By Francis H. Lincoln.
[Illustration: THE PUBLIC LIBRARY BUILDING, BURNT IN 1879.]
The impression left upon the mind of the traveller who has seen Hingham
only from the railroad train would be one of backyards, a mill-pond, and
woods; but to him who approaches it towards the close of a pleasant June
day by steamboat, when the tide is in, there is spread out a lovely
view. As the boat comes near the landing-place, islands and green hills,
beautiful trees and fields, form a complete circle around him. The
picture is one he will not forget. This pleasant impression will grow
stronger if he drives by almost any of the streets leading from the
harbor, for about five miles, to the southern limit of the town. Should
he take the main street he will be charmed by the wealth of stately elms
and other shade-trees, which in many places form a complete arch over
his head, and by the neat dwellings, for the most part of modest
pretensions, some old and some new, almost every one with well-kept
grounds all betokening thrift and suggesting a well-to-do community.
Nor need he confine himself to the main street. Several of the thickly
settled villages spread out into equally attractive side streets. Here
and there a church, a school-house, or a public building adds to the
general tidy look of the place. Numerous pleasant wood roads, with a few
fresh water ponds and streams, make up a variety of scenery which is
certainly equal to any New England town.
[Illustration: THE "OLD MEETING HOUSE."]
"Do you have any poor here?" was once asked by a visitor. "I see no
evidence of anything but plenty, and yet you do not seem to have any
specially leading industries. Whence comes this prosperity?" Whence,
indeed? The history of the settlement and growth of Hingham differs
little from many another town in eastern Massachusetts. Founded by the
Puritans, it is the same story of hardship, patient, persistent toil,
prudent economy, encouragement of education and morality, which has been
told over and over again, and which has demonstrated the sure foundation
upon which true civilization rests.
Hingham lies on the south shore of Massachusetts Bay, on the line of the
Old Colony Railroad, 17 miles from Boston by railroad and about 13 by
water. Its area is a little less than 13,000 square acres, and its
population in 1880 was 4,485. Its valuation in 1884 was $3,245,661, and
the number of dwelling-houses was 1,044. Its original limits included
the present town of Cohasset, which was set off and incorporated April
26, 1770. Until March 26, 1793, Hingham was a part of Suffolk county,
when it was annexed to the County of Norfolk, and June 20, 1793, it
again became a part of the County of Suffolk. June 18, 1803, it was
annexed to the County of Plymouth, of which it has since formed a part.
[Illustration: THE SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' MONUMENT.]
The original name of the settlement was Bare (or Bear) Cove. The name
was changed to Hingham, and the town incorporated Sept. 3, 1635, on the
same day with Weymouth and Concord. There are but eleven towns in the
State older than these three. Settlements having dates earlier than the
incorporation were made in many towns, and there is proof that there
were inhabitants here in 1633. There was a recognition of the place as a
sort of municipality in 1634, for Bare Cove was assessed in that year.
Rev. Peter Hobart, of Hingham, England, the first minister, arrived at
Charlestown in June, 1635, and soon after settled in this town where
many of his friends from Hingham, England, had already settled, from
which fact the name of their old home was given to the new. Mr. Hobart
and twenty-nine others drew for house-lots on the 18th of September,
1635. Grants of land were made at various times during the year 1635,
and for several succeeding years. Hence it will be seen that, in this
present year, two hundred and fifty years of the town's history will
have been completed, and the anniversary will be celebrated during the
present month of September.
The close proximity of Hingham to Hull, of which the original name was
Nantasket or Nantascot, well known during recent years as a famous
summer resort, lends an added interest to one of the earliest of
Hingham's controversies. We find a record in July, 1643:--
There is chosen by the town, Joseph Peck, Bozoan Allen, Anthony Eames,
and Joshua Hubbard, to go to the next Court to make the best improvement
of the evidence the town have for the property of Nantascot, and to
answer the suit that now depends, &c.
But this attempt of the inhabitants of Hingham to claim a title was
summarily disposed of by the General Court, in September, 1643, as
follows:--
The former grant to Nantascot was again voted and confirmed, and Hingham
was willed to forbear troubling the Court any more about Nantascot.
Under the lead of such a man as Rev. Peter Hobart, who appears to have
been fearless and courageous, the inhabitants could not long remain
at rest. In 1645, and through several succeeding years, there were
difficulties of a very pronounced character between the inhabitants and
the colonial magistrates, especially between Peter Hobart and Gov.
Winthrop. The story has been briefly told as follows:--
The town of Hingham had chosen a certain man to be the captain of
its military company, and had sent his name to the magistrates for
approval. Before action had been taken upon the name the town
reconsidered its action, and chose another man to be captain, and
sent in his name. The magistrates were strongly inclined to confirm
and appoint the first and to reject the second. Winthrop was especially
pronounced and for his conduct in the affair Hobart impeached him before
the General Court for maladministration in office. The contest was long
and bitter. Winthrop was acquitted and exonerated; Hobart was censured,
and, with many other inhabitants of Hingham, heavily fined. The town
was thoroughly aroused, supported Hobart to the utmost, and paid his
fine.... Winthrop and Hobart were the representatives of the two parties
into which the colony was forming--the more conservative and the more
radical. The extreme radicals scented in the measures and conduct of the
magistrates, tyranny; and the conservatives deprecated the views of the
radicals as leading to unrestrained action and lawlessness. Winthrop was
a conservative; Hobart was a radical. He said he did not know for what
he was fined, unless it was for presuming to petition the General Court,
and that fine was a violation of the right of petition.