Browsing named entities in Medford Historical Society Papers, Volume 20.. You can also browse the collection for Thomas Broughton or search for Thomas Broughton in all documents.

Your search returned 2 results in 2 document sections:

Medford Historical Society Papers, Volume 20., Mystic river made over. (search)
is the higher earthwork portion of the dam. The water in the immediate foreground is the new Menotomy, not then cut through to the Mystic. Farther away to the left a wider excavation was made, and in this the Parkway bridge was built ere the water was allowed to flow in, an engineering process that materially saved expense, as but little pumping was required to keep the hole in the ground free from water during the time of construction. It was just a few rods further up-stream that Thomas Broughton built his corne and fulling mills in the River of Misticke and constructed the first dam across the river in 1656. In dredging the river at this point the clay he used therefor two hundred and fifty years before was encountered and was with difficulty removed. From this point down stream to Cradock bridge the water was allowed to pass out at low tide, revealing what the eye of mortal had never seen before—the bottom of the river, across much of which one could walk with comparative ea
Medford Historical Society Papers, Volume 20., The Mystic water-works. (search)
en in excellent preservation the embankments of the canal, and at their end, beneath the water, the lower courses of the aqueduct masonry, a reminder of the canal's prosperous days. These mark the channel of the Aberjona as it was prior to the raising of the lake, but elsewhere the course is now a matter of conjecture, unless, indeed, old maps or plans may be in evidence. More or less litigation resulted from the flowage, but this was nothing new, as witness case of Symmes vs. Dunster, Broughton and Collins in 1656 [Register, Vol. XIII, p. 12], when the Mystic was first dammed. While this work was in progress some information relative to the lower lake was obtained, which we quote:— An experiment was made by Engineer Buchanan to ascertain the depth at which the water in the lower pond becomes salt. A copper wire coated with silver was suspended from a float anchored in 54 feet of water. The wire was allowed to remain in the water 24 hours, and was found to be very slightl