An old physician's record.
DR. Ebenezer Marrow, a physician of
Medford, served as a commissioned officer in the service of the Province.
He was a Lieutenant in
Col. John Winslow's regiment ‘For the defence of the
Eastern Frontiers:’ in 1754, in the expedition which established Forts Halifax and Western upon the
Kennebec.—Mass.
Archives, XCIII, 132.
The next year he was again serving as a lieutenant under
Winslow, in the campaign which resulted in the removal of the
French Neutrals.
He was at Beau Sejeur July 2, ‘under Indisposition of Body,’ and was granted leave to return to
New England; but he returned to duty at
Fort Cumberland, August 9.—Winslow.
M. S. Journal in Mass.
Hist. So. Library, 105, 106.
In 1757 he was in the practice of his profession in
Medford.— Mass.
Archives, XVIII, 543.
His services in the campaign of 1758 are described in the following petition.
[p. 92]
May 1764.
Humbly sheweth.
The Petition of
Ebenezer Marrow of
Medford.
That in the year 1758 he went in the
Expedition to the Westward, as a Captn in Col:
Jonathan Bagley's Regiment, & was ordered to march from hence with his Company to
Albany in the Month of May.—That he carried with him a Quantity of Med'cines to the Value of Twenty pounds two shillings & one penny lawful Money, and when he came to
Albany some of the Soldiers fell Sick and the
Surgeons of the Regiments being without medicine (having put the Med'cine Chests on board a Vessell not then arriv'd)
Col. Bagley ordered him to deliver them what Med'cines they wanted, which he did—And that afterwards he (your petr) marched to
Fort Edward where he found other Surgeons in want of Med'cine also, having the Sick & infirm of Seven Regiments left there some of them ill with the
Small Pox: & those Surgeons not having had the
Small Pox themselves,
General Abercromby order'd your Petitioner to remain there with that Command. & ordered the
Surgeons up to
Ticonderoga with the Army.—That he attended all the Sick there at said Encampment while the Army was gone to the
Lake. & dressed near 300 of the wounded when they came down from the
Lake; & continued in Said Service from the beginning of June to the last of November: in which Time he exhausted all his med'cine (excepting a small Quantity as appears by his accot) & bought more at
Albany having
Col. Bagley's Promise that he would endeavour the Province should pay him for them. & his Trouble also—That the Reason of his not petitioning yr Honrs before the last Session was the Absence of Col
Bagley, whose Assistance he very much wanted for informing your Honours of the whole Affair.
nothing doubting but that your Honours were ever ready to do him Justice as soon as he should shew the justice of his Cause, thoa at never so great a Distance of Time— He therefore at the last Session at
Cambridge presented yr Excelly & Honrs with a Petition (of which the present
[p. 93] one contains the Contents) wch petitn passed the lower
House & was sent up for Concurrence: but before it was considered by the Council, it was unfortunately consum'd in the late Fire, so that your petnr is under a necessity of preferring another: and humbly prays that yr Excelly & Honours wou'd be pleased to grant him such Allowance for his Medicines & extraordinary Service as in your great Wisdom & Goodness you shall think proper & your petitioner as in Duty bound shall ever pray.
Mass. Archives, LXXX, 476.
He was allowed £ 21, 2s. 1d.
Under date of June 23, 1744,
William Ward sold to
Ebenezer Merrow ‘The Gravel Pit,’ so called, with house and barn, together with a two-pole way leading down to the river.
The estate was bounded westerly on
Jonathan Tufts ten and one-half rods; northerly on said
Tufts' marsh seven rods; easterly on the county road (Main street) ten and one-half rods; southerly on the way (South street) that leads to the landing place (the ford) nine rods, which way is laid out two rods wide.
One of the conditions of the sale was that the said
Merrow should maintain one-half of
Mystic bridge and the causey (causeway) forever.
The two-pole way was situated directly in front of the old shop formerly occupied by Page and
Curtin on Main street. The first bridge across the
Mystic river was only wide enough to allow of the passage of a single cart, and as the bridge was widened from time to time the widening took place on the westerly or up-stream side of the bridge, so that when the old drawbridge was removed in 1879 to make way for the construction of the present stone bridge, the ‘twopole way’ was so reduced in width that only about twelve feet of the way remained, and the increased width of the stone bridge over that of the old drawbridge obliterated all traces of the old way. The gravel pit lot is now occupied by the
Central Engine House and part of the
Symmes buildings.
[p. 94]
Dr. Ebenezer Merrow, or
Marrow, is supposed to have been the son of the
Ebenezer Merrow who purchased the tract of land above described.
