Page 4 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, August 30, 2024 ~ 375th Anniversary of Malden’s Incorporation as a Town ~ Development of Charlestown, Part 13 By Inna Babitskaya (Note from The Advocate: The source of the quotations is Richard Frothingham, Jr.’s “The History of Charlestown, Massachusetts” [1845] except where a source is otherwise noted.) S ome of the first settlers of Charlestown left invaluable memoirs where they described the newly founded town as well as New England. Thus, William Wood (1580–1639), who came Cradock Mansion House on Ship Street in Medford (built in 1634) to New England in 1628, was one of the first authors who Lawrence A. Simeone Jr. Attorney-at-Law ~ Since 1989 ~ * Corporate Litigation * Criminal/Civil * MCAD * Zoning/Land Court * Wetlands Litigation * Workmen’s Compensation * Landlord/Tenant Litigation * Real Estate Law * Construction Litigation * Tax Lien * Personal Injury * Bankruptcy * Wrongful Death * Zoning/Permitting Litigation 300 Broadway, Suite 1, Revere * 781-286-1560 lsimeonejr@simeonelaw.net Gov. John Winthrop (1588–1649) wrote about Massachusetts. In 1633, he returned to England, where in 1634 he published “New England’s Prospect,” in Dan - 1972 Open Labor Day with Special Deals! We Sell Cigars & Accessories! Rev. John Wilson (1588–1667) which he in detail told about Chris 2023 * Travel Humidors * Desk Top Humidors * Many Types of Lighters * Ash Trays * Juuls * Vapes * Glass Pipes * Rewards Program * CBD Infused Products * GIFTS UNDER $30 - GIFT CERTIFICATES ALL MAJOR BRANDS Singles * Tins * Bundles * Boxes SMOKER’S DELIGHT! 15 HANDMADE CIGARS! Four-Year-Old Tobacco * 100% Long Filler * Cellophane $49.95 STORE HOURS: Mon. - Sat.: 9AM - 7PM Sunday & Holidays: 9AM - 6PM R.Y.O. TOBACCO & TUBES ON SALE! SPECIAL SALE! TRAVEL HUMIDORS & ALL BONGS! A.B.C. CIGAR 170 REVERE ST., REVERE (781) 289-4959 --------HUMIDORS ON SALE! STARTING AT $99. COMPLETE! --------New England’s geography, botany, biology and anthropology. He gave the following description of Charlestown: “On the north side of Charles River is Charles Towne... At this town there is kept a ferryboat to convey passengers over Charles River, which between the two towns is a quarter of a mile over, being a very deep channel. Here may ride forty ships at a time. Up higher, it is a broad bay, being above two miles between the shores, into which runs stony-river and muddy-river. Towards the south-west in the middle of this bay is a great oyster bank.” Captain Edward Johnson (1598–1672), also shared his view of Charlestown in his “Wonder-Working Providence of Sion’s Savior in New England, 1628–1651” (published in 1654): “The form of this Town ... is like the Head, Neck and Shoulders of a Man, only the pleasant and Navigable River of Mistick runs through the right shoulder thereof, and by its near approach to Charles River in one place makes a very narrow neck, by which means the chief part of the Town, whereon the most building stands, becomes a Peninsula: it hath a large Market-place near the water side built round with Houses, comely and faire, forth of which there issues two streets orderly built with some very faire Houses, beautified with pleasant Gardens and Orchards, the whole Towne consists in its extent of about 150 dwelling Houses.” Since the very beginning, the colonists created rules regarding the land’s division. In 1629, it Matthew Cradock (1585-1641) was agreed that each inhabitant should have two acres for planting ground and to fence in common. In 1630, each “dwelling within the Neck” should have “two acres of land for a house plot and two acres for every male that is able to plant.” According to the Massachusetts Bay Company, each person who arrived to the colony at his own cost “was entitled to fifty acres; each adventurer of fifty pounds in the common stock, to two hundred acres, or in this proportion; those who brought over servants were allowed fifty acres for each, and grants were made, also, in consideration of eminent service rendered the Colony.” Following those rules, large parcels of land were granted to such prominent people as John Winthrop, Increase Nowell, John Wilson and Matthew Cradock by the General Court before the bounds of the town were established. John Winthrop (1588–1649), an English Puritan lawyer and cofounder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was the governor of the colony since October 1629 and led a group of few hundred people to the colony in April 1630 (Winthrop Fleet). He received 600 acres along the southern bank of the Mystic River, where he built his summer residence called “Ten Hills Farm” (now Medford and Somerville). His winter house was located in Boston. In 1632, Winthrop received an island in Boston Harbor (the “Governor’s Island”). In 1638, he got 1,200 acres of land along the Shawsheen River (now Billerica and Concord). MALDEN | SEE PAGE 16 Massachusetts Bay Colony map (from “New England’s Prospect,” 1634) Ten Hills Farm map (1637)
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