Medford Historical Society Papers, Volume 17.

[p. 45] road over the dam was so much out of repair that it could not reasonably be made passable without too great an expense. Now although no reference to a mill on the north side of the river is made, is it not reasonable to suppose that the mill whose remains were pictured in the Register, as above referred to, was built sometime previous to the year 1709, especially as the mills on the Menotomy side of the river were out of use, according to the report of the committee above quoted.

The estate remained in the possession of Jonathan Dunster until his death in the year 1742, when it was divided among his heirs, his daughter Elizabeth, wife of Captain Philip Carteret, receiving the westerly portion of the Medford lands. In the year 1767 Mrs. Carteret deeded all her estate in Medford to her son-in-law, William Whittemore, and her daughter Abigail, his wife, and it remained in their possession until the death of Mr. Whittemore in the year 1818, when the Medford land was set off to Moses Robbins, one of the heirs, then a minor. Moses Robbins sold in the year 1822 to Cyrus Cutter, and the land was described as follows: “One acre of marshland, bounded southwest on Mystic river, southeast on James Cutter, northeast on Deacon John Larkin, together with all the mill privileges if there be any belonging to the said parcel of land on the north side of the river.” It is on the westerly end of this land that the remains of the old mill were found. Mr. Robbins called his meadow “Bunker's meadow.” Why it was so designated is a mystery, as no person by the name of Bunker ever owned the land.¹

The name of Deacon John Larkin (formerly of Charlestown) puts one in mind of the horse ridden by Paul Revere in his famous ride to Lexington on the morning of April 19, 1775. He rode Deacon Larkin's horse. These meadow lands on the north side of the river in Medford are now included in the Metropolitan Park System.