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Chapter 1: Name and location. Medford, a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, lies in 42° 25′ 14″ 42, north latitude, and 71° 07′ 14″ 32, west longitude. It is about five miles N. N. W. from the State House in Boston; and about four miles N. W. by N. from Bunker-Hill Monument. It borders on Somerville, West Cambridge, Winchester, Stoneham, Melrose, and Malden. It received the name of Meadford from the adventurers who arrived at Salem, in May, 1630, and came thence to settle here in June. When these first comers marked the flatness and extent of the marshes, resembling vast meads or meadows, it may have been this peculiarity of surface which suggested the name of Meadford, or the great meadow. In one of the earliest deeds of sale it is written Metford, and in the records of the Massachusetts Colony, 1641, Meadfoard. The Selectmen and Town-clerks often spelled it Meadford ; but, after April, 1715, it has been uniformly written Medford. No reason is given for th
t maintaining a bridge across the Wears. Aug. 17, the town put to vote whether the town will choose a Committee to answer a presentment by the grand jury of the want of a bridge over the Wear; said answer to be made at Concord Court next. Voted in the affirmative. The next important action of the town was May 29, 1746. They petition Gov. Shirley and the General Court to order a bridge built over the Wears, and then apportion the expense upon the towns that would most use it; or on Middlesex County. The just decision of the Court was, that Medford and Charlestown should build a bridge, and each pay half the expenses and keep it in repair. August, 1747: The General Court order that Samuel Danforth, William Brattle, and Edmund Trowbridge, Esquires, be a Committee of said Court, empowered and directed to cause a good and sufficient bridge to be erected over the place called the Wears, between Charlestown and Medford; one-half of the charge to be paid by the town of Charlestown, and
paid to the collector of the town-taxes was sixpence on the pound. 1753: We give here a specimen of the petitions offered by Medford to the government for grants of land:-- To his Excellency William Shirley, Esq., Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over His Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, to the Honorable His Majesty's Council, and to the Honorable House of Representatives. The petition of the inhabitants of the town of Medford, in the County of Middlesex, humbly showeth that there are certain tracts of land lying on the southerly and northerly sides of said Medford, which are bounded as follows, viz.: The southerly tract, lying in Charlestown, is bounded northerly with Mistic or Medford River, westerly with the westerly bounds of Mr. Smith's farm, southerly with the southerly bounds of Mr. Smith's, Mr. James Tufts's, and Mr. Jonathan Tufts's farms, and then running from the south-easterly corner of said Jonathan Tufts's farm eastward
own, be sold at public auction. When the first gush of republican joy was over, and the town became settled in the new ways of freedom, then they began to ask how much independence had cost, in pounds, shillings, and pence. To give only two specimens of individual zeal in the cause of independence among us, we may mention the remark of our first Medford merchant, Benjamin Hall, Esq.:-- When the struggle began, in 1775, I would not have exchanged my property for that of any man in Middlesex County; and now, in 1784, I am worth nothing. The other case is that of Rev. Edward Brooks. He was librarian of Harvard College two years. On the 19th of April, 1775, he hastened towards Lexington, and did duty through the day. Lieut. Gould, taken prisoner at Concord, was committed to his custody at Medford. He was chaplain in the frigate Hancock, in 1777, when she captured the British frigate Fox. Afterwards, when the Hancock and Fox were retaken by the British off Halifax, he was carr
by the same media. At a Court of Elections at Boston the 14th of the third month, 1645, the levy upon the towns of the Province was £ 616. 15s.; and Medford's amount was £ 7. There were three kinds of taxes,--province, county, and town. The first tax-bills of Massachusetts Colony, which were made out by counties, began October, 1659 ; and, in these, the tax of Meadford was far lower than that of any adjoining town. In 1657, Meadford was taxed as one of the towns of the county of Middlesex, in a county levy, £ 3. 6s. 11d.; in 1658, £ 3. 3s. 1d.; in 1663, £ 4. 4s. 6d.; in 1670, £ 4. 12s.; in 1674, £ 4. 3s. 10d.; in 1676, £ 4. 1s. 10d. During these years, Cambridge was paying £ 40; Woburn, £ 25; Malden, £ 16; and Charlestown, £ 60. A county-tax of £ 1. 13s. 9d., levied on Meadford, Jan. 17, 1684, was paid by the inhabitants as follows:--  £s.d. Capt. Jonathan Wade064 Capt. Nathaniel Wade043 John Hall033 Caleb Brooks0111 Thomas Willis037 Stephen Willis0110 Pet
f Mistick-side men, they are granted to be a distinct town, and the name thereof to be called Mauldon. 1649.--The Middlesex County Records before this date are lost. 1649.--Horses must be registered in a book kept in each town. In a neighborformerly he used to be. 1657.--The name of Jonathan Wade first appears on the records of the registry of deeds in Middlesex County, June 11, 1657. Its next occurrence, May 20, 1662. 1670.--Some Indian children were brought up in our English fas a hearing before the council concerning the question, whether Cambridge or Charlestown should be the shire-town of Middlesex County. Judge Sewall says, Mr. Auchmuty pleaded very well for Charlestown. His discourse was very well worth hearing. Mr., covered with tar, were the imflammable materials used to express the jubilation. The first register of deeds in Middlesex County chosen, Dec. 20, 1784. There was but one candidate,--William Winthrop, Esq.,--who received seventeen votes in Medfo