piece of swamp [BTR 1:16].
On 5 August 1638 he sold to Thomas Cornell all his lands in Boston:
house, yards, gardens; one close of one acre; two acres in the Mill
Field; three acres on Hog Island; and ninety acres at Mount Wollaston
[BTR 1:38]; and this was consented to by the town on 20 August 1638
[BTR 1:35].
Granted six acre houselot at Portsmouth, 10 June 1638 [RICR 1:55].
Granted 240 acres, 10 February 1639/40 [RICR 1:73]. With two other
men, granted a piece of meadow in the common fence, 4 February 1640/1
[RICR 1:75].
On 3 June 1654 William Baulston of Portsmouth sold to "mistris
Bridgitt Sanford ... my one share of land lying in the Calfe's paster
and also four shares more that was formerly in the possession by a
town grant unto Mr. Thomas Cornell, Mr. Thomas Spiser, William
Freeborne & Richard Magson which I the said William bought of the
parties abovenamed" [PoTR 317-18]. On 17 June 1658 "there is an
agreement and exchange of two parcels of land made by Samuel
Hutchinson with William Baulston the one being in the North Field
commonly called the Cla[y]pit Field the other lying in the tract of
land called the Twenty Acres" [PoTR 351-52]. On 7 March 1658[/9?]
William Baulston of Portsmouth sold to "Dainell Willcook" four acres
in Portsmouth [PoTR 362].
On 14 March 1671/2 the town of Portsmouth "voted that Mr. Baulston
shall have his former grant of ten acres made good to him in the
common fence" [PoTR 167].
OFFICES: On jury for trial of Walter Palmer, 9 November 1630 [MBCR
1:81]. Chosen sergeant to Captain Underhill, 14 May 1634 [MBCR
1:120].
Boston selectman (elected for terms of six months) 14 March 1635/6,
16 September 1636, 20 March 1636/7, 16 October 1637 [BTR 1:9, 11, 16,
20]; served on several Boston committees in 1634, 1635 and 1636,
mostly for laying out land [BTR 1:3, 6, 7, 9-11].
Portsmouth Assistant to General Court, 1641, 1642, 1648 [RICR 1:110,
120, 209]; treasurer at General Court, 1640, 1641, 1643 [RICR 1:101,
110, 126]; Portsmouth Commissioner to Rhode Island General Court,
1651, 1654, 1655, 1656, and 1658 through 1663 [RICR 1:277, 281, 304,
316, 337, 345, 366, 394, 408, 419, 431, 437, 447, 468, 480, 492, 501;
PoTR 49, 64, 67, 70, 73, 83, 84, 87, 89, 90, 96, 107, 110, 113];
Assistant at General Court, 1657 through 1672 [RICR 1:353, 386, 408,
427, 436, 467, 504, 2:22, 38, 97, 147, 186, 223, 242, 302, 374, 451];
appointed to many colony committees dealing with such matters as
relations with Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth, raising money to
support the effort to obtain a charter for the colony, and addressing
petitions to the King and Council [e.g., RICR 1:390, 420-22, 438, 441,
444, 446, 448, 468, 482, 2:72, 74, 76, 153].
Portsmouth town treasurer from 1643 through 1650, and every year from
1656 through 1671 (except perhaps for 1664, for which year the record
is defective) [RICR 1:82; PoTR 30, 38, 40, 45, 71, 76, 85, 90. 93,
105, 111, 118, 129, 133, 138, 142, 148, 152, 162]; town magistrate,
1649, 1650, 1651, 1653, 1655 [PoTR 42, 45, 50, 59, 67]; town council,
1650, 1661, 1666, 1667 [PoTR 46, 105, 134, 138]; overseer of the poor,
1650, 1668 through 1672 [PoTR 45, 142, 148, 152, 162, 169]; committee
to judge land evidences, 9 July 1660, 5 June 1665 [PoTR 94-96, 129];
assessor, 24 February 1661/2, 3 December 1662 [PoTR 109, 114];
coroner, 3 June 1661 [PoTR 107]. In addition, William Baulston
regularly served as moderator of the town meeting and was appointed to
many other minor offices. He also served on a variety of committees,
including especially those relating to disputes between Portsmouth and
Newport.
Sergeant of the Portsmouth train band, 27 June 1638 [RICR 1:56].
Elected lieutenant of the Portsmouth military company, 17 March 1641/2
[RICR 1:121]. Supplied "a horse, furniture and rider" for a troop of
horse upon the Island, 10 August 1667 [RICR 2:218].
In his will, dated 11 March 1677[/8], William Baulston of Portsmouth
bequeathed to "my wife Elizabeth Baulston all movables with the use of
a room or rooms in the dwelling house and the fruits of the orchard,
with the conditions that grandson John Coggeshall pay her 12 a year
in consideration of his use of the farm, and when Elizabeth Baulston
dies he is to pay the 12 to "my loving daughter Elizabeth Gould" if
she wants it, and "my grandson William Coggeshall or whomsoever shall
by due right possess those lands about this township by me given to
him shall yearly find and allow to my said wife his grandmother during
her natural life and after her decease to his said mother my daughter
Elizabeth Gould during her life if she want the same for her
maintenance sufficient summer pasture and winter stuffer[?] for five
cows"; to "my grandson John Coggeshall and unto his male heirs forever
all that my farm of land" in Portsmouth; to "my grandson William
Coggeshall and his male heirs forever" four parcels of land in
Portsmouth: "all those lands and meadows to me belonging in the place
called the Claypitt Feild, all that parcel of land where my now
dwelling house now standeth ..., all that parcel of meadow and land
adjoining to the land of John Sanford and all that meadow called
Spicer's Meadow" (with contingency plans depending on whether John
Coggeshall leaves male or female heirs); to "my grandchild Elizabeth
Peck the wife of Thomas Peck" 50 "to be paid unto her or her child";
and "forasmuch as it was serious upon my mind to have given unto the
sons of my brothers in England a considerable tract of land in the
common fence yet upon further mature consideration all that tract of
land to me belonging in the common fence, I not hearing whether any of
my kindred are alive, I do therefore give and bequeath all the said
land in the common fence unto my two aforenamed grandsons to be
equally divided between them"; to "my daughter Gould" the movables
(after the death of his wife) to be administered by his executors for
the benefit of "my said daughter (their mother)"; to son-in-law Gould
5 [PoLE 1:153-54].
moved to RI on account of connection with Mrs. Hutchinson's supporters
| Selvanus HOLBROOK + | ||
| Stephen HOLBROOK | ||
| Thankfull THAYER + | ||
| Ellery HOLBROOK | ||
| James ALBEE + | ||
| Hopestill ALBEE | ||
| Prudence WHITE + |
Person Notes:
[NI0343]
ID Number: A-HOLBROO-000047[Holbrook.ged]
10 July 1810 per family papers
Rt. 122 North, right on 16E, entrance to Cemetary just past Depot
street on right.
| Humphrey WHEELOCK + | ||
| Joseph or John WHEELOCK | ||
| Margaret WINTER + | ||
| Ralph WHEELOCK | ||
| John ROGERS | ||
| Elizabeth ROGERS | ||
| Elizabeth |
Person Notes:
[NI1315]
[Holbrook.ged]
History of Medfield
The Official Website of Medfield, Massachusetts
The story of Medfield begins in Dedham, which originally included the
territory that is now Medfield as well as several other towns. Dedham
was incorporated in 1636 and by 1640 Dedham men started farming and
pasturing animals along the broad meadows and continuous plains of our
area. The land was perfect for farming because of the Indian custom
of burning the fields each November to provide grazing for wild game.
Our area was first known as Dedham Village.
In November of 1649, Dedham held a town meeting which approved the
laying out of an area for a new town. This was accomplished in the
early spring of 1650 and corresponds very nearly with the boundaries
of the present town. The thirteen original settlers paid fifty pounds
to the inhabitants of Dedham in compensation for the land.
Ralph Wheelock, a graduate of Cambridge University, considered the
founder of Medfield, proceeded with Thomas Wright and Robert Hinsdale
to the new settlement, which was finally incorporated as the 43rd town
in Massachusetts on June 2, 1651. Eighteen new men were accepted as
townsmen and grants of land made to them in 1651.
Education was very important from the start of the settlement. In
1655 the settlers voted fifteen pounds "to establish a schoule for the
education of the children." Ralph Wheelock became the first
schoolmaster in the schoolhouse (site of the old post office on the
corner of Janes Avenue and North Street). A later school on the site
Dr. Stagg's office on Pleasant Street was named after Ralph Wheelock,
as is the present elementary school on Elm Street.
By 1660 the town was laid out and new families admitted, thus
increasing the population to 234. During the King Philip War in 1675,
Medfield became the frontier town when Mendon was abandoned. In
February of 1676 approximately 1,000 Indians, under the command of
Monaco, burned 32 houses, two mills, and many barns. Eight people
were killed, including Timothy Dwight, the original owner of the
Dwight Derby House on Frairy Street. Two streets serve as reminder of
those fateful days- Philip and Metacomet (Philip's real Indian name).
After King Philip was killed in August of 1676, the indomitable
settlers rebuilt and repaired the damage to their farms and mills,
with monetary assistance from the provincial legislature.
Patriotic fervor was evident in 1774 when the town sponsored 25
Minutemen to fight in the battles of Lexington and Concord although
they did not arrive in time to fight. One hundred and fifty-four men,
however, fought in the Continental Army. That made the ratio of
soldiers one for every five of population. By 1787 a new oath was
required of the town officers who renounced loyalty to the king and
swore allegiance to the new sovereign, the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts.
In 1800 the population of the town was 745. The manufacture of straw
bonnets first commencedthat same year and the manufacture of ladies'
hats was the principal industry of the town until 1954. Mansions for
the owners were built near the factory on North Street and the
seasonal workers lived in boarding houses throughout the town. During
the busy season as many as 1,000 were employed at the straw hat shop.
In 1806 the Hartford and Dedham Turnpike was established and its stage
coaches stopped at Clark's Tavern, next door to the Peak House. The
stage route through Medfield was known as the Middle Post Road, but
the Upper Post Road through Sudbury was preferred by travelers because
it provided better taverns. For a period after the discontinuance of
the stage coaches, the town had no public transportation until the
first passenger train of the New York and Boston Railroad came to
town. By 1870 Medfield became an important rail junction and freight
depot to the Framingham/Mansfield branch of the New York, New Haven,
and Hartford Railroad. At the end of the century, steam and electric
railways terminated in front of the Town House.
The people of Medfield prepared themselves to fight in the Civil War
following the election of an abolitionist senator who would represent
the district. Eighty-two men served in the army and navy and fifteen
men gave their lives for the preservation of the Union.
Medfield remained a rural village for all of the nineteenth century.
However, with the 1896 establishment of the "asylum," (now Medfield
State Hospital), the population of the town grew to over 3,000 by the
end of the century. Half of the town's population were patients at
the hospital, which provided employment for over 600 residents of
Medfield and surrounding towns.
At the time of the 250th anniversary in 1901, Medfield was still a
lovely village with green fields, lush meadows, and winding rivers.
Medfield had grown to 1,600 residents, not counting the patients at
the state hospital. It was a typical New England Town consisting of
335 dwellings. A tax rate of 1.1% based on townwide valuation of $1,
454,265 met the appropriated obligation of $17,347. Education had the
highest share of the town budget; $5,375 for 283 students enrolled in
grades one through nine. Those continuing their schooling graduated
from Dedham or Walpole until the new high school graduated its first
class of eight in 1908.
Long before the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920, Medfield
encouraged the voting rights of women. In 1900 seven women paid a
poll tax and qualified to vote. As early as 1881 women voted for the
school committee and by 1916 women were permitted to serve on the
school committee, as overseers of the poor, and as trustees of the
public library. When the state constitution was amended to conform to
the federal law, 48 of the 381 votes were cast by women.
Charles Innes, one of America's great landscape artists, painted
Medfield Meadows, Evening in Medfield, and his famous Peace and Plenty
during his stay here from 1859 to 1864. Many of his paintings are the
property of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Boston
Museum of Fine Arts.
In 1900 the importance of farming was reflected in personal property
taxes which were levied on 431 cows, 64 other cattle, 31 swine, 1,637
fowl, and 256 horses. Associated trades and small industry, such as
three sawmills, and slaughter houses, a tannery and two cider mills,
were flourishing trades. A wire factory, a straw shop, a hat shop,
and a steam packing mill also existed. The wagons and carriages
manufactured by J.H. Baker were known worldwide for their quality.
The twentieth century also saw buses and automobiles begin to replace
steam and electric trains. The town sold its electric company in 1906
to the Boston Electric Illuminating Co. and in 1921 the town took over
the operation of the Medfield Water Company. In 1924, the town
established a Planning Board to prevent haphazard growth. That same
year the Peak House was restored and Baker's Pond was purchased from
the carriage manufacturers. Other attempts to conserve green areas
came with the establishment of the Conservation Commission in 1962.
In 1964 a Master Plan was undertaken to plan for projected growth.
Medfield has continued to grow into a desirable, residential suburb.
New subdivisions are developed in a controlled fashion. Industrially
zoned land has been limited to clean light industry.
Medfield passed an historic district bylaw and created the John
Metcalf Historic District during the 1989 annual town meeting. This
first historic district included four houses on west Main Street and
the oldest portion of Vine Lake Cemetery. The district was enlarged
to include a total of sixteen historic buildings in 1996. The second
historic district, established in 1994, included 33 buildings at the
Medfield State Hospital and the historic landscape surrounding the
buildings. A third district, the Clark-Kingsbury Farm Historic
District on Spring Street, was approved at the 1997 Town Meeting.
This provides some protection to the unique grouping of the 18th
century farm house, outbuildings, and pond with grist mill.
The voters of Medfield have committed themselves to several
significant projects downtown. Having agreed to purchase land for a
post office site a year earlier, in 1996 the town went forward with
plans to completely renovate the Town Hall, to construct a major
addition to the library and to assist the historical society in its
efforts to preserve and restore the Dwight Derby House. The Town
Hall, library and post office were completed in 1998.
The Dwight Derby House, an ongoing project, is of particular
significance because it is one of the oldest houses in the United
States. The original section was built in 1651, the year Medfield was
incorporated. Once restoration is complete it will undoubtedly join
the Peak House and the Unitarian Church on the register of State and
Federal Historic Landmarks.
Anyone wanting a more detailed history may refer to the three books
available at the Medfield Public Library. History of the Town of
Medfield, Massachusetts: 1650-1886 by William S. Tilden has an
interesting section on genealogy, Medfield Reflections, 1651-1976 is
an historical commemorative book published during the town's 325th
birthday, and the recently published History of the Town of Medfield,
Massachusetts 1887-1925 by Richard DeSorgher. The Norfolk Hunt- 100
Years of Sport has text and pictures of Medfield as well as
surrounding towns. The brick Medfield Historical Society headquarters
on Pleasant Street, behind the library, is open every Saturday morning
for those who wish to know more about the town and its history.