ESSEX-ROOTS-L Archives

Archiver > ESSEX-ROOTS > 1998-08 > 0902164910


From: "David Blackwell" <>
Subject: Groveland is East Parish of Bradford
Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 10:21:50 PDT


Hello
Nathan Tenny said in July 31, 1998 -----
I don't quite understand the relationship between Bradford and
Groveland.
Did Bradford simply change its name? The fact that Samuel joined the
Groveland church "from First Church Bradford" suggests something a
little more complex. NT
----------------------------------
The East Parish of Bradford, which was created in 1726/7,
became Groveland in 1850. The rest of
Bradford later merged with Haverhill Mass. in the 1890s.
So the history and the naming of Groveland is complex.

While is is anachronistic
http://work.ucsd.edu:5141/cgi-bin/http_webster?isindex=anachronistic
to call the Bradford East parish as Groveland
in documents prior to 1850,
for convenience the transcription of the Bradford East
Parish records (which Terri Mulliken Allen is typing in)
are called the Groveland Church Records.
Especially since Bradford is no longer a separate town,
and Bradford is often not found on maps;
also the East Parish church became the Groveland Church in 1850,
and the records are continuous.

All the founding members of the East Parish church
transfered from the Bradford First Church in 1727,
when the East Parish was created.

Incidently a small corner of Groveland (just south of Johnson Pond
was part of Boxford, just to make things more complicated.

The following is from the Outland of Groveland History
by Sarah Dewhirst Parker published in 1950
http://genweb.net/~blackwell/ma/groveland1950/groveland1950.html
------------------------------------------
The Incorporation of Groveland

NAMING THE TOWN page 19

Because of the desire of each village to manage its own affairs in its
own way, a meeting of the citizens of Bradford East
Parish was convened at the vestry of the Congregational Church on
Thursday, January 3, 1850, for the purpose of
considering a division. After a free discussion, it was voted to
petition the Legislature for such a division. A committee was
formed to draw up and circulate a petition for signatures previous to
the next meeting, January 9, 1850. A majority having
signed the petition, at an adjourned meeting on January 14, it was voted
to forward this immediately to the Legislature. On
February 11, the notice was received to call a town meeting to vote upon
the division. As two-thirds of the voters were in
favor of division, a committee of five was chosen to take charge of the
petition before the committee on towns at the State
House. Dr. Spofford opened the case for the petitioners, and, although
it was opposed by some, the committee reported
favorably, and Dr. Spofford and Joseph Hall of the West Parish prepared
a bill for division.

On Monday, February 18, the people were invited to a meeting at the
vestry to hear the report of their committee and take
measures for selecting a name. Forty-eight names were proposed then and
four later. These were reducd to the ten most
popular, and after the fifth balloting it was found that the name of
"Sumner" had more than two-thirds of the votes. It was
immediately declared to be the choice of the town for a name, and the
meeting dissolved. But it proved to be one thing to
vote that the name of Sumner be adopted, and another to have the
committee in charge insert that name in the act of
incorporation. Charles Sumner was a young statesman too conscientious to
remain in either the Whig or Democratic parties,
which were both in favor of human slavery. He had become a "Freesoiler."
It so happened that a majority of those who
attended the first meeting were Freesoilers, and so carried the day for
their favorite. Old line Whigs and Democrats found
themselves for once in unison. It must be something else! There were
some good men in both parties who were opposed to
slavery but who thought Sumner should fight it out in his own party.
These men were afterward among his ardent
supporters, and twenty-five years later their sons gave the name of
Charles Sumner Post to an organization composed of
men who had risked their lives in carrying out the principles for which
he had been condemned.

At a meeting on the 19th it was voted to ballot for a list of names from
which six should be selected. The six names were:
Merrimack, Fremont, Newport, Sumner, Waterford, and Bristol. After two
unsuccessful ballots, the meeting adjourned to
evening. On the second ballot taken that evening, Newport had a small
majority, but not the necessary two-thirds. At an
adjourned meeting on February 20, the name Groveland appeared for the
first time. The whole number of votes cast was
157, 105 being necessary for a choice. Groveland received 106. This
settled the matter for a fortnight, during which time the
subject was discussed from Flanagan's Bend to Uptack. A meeting was
called at the vestry on Wednesday, March 6, at six
o'clock. Nearly all the voters were out, and the following resolution
was carried: Resolved, That we will adhere to the name
of Groveland and sustain it against all the intrigues of those opposed
to a division of the town, and such as are willing to aid
them, because they were so unfortunate as to prefer a less popular name.
This passed in the affirmative, 95 to 60. Tradition
has it that Lois Atwood and Angelina Ladd first suggested the name
"Groveland," and were supported by Parson Perry.
------------------------------------------------

Best Regards,
David Blackwell - -
Groveland, Mass. 01834
http://genweb.net/~blackwell/
http://genweb.net/~blackwell/books.html Books Online Effort.
http://genweb.net/~blackwell/ma/bristol/b000toc.html
Join the effort to put books online.

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.co

This thread: